The Fresno State Bulldogs are headed to Omaha for the first time since 1991. Fresno State stunned the #3 national seed Arizona State Sun Devils 12-9 on Monday night in game three of the Tempe Super Regional. The Bulldogs trailed 2-0 early before a three run home run in the top of the second inning by Fresno State’s Tommy Mendonca gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead. The Bulldogs added a run in the top of the third to take a 4-2 lead but Arizona State answered with runs in the bottom of the third, fourth and fifth innings to retake the lead 5-4.
Fresno State came back in the top of the sixth with one run and tied the game at five and the two teams headed into the seventh inning knotted up. The Bulldogs then exploded for six runs in the top of the seventh with two outs to take a commanding 11-5 lead.
It was a night of missed opportunities for Arizona State, as the Sun Devils fell 8-6 to Fresno State in Game 2 of the Tempe Super Regional in front of an above-capacity crowd of 4,423 at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. ASU falls to 49-12 on the season and now faces Game 3 tomorrow against the Bulldogs, with the winner advancing to the College World Series.
Playing as the designated visiting team, the Sun Devils stranded 12 runners, including leaving the bases loaded twice, in losing for the first time this postseason. Read the rest of this entry »
The Arizona State Sun Devils dispatched the Fresno State Bulldogs 12-4 in the first game of the Tempe Super Regional at Winkles Filed-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark on Saturday night.
The Bulldogs got on the board in the top of the first inning but Arizona State answered that run in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Sontag hit a two run homer in the bottom of the third inning to put the Sun Devils up 3-1.
The College Baseball Blog contributor and bleedCrimson.net editor Sam Wasson spoke with New Mexico State head coach Rocky Ward about the upcoming Super Regional matchup between the WAC’s Fresno State and the #3 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Arizona State Sun Devils. Having faced the Bulldogs nine times during the regular season and having coached NMSU at Arizona State in the 2003 Regional, Coach Ward was able to provide some unique insight into the Super Regional matchup this weekend.
Sam Wasson: What are Fresno State’s chances against the #3 national seed Arizona State?
Rocky Ward: I think it’s good for them because they haven’t played them. Arizona State has a lot of tradition but they have as much year to year tradition against Fresno. They won’t know Fresno very well. I think that Fresno will have a pretty decent advantage from that standpoint. Sometimes when the teams don’t know each other very well the lower ranked team on paper has a little bit of an advantage because sometimes they have a little bit more motivation, they’re a little hungrier. It’s going to be the same type of things. When you’ve got a lower ranked opponent playing at a host’s facility game one is absolutely imperative. They have to win game one. If they win game one I think it makes it a 50/50 shot for them. Read the rest of this entry »
Long Beach State (37-19)
The Dirtbags are 37-19 and are the top seed in the Long Beach regional. LBSU boasts the Coach of the Year in Mike Weather, tri-Pitcher of the Year Andrew Liebel and co-Player of the Year in first baseman Shane Peterson. Peterson led the league in hitting with a .399 average and an .510 on base percentage. Liebel went 8-3 on the season with a 1.81 ERA in 109.2 innings pitched.
The Dirtbags earned a share of the Big West title and the automatic bid after taking two of three games from #8 Cal-State Fullerton to end the season.
RUSTON, LA - Fresno State claimed its third consecutive WAC crown defeating Nevada 6-4 in the championship game on Sunday. The Bulldogs fell behind early 2-0 as Nevada’s Mike Hale and David Ciarlo hit solo home runs in the second and third innings. Fresno State exploded for five runs in the top of the 5th inning taking a 5-2 lead. Fresno State added one more in the next inning to go up 6-2. Nevada would score runs in the seventh and eighth innings to close to within two runs at 6-4 but Fresno State’s Brandon Burke pitched the final 1.2 innings picking up his 10th save of the season preserving the Bulldogs’ lead.
Holden Sprague picked up the victory for the Bulldogs going 5.1 innings giving up two runs. Nevada’s Chris Garcia took the loss throwing 4.2 innings and giving up four runs. Read the rest of this entry »
GAME ONE - #1 FRESNO STATE VS. #2 HAWAI’I
Fresno State scored one run on an Eric Wetzel homer in the bottom of the fourth to take an early 1-0 lead over 2-seed Hawai’i. Hawai’i would answer and take the lead with three runs in the top of the sixth inning and Landon Hernandez and Matt Roquemore produced back-to-back home runs to start the inning. The lead didn’t last long however as Fresno State scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to go up 8-3 and then added three more runs in the bottom of the seventh to lead 11-3. Hawai’i added a meaningless run in the top of the ninth and the battle between the tournament’s only two remaining unbeatens went to top seed Fresno State.
Jason Brckley picked up the win for the Bulldogs pitching four innings and giving up just one run, that being on the Ryan Asato sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth. The losing pitcher was Matt Daly who in five innings of work gave up six runs. With the win Fresno State advances to the Championship game on Sunday. Read the rest of this entry »
GAME ONE - #5 NEW MEXICO STATE VS. #6 SACRAMENTO STATE
The first game of the second day of the tournament was an elimination game for both teams. Just as the did in their game against Hawai’i, the Aggies struck first via a home run from Colin Crouthamel. Sacramento State would take the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Gabe Jacobo homered to lead off the scoring for the Hornets. Sacramento State would plate two more runs in the inning to take a 3-1 lead. New Mexico State answered with two runs to tie the game 3-3 but could have had a much bigger inning as Marcus Quade grounded into an inning ending double play. Sacramento State answered the two Aggie runs with three more runs to retake the lead 6-3 and would add two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to stretch their lead to 8-3. New Mexico State would attempt to rally scoring runs in the eighth and ninth innings and had the tying run at the plate in Marcus Quade but Quade grounded into his second inning ending double play of the game as the season ended for New Mexico State.
Tyler Sturdevant picks up the loss for the Aggies as he pitched 4.1 innings and gave up six runs. Tommy Elrod picks up the win for the Hornets as he pitched 3.1 innings in relief of Brian Smith. Elrod gave up just one run.
GAME ONE - #1 FRESNO STATE VS. #6 SACRAMENTO STATE
Fresno State defeated Sacramento State 3-2 in the first round of the WAC Baseball Championship Tournament on Thursday. The Bulldogs struck first blood in the first inning taking a 1-0 lead on a Steve Susdorf RBI single as Grand Hedstrom scored from from second. Sacramento State tied the game up in the fourth inning on a Tim Wheeler single that brought home Gabe Jacobo from second base. The Bulldogs would take the lead back in the bottom of the fourth inning scoring two runs off a Ryan Overland double as Tommy Mendonca and Alan Ahmady both scored on the play. Sacramento State would add one run to bring the Hornets to within one run but that was as close as they would get and Fresno State would hold Sacramento State scoreless over the final two innings. Read the rest of this entry »
The 2008 WAC tournament gets under way on Thursday, May 22nd in Ruston, LA at J.C. Love Field. The stadium has a 3,500 seat capacity. J.C. Love Field’s dimensions are (left-to-right) 315-370-385-340-325. The outfield wall has been raised to 12 feet from the left-field corner around to right center where it will remain at eight feet from right-center to the right-field line.
The weather forecast calls for temperatures in the mid to high eighties with a 30% to 40% chance of rain and scattered thunderstorms over the tournament weekend.
The first round matchups will see 1-seed Fresno State take on 6-seed Sacramento State, 2-seed Hawai’i take on 5-seed New Mexico State and 3-seed Nevada take on 4-seed San Jose State. The games are scheduled for 11:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. All times are CDT.
The 2008 All-Conference teams were announced at the annual WAC postseason awards banquet. Fresno State swept the individual honors as the WAC Player of the Year award went to Fresno State’s Steve Susdorf, WAC Pitcher of the year went to Tanner Scheppers and the WAC Coach of the Year was a tie between Fresno State’s Mike Batesole and San Jose State’s Sam Piraro.
SERIES OF THE WEEK: FRESNO STATE AT SACRAMENTO STATE (Hornet Field)
Why it’s important: Fresno State controls its own destiny this weekend. The Bulldogs head into the final weekend of the regular season with a one game lead over second place Nevada. If the Bulldogs can win three of four they will likely win the WAC regular season crown. This series could also be a preview of one of next week’s first round matchups in the conference tournament. Read the rest of this entry »
bleedCrimson.net continues their weekly interviews with New Mexico State head baseball coach Rocky Ward. This week Coach Ward discusses the season ending series with Louisiana Tech as well as coaching for the conference tournament. The full article is available at bleedCrimson.net.
Samuel Wasson is the Co-Founder and Editor of bleedCrimson.net and covers New Mexico State University athletics. He comes to the CBB as our expert on the WAC.
DENVER, CO – Hawai‘i outfielder Brandon Haislet and Fresno State pitcher Jason Breckley have been named the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for May 5-11. Read the rest of this entry »
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The Fresno State Bulldogs are headed to Omaha for the first time since 1991. Fresno State stunned the #3 national seed Arizona State Sun Devils 12-9 on Monday night in game three of the Tempe Super Regional. The Bulldogs trailed 2-0 early before a three run home run in the top of the second inning by Fresno State’s Tommy Mendonca gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead. The Bulldogs added a run in the top of the third to take a 4-2 lead but Arizona State answered with runs in the bottom of the third, fourth and fifth innings to retake the lead 5-4.
It was a night of missed opportunities for Arizona State, as the Sun Devils fell 8-6 to Fresno State in Game 2 of the Tempe Super Regional in front of an above-capacity crowd of 4,423 at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. ASU falls to 49-12 on the season and now faces Game 3 tomorrow against the Bulldogs, with the winner advancing to the College World Series.
RUSTON, LA - Fresno State claimed its third consecutive WAC crown defeating Nevada 6-4 in the championship game on Sunday. The Bulldogs fell behind early 2-0 as Nevada’s Mike Hale and David Ciarlo hit solo home runs in the second and third innings. Fresno State exploded for five runs in the top of the 5th inning taking a 5-2 lead. Fresno State added one more in the next inning to go up 6-2. Nevada would score runs in the seventh and eighth innings to close to within two runs at 6-4 but Fresno State’s Brandon Burke pitched the final 1.2 innings picking up his 10th save of the season preserving the Bulldogs’ lead.
The 2008 All-Conference teams were announced at the annual WAC postseason awards banquet. Fresno State swept the individual honors as the WAC Player of the Year award went to Fresno State’s Steve Susdorf, WAC Pitcher of the year went to Tanner Scheppers and the WAC Coach of the Year was a tie between Fresno State’s Mike Batesole and San Jose State’s Sam Piraro.
bleedCrimson.net continues their weekly interviews with New Mexico State head baseball coach Rocky Ward. This week Coach Ward discusses the season ending series with Louisiana Tech as well as coaching for the conference tournament. The full article is available at 
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