Fresno State Athletics
Baseball Team Wins Home Opener
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
February 3, 1999
FRESNO, Calif. - After taking two of three games from No. 6 Stanford last weekend, the Bulldogs returned home to Beiden Field to kick off the 1999 home season. Fresno State proved that there is no place like home, defeating the St. Mary's Gaels 5-2.
St. Mary's got on the board first by pushing a run across in the second inning, but the Bulldogs' tied the game up at one when second baseman Jeff Prieto hit his second home run of the season. After the second inning, starting pitcher Ozzie Gonzalez calmed down and silenced the Gaels' bats as the right-hander would not allow another hit in next three innings he pitched. The Fresno State bats would take care of the rest as Gonzalez would pick up his second win of the season.
Fresno State grabbed the lead in the fourth after Simon Tafoya led off the inning with a triple, then scored on a sacrfice fly ball by freshman Brandon Gemoll. Prieto reached on an error and scored the eventual winning run on a single by third baseman Nick Garcia.
Prieto and the Bulldogs would strike one more time in the sixth as Tafoya started the inning off with a single. After a ground out by Gemoll, Prieto would pick up his second home run of the game by taking Jason Morgan-Voyce's pitch over the left field wall. Coming into the season Prieto had two home runs in his Frenso State career. In the past two games he has hit three.
The win upped the Bulldogs' mark to 3-1 and increased their winning streak over St. Mary's to four games. The last St. Mary's win came in 1997 at Beiden Field.
Fresno State will be back in action this weekend as it takes on Santa Clara in a three-game series, starting on Friday. Friday's game starts at 7 p.m. Both Saturday and Sunday's game are slated for 1 p.m. starts.
