Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State


Rice

Diamond Men Thump Rice
3/24/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Play-By-Play
March 24, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. - No. 20 Fresno State handed Rice a 15-1 setback Friday night at Pete Beiden Field in the first game of this weekend's three-game WAC series. The Bulldogs, who are off to their best start since 1988, improved to 22-7 overall and 7-3 in the WAC with the victory. The Owls suffered their worst loss of the season and saw their record drop to 14-15 overall and 4-6 in conference play.
"It was a big win for us," Fresno State head coach Bob Bennett said. "Graham pitch a very good game. Gemoll was outstanding again. One of the key hits was his single with two strikes in the first inning. Tonight was a good start, but we still have two more games to go this weekend."
Fresno State scored early and often against Rice starting pitcher Kenny Baugh. The Bulldogs scored three runs in both the first and second innings to jump out to a commanding 6-0 lead. The Owls scored their lone run of the contest in the third. Fresno State added a tally in the sixth and plated a season-high eight runs in the seventh to complete the rout.
Fresno State starter Tom Graham (Sr., Modesto, Calif.) picked up the victory, as he allowed one run on four hits in his eight innings of work. Graham struck out five hitters and improved to 4-3 for the season. Hans Smith (Sr., Central Point, Ore.) tossed a scoreless ninth for the Bulldogs. Smith has thrown 12 consecutive scoreless innings and has allowed only one run in his last 12 appearances, a span of 26 innings pitched.
The Bulldog offense rapped out 16 hits, as eight of the nine starters had at least one hit. Brandon Gemoll (So., San Jose, Calif.) paced the attack by going 4-for-5 with a double and a career-best five RBIs. Gemoll extended his hitting streak to career-high seven games and registered his team-leading 17th multi-hit tilt of the season. Josh Labandeira (Jr., Porterville, Calif.) was 3-for-4 with four runs scored, a double and a pair of RBIs. Nick Garcia (Jr., Lakewood, Calif.) added three hits and two RBIs and Tony Guzman (Jr., Clovis, Calif.) hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot in the eighth.
Baugh allowed six runs on six hits in 1.2 innings pitched, his shortest start of the season. His record dropped to 5-1 and his personal 16-game winning streak came to an end. Baugh's last loss came against UCLA on Feb. 13, 1999. Four Rice relievers combined to allow nine runs (seven earned) on 10 hits during the final 6.1 innings.
The series continues on Saturday night at Beiden Field. Fresno State is scheduled to send Shawn Hannah (Sr., Clovis, Calif.) to the mound. Hannah is 5-2 with a 3.19 ERA in eight starts this season. Rice will counter with Jon Skaggs (5-0, 3.14 ERA). First pitch is slated for 7 p.m.