Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Rice
Baseballers Win Second Consecutive Game Against Rice
3/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Play-By-Play
March 25, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. - No. 20 Fresno State defeated Rice for the second consecutive night on Saturday with a 6-3 victory at Pete Beiden Field. The Bulldogs, off to their best start WAC start since 1993, improved to 23-7 overall and 8-3 in conference play. The Owls dropped to 14-16 overall and 4-7 in the WAC.
Fresno State, just as it did on Friday night, jumped to out to an early lead. The Bulldogs plated six runs on four hits, three walks and a hit by pitch in the first inning off Rice starter Jon Skaggs. It was the most runs Fresno State has scored in the opening frame this season.
"It was unusual for Skaggs to be wild," Fresno State head coach Bob Bennett said. "One thing that helped us was the fact we laid off the breaking balls in the dirt. We were disciplined in the first inning and we got a lot of clutch hits with two outs. I thought we would do more damage as the game went on but he recovered well. We had him on the ropes a couple of times but couldn't knock him off."
That would be all the offense the Bulldogs would need on the evening. Rice added a run in the fourth and a pair in the fifth off Bulldog starter Shawn Hannah (Sr., Clovis, Calif.) to make things interesting, but left-handed reliever Mike Hernandez (Fr., Fresno, Calif.) made sure the Owls would not rally.
Hernandez relieved Hannah with one out in the fifth and shut out Rice on four singles over the final 4.2 innings, a career high, to notch his third victory of the season against no defeats. He walked none and struck out four. Hannah allowed three runs on five hits and struck out one in his 4.1 innings of work.
"Hannah looked good for four innings but started to get the ball up and got wild," Bennett said. "I brought in Hernandez and he looked just as good tonight as he did against Sacramento State on Tuesday. However, this was different because it was in a conference game and in front of 3,500 people."
Shortstop Oscar Lopez (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) paced the Bulldogs by going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Right fielder Mike Bowlin (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) was 1-for-4 with a bases-loaded double in the first that cleared the bases. Leadoff hitter Tom Creighton (So., Weldon, Calif.) was 1-for-4 with a walk and has reached base by either hit, walk or hit by pitch in 19 consecutive games and 28-of-29 games played this season.
Skaggs allowed six runs on eight hits and walked five in five-plus innings. Jayme Sperring struck out four during the final three innings for the Owls.
The series concludes on Sunday afternoon at Beiden Field. Fresno State will be seeking its fifth series sweep of the season. The Bulldogs are scheduled to send left-hander Beau Hintz (So., Stockton, Calif.) to the mound. Hintz is 3-2 with a 2.56 ERA in six starts this season. Rice will counter with Marc Gwyn (2-5, 3.73 ERA). First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
