Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Santa Clara
McGehee's Grand Slam Stomps Broncos 10-7
4/26/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 26, 2001
FRESNO, Calif. - Freshman left fielder Casey McGehee hit his first grand slam of his Fresno State career to give the Bulldogs a 9-5 lead heading into the top of the eighth, before 2,514 in the Friendly confines of Pete Beiden Stadium. Francisco Nieves entered the game in relief of the starter Bob Runyon in the top of the sixth with one out. Nieves stepped in and pitched a solid game by picking off two consecutive runners the first to close out the sixth and the second to start the seventh inning. Nieves performance earned him his sixth win of the season and improving his record to 6-2. Fresno State improved its overall record to 30-19, while Santa Clara falls to 18-26 overall.
The Bulldog got out to an early lead over Santa Clara when they scored one run in the bottom of the first. Brandon Gemoll singled to score Joey Myers who stole second after his leadoff walk. Myers run gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead heading into the second inning.
The Broncos responded in the top of the third with two runs to take a one run lead over the Bulldogs. Jimmy Wallace hit a lead off double and later scored on a single by Matt Miller to tie the game at 1-1. Two batters later Jack Headley singled to score Joe Diefenderfer to hand the Broncos a 2-1 lead.
Fresno State responded with two runs in the bottom of the third to regain their one run lead over Santa Clara. Tony Guzman led off the inning with a double to left center field. The following batter Joey Myers laid down a beautiful bunt to advance Guzman to third. Oscar Lopez followed with a sacrifice fly deep to left field scoring Guzman and advancing Myers to second. Shortstop Josh Labandeira hit a high fly ball into left to score Myers giving the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead at the end of three innings.
In the top of the sixth, Santa Clara scored three more runs to take a 5-3 lead over the Bulldogs. Jack Headley and Mike Theoharis each led off the inning with a single, placing the runners on first and third. Theoharis attempted to steal second, but catcher Ben Fritz's throw to Lopez caught Theoharis in a run down, during the may lay Headley came home and Theoharis advanced to second tying the game at 3-3. Three batters later Kellan McConnell hit a sacrifice dribbler to the pitcher for the second out of the inning, but also scoring Theoharis from third giving the Broncos a 4-3 lead. Santa Clara added their final run of the inning when Wallace singled to left field to score John Hilvert handing the Broncos a 5-3 lead.
The Bulldogs fought back in the bottom of the seventh when they scored six runs to take a 9-5 lead over Santa Clara. Fritz walked to lead off the inning and later scored on a double by Nick Garcia trimming the Bronco lead to 5-4. Three batters later Lopez came up with a clutch double down the right field line to score Tony Guzman tying the game at 5-5. With the bases loaded and two outs freshman left fielder Casey McGehee hit his first grand slam and his third home run of the season giving the Bulldogs a 9-5 lead.
Fresno State added one more insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Oscar Lopez singled to right center field to score Guzman handing the Bulldogs a 10-5 lead heading into the top of the ninth.
Santa Clara attempted to rally in the top of the ninth when with two outs and a runner on first Joey Gomes hit a two run home run cutting the Fresno State lead to 3 runs. Francisco Nieves got the following batter to fly out to center to end the game, and handing the Bulldogs a much needed 10-7 win over the Broncos.
The Bulldogs return to Pete Beiden Field this weekend for a three-game series with WAC foe Hawaii-Hilo starting Saturday. First pitch for Saturday and Monday nights' game will be at 7 p.m., while Sunday the game will start at 1 p.m.
