Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Pacific
No. 18 Baseball Routs Pacific
4/11/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 11, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. - No. 18 Fresno State unleashed a 17-hit attack against Pacific and breezed to a 12-5 victory on Tuesday night at Pete Beiden Field. The Bulldogs improved to 28-10 with the victory, while the Tigers lost for the 14th time in their last 18 games and saw their record fall to 19-16.
Fresno State jumped on Pacific starting pitcher Gavin Marshall for three runs in the first inning and one more in the third to jump out to an early 4-0 lead. After the Tigers scored a pair of tallies in the fourth, the Bulldogs responded with three runs in the fifth, four more in the sixth and one in the seventh to put the game out of reach. Pacific added three runs in the eighth to complete the scoring.
"This was a much better offensive performance," Fresno State head coach Bob Bennett said. "Acevedo and Gemoll looked good and so did Creighton. We had a lot of good at bats as a team. It also was a good game because we had a chance to play a lot of kids. We hammered away throughout the ballgame instead of sitting on a few runs like we have been doing lately. This was a big win heading into this weekend's conference series against Hawai'i."
Beau Hintz (So., Stockton, Calif.) started for the Bulldogs and picked up a no-decision. Hintz allowed two runs on three hits and struck out three in his 3.2 innings of work. Mike Hernandez (Fr., Fresno, Calif.) allowed three runs and struck out five hitters in 3.1 innings of relief to pick up his fourth victory of the season against no defeats. Hans Smith (Sr., Central Point, Ore.) tossed a scoreless ninth for Fresno State and lowered his team-leading ERA to 1.73.
"Hernandez did another good job in relief," Bennett said. "We got a good inning out of Smith. We were able to get him some work and that was important."
Eight of the nine starters on offense registered at least one hit and a total of 17 players saw action for the Bulldogs. Anthony Acevedo (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif.) led the offensive onslaught by going 4-for-5 with three runs scored, two doubles and three RBIs. The four hits tied a career high and Acevedo moved into a 10th-place tie on the all-time doubles list. He now has 38 career two-baggers in his two seasons at Fresno State and is the only junior college transfer in the Top 10. Tom Creighton (So., Weldon, Calif.) continued to get the job done at the top of the order, going 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. Creighton reached base in the 27th consecutive game and extended his hitting streak to nine games, tying a career high. It was his fourth consecutive two-hit tilt. Brandon Gemoll (So., San Jose, Calif.) was 2-for-4 with a pair of triples and two RBIs and extended his hitting streak to a career-high eight games. Gemoll also registered his team-leading 20th multi-hit games of 2000. Nick Garcia (Jr., Lakewood, Calif.) went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Ben Fritz (Fr., San Jose, Calif.) drove in a career-high three runs.
Marshall allowed seven runs on 10 hits and struck out two in 4.2 innings pitched. His record dropped to 1-3 for the season. Jason Walker relieved Marshall in the fifth and allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits in his 2.1 innings or work. Ed Herrnberger pitched a scoreless eighth for the Tigers.
Bennett reached his second milestone of the season, as he moved into a ninth-place tie with Al Ogletree on the NCAA all-time victories list. Ogletree led Texas-Pan American to 1,217 wins in his 41 seasons at the helm of the Bronco baseball program. Bennett, who won his 1,200th career game on Feb. 26 at Rice, now has a career mark of 1,217-696-4 in his 32 seasons at Fresno State. He is the fifth-winningest active head coach in the country.
Fresno State, 10-5 in WAC play, returns to action on Saturday, April 15, when it begins a six-game road trip on the Hawaiian islands against Hawai'i (21-20, 8-7). Tom Graham (Sr., Modesto, Calif.) is slated to make his 13th start of the season for the Bulldogs. Graham is 5-3 with a 4.43 ERA this year. First pitch from Rainbow Stadium is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. (PDT).
