Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Hawaii
Baseball Surfs Past Hawai'i 8-4
2/27/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 27, 2001
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State got out to an early five run lead and never looked back after the second inning. The five runs in the first two innings of the game were enough to give the Bulldogs their third straight victory, but they added three more insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings to put the game away for good.
Senior Ozzie Gonzalez (Salinas, Calif.) got his season win of the season to improve his record to 2-0, while Ben Fritz (Jr., San Jose, Calif.) came into the game in the top of the ninth to polish the Rainbows off for his fourth save this season. Before entering the game as a relief pitcher Fritz had been the starting catcher for the Bulldogs. For Hawai'i starting pitcher Chad Gianetti got the loss dropping his record to 1-2.
Fresno State got out to an early lead when they scored five runs in the in the first two innings. Tom Creighton (Jr., Weldon, Calif.) led off with a single in the bottom of the first to get things started for the Bulldogs. Two batters later Brandon Gemoll (Jr., San Jose, Calif.) singled to advance Creighton to third. The following batter Casey McGehee (Fr., Aptos, Calif.) singled to score Creighton giving Fresno State a one run lead. Two batters later Tobey Riday-White (Jr., Berkeley, Calif.) singled to score Gemoll giving the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead going into the top of the second. Fresno State continued their scoring spree in the bottom of the second. Tony Guzman (Sr., Clovis, Calif.) led off with a double to keep things going for the Bulldogs. The following batter Chris Patrick (Fr., Fresno, Calif.) singled advancing Guzman to third. Tom Creighton reached on a fielders choice, and was followed up by Gemoll's three-run home run, his fifth of the season.
Hawai'i responded in the top of the third when they scored two runs to cut the Bulldogs lead to three runs. Matthew Purtell led off the inning for Hawai'i with a walk and was advanced to second on a balk. Two batters later Gregg Omori hit a two-run home run for his second home run of the season cutting the Bulldog lead to 5-2.
In the top of the sixth, the Rainbows added two more runs to cut the Bulldogs lead to one run. Arthur Guillen grounded out to the second baseman to score Jacob Flick from third. The following batter Purtell hit a single into left field scoring Cortland Wilson and cutting the Bulldog lead to 5-4.
Fresno State responded in the bottom of the seventh when McGehee reached on a throwing error by the short stop and advanced to second scoring Nick Garcia (Sr., Lakewood, Calif.) and giving the Bulldogs a 6-4 lead going into the top of the eighth.
The Rainbows could not respond in the top of the eight, but Fresno State added two more runs to secure the victory. Senior Dan Young (Sr., Orange, Calif.) added one run when he hit a bases loaded single to score Patrick. Tom Creighton put the game away when he scored on a wild pitch giving the Bulldogs a 8-4 win over Hawai'i for Fresno States first sweep of a three game series this season, before 2,588 at Pete Beiden Field.
The Bulldogs record improves to 10-5 overall, and 5-1 in the WAC, while Hawai'i drops to 7-8 overall, and 2-4 in the WAC.
Fresno State will be back in action Wednesday night a 7 p.m. in the friendly confines of Pete Beiden Field for a matchup with in-state foe San Francisco.
