Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
TCU
No. 22 Diamond Men Complete Three-Game Sweep Of TCU
5/6/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 6, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. - No. 22 Fresno State held off a furious ninth-inning rally by TCU and completed a three-game sweep with a 6-5 victory on Saturday afternoon at Pete Beiden Field. It was the Bulldogs fifth series three-game sweep of the 2000 season. The 'Dogs won their fourth consecutive contest and improved to 37-15 overall and 17-10 in the WAC. The Horned Frogs dropped to 20-31 overall and 11-15 in conference play.
Fresno State scored a run in the second to jump out to a 1-0 lead. The Horned Frogs tied the game with a run in the fourth, but the Bulldogs plated two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to take a 5-1 lead. TCU plated a pair of runs in the seventh to pull within 6-2, but the 'Dogs added an insurance run in the eighth to extend the lead to three runs. That run turned out to be a big run as the Horned Frogs rallied in the ninth to make things very interesting.
TCU loaded the bases in the final frame against Bulldog closer Hans Smith (Sr., Central Point, Ore.) with two outs. Smith then hit Mark Hamilton to cut the score to 6-4. Nick Moran (So., Elk Grove, Calif.) relieved Smith and promptly allowed an RBI single to Erick Macha that trimmed the margin to 6-5. However, Mike Hernandez (Fr., Fresno, Calif.) struck out Tom Bates to end the game and record his first career save.
"This sweep was big for us," Fresno State head coach Bob Bennett said. "It may have been the most important series of the season. We talked about staying in the conference race and we had to do it against a good hitting club. It puts us in a pretty good position heading into the final two weeks of the season."
Fresno State starter Zach Minor (So., Walnut Creek, Calif.) was solid in his third start of the season. Minor allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits and struck out five in 6.2 innings of work. It was his second quality start of the week and he improved to 3-0 for the season. Smith relieved Minor in the seventh and allowed the two ninth-inning runs on three hits and struck out two in two innings.
"Minor's performance was huge," Bennett said. "He really had good stuff and I thought he pitched better than he did on Tuesday night against Sacramento."
Mike Bowlin (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) paced the Bulldog offense by going 3-for-4 with a run scored in his final home game. Brandon Gemoll (So., San Jose, Calif.) went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run in the fifth and posted his team-leading 27th multi-hit game of the season. It was Gemoll's fifth homer of the year and his first since March 17 against Hawai'i. Tom Creighton (So., Weldon, Calif.) was 2-for-5 with a double, a triple and two RBIs. Anthony Acevedo (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif.) laced a double to left center in the fifth for his 42nd career two-bagger. Acevedo moved into a seventh-place tie on the all-time doubles list with Craig da Luz (1995-98).
David Tombrella started for TCU and picked up the loss. Tombrella allowed five runs on eight hits in six innings or work and saw his record drop to 2-4 for the season. Chad Durham came on in the seventh and allowed one run in 1.2 innings and Hamilton recorded the final out of the eighth for the Horned Frogs.
Eight Bulldog seniors - Acevedo, Bowlin, Justin Cuellar, Max Drake, Tom Graham, Shawn Hannah, Jason Papi and Smith - played their final home game at Beiden Field and were honored before the game.
The announced attendance of 3,585 pushed Fresno State's season total to 114,232 in 35 dates, an average of 3,264 fans per game, and the Bulldogs finished the regular season with a 25-10 record at Beiden Field.
Fresno State returns to action on Tuesday, May 9, when it travels to Berkeley to play California. The Golden Bears defeated the Bulldogs by a score of 12-10 (12 innings) on Feb. 29 at Beiden Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Evans Diamond.
