Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Loyola Marymnt
No. 19 Baseball Earns Victory Against Loyola Marymount
3/28/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Play-By-Play
March 28, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. - No. 19 Fresno State jumped out to a 8-0 lead after five innings and withstood a late rally by Loyola Marymount to capture an 8-5 victory on Tuesday night at Pete Beiden Field. The Bulldogs improved to 24-8 with the win, while the Lions saw their record fall to 18-11.
The Bulldog offense tagged Loyola Marymount starting pitcher James Clelland for five runs in the first inning and a run in the third to jump out to an early 6-0 lead. Fresno State then plated a pair of tallies in the fifth off reliever Justin Abreu to extend the lead to 8-0. However, the Lions responded with a four-run seventh and scored one run in the ninth to make things interesting.
"We played a very good ballclub tonight," Fresno State head coach Bob Bennett said. "They can really hit the ball well."
Nick Moran (So., Elk Grove, Calif.) made his first start of the season and pitched extremely well. Moran shut out Loyola Marymount for the first six innings before allowing three runs in the seventh. He allowed five hits and struck three in his six-plus innings of work en route to his first win of the season. Zach Minor (So., Walnut Creek, Calif.) relieved Moran in the seventh and allowed one run on three hits in two-plus innings pitched. Hans Smith (Sr., Central Point, Ore.) came out of the bullpen in the ninth, and allowed one run on three hits in one inning of work.
"Moran did a real good job for us tonight," Bennett said. "It was an impressive performance. He was consistently in the high 80s and he even touch the low 90s a few times. He also had good command of his stuff."
Tony Guzman (Jr., Clovis, Calif.) paced the Fresno State offensive attack by going 2-for-2 with two runs scored and one RBI. Guzman reached base in all four of his plate appearances. Leadoff hitter Tom Creighton (So., Weldon, Calif.) was 1-for-2 with three walks and has reached base in 21 consecutive games by either hit, walk or hit by pitch. Mike Bowlin (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) added a triple in the first that scored two runs and Ben Fritz (Fr., San Jose, Calif.) was 2-for-4 with one RBI.
"The offense was pretty good tonight," Bennett said. "We had a lot of key hits early in the game. Gemoll had another key hit and Bowlin's triple was big. Fritz had a key single for us as well in the first inning. Creighton and Guzman each were on base four times and that was big."
Clelland allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits and walked two in 2.2 innings. His record dropped to 1-1 for the season. Abreu allowed a pair of runs on a hit and two walks in his 1.2 innings of work. Three other Lion relievers combined to blank the Bulldogs on two hits over the final 3.2 innings.
Fresno State returns to action on Sunday, April 2, when it travels to Santa Clara to play the Broncos. It is the makeup game of the Feb. 13 contest that was postponed due to rain. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. at Buck Shaw Stadium.
