'Dogs salvage final game of series
Juan Villa / The Collegian
Fresno State’s David Hernandez applies a late tag on San Francisco’s Luke Sommer during the Bulldogs’ 5-4 victory Sunday at Beiden Field.
Andrew Riggs / The Collegian
Fresno State’s Loren Storey (left) and Steve Susdorf (right) do the traditional tap of the batting helmets after Susdorf’s two-run homerun in the fourth inning of the Bulldogs’ 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Dons.
The win is the first of the season for the Bulldogs, who opened their season with a 1-2 record against the Dons. |
By Darrell Copeland III
The Collegian
The Fresno State baseball team was like a zoo groundskeeper with a monkey on his back — maybe even a gorilla.
After dropping the first two games and falling behind early in the third game, it was easy for doubt to creep into your thoughts that the Bulldogs would be unable to notch a win at home against San Francisco.
And then the Bulldogs’ Steve Susdorf hit a long two-run homerun, easing all of the tension and stiffness the Bulldogs had played with all weekend.
Fresno State left fielder Loren Storey set the table for Susdorf with a five-pitch walk, part of his 2-for-2 effort at the plate.
“We just tried today to loosen it up,” Storey said. “I think this win is big. At least we got one instead of none.”
The contrast between the Bulldogs and Dons were significant as both teams entered their first series of the season. San Francisco returns 22 lettermen from a team that had its best record in program history last year, going 39-23. Even more complicating for a Bulldogs squad in transition — with a large group of incoming contributors — was a talented and experienced starting rotation for the Dons, who gave the Bulldogs fits at the plate until Sunday’s finale.
Fresno State coach Mike Batesole, always in tune with his team’s statistics, both good and bad, was quick to point out the personality of his team, which he says is made up of a group of role players.
“We have a lot of good role players who are good team players,” Batesole said. We don’t have one guy that can carry us through a series.”
Fresno State freshman third baseman Tom Mendonca is beginning to further establish his role as a power hitter, hitting two homeruns for the Bulldogs in his first three collegiate games.
Despite dropping the first two games, Batesole looks to have found a solid pitching staff of his own, as Brandon Miller and Brandon Burke turned in solid starts on Friday and Saturday, respectively, while solid efforts out of the bullpen all weekend shows promise for a team whose performance will be taken one step at a time.
“We didn’t play very good team baseball [the first two games],” Batesole said. “I feel a lot better about it, I’m sure they do to.”
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