Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Rice
Big Inning Does Baseball In Once Again
5/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 19, 2002
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State (29-27, 16-11 WAC) suffered its fifth straight home loss and second sweep against Rice (44-11, 25-2 WAC) this season. The Owls picked up where they left off in the ninth inning last night, scoring six runs in the first inning en route to a 12-1 victory against FS.
Senior RHP Francisco Nieves (Oakland, Calif.) suffered his shortest start of the season going just 0.1 innings while allowing five runs on four hits. It was Nieves' fifth loss of the season.
The Owls were led by shorstop Enrique Cruz, who had two homers for the second straight day. Cruz finished going 3-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI.
The one-two hitters also did damage against the Bulldogs as Chris Kolkorst and Austin Davis combined for four hits, three runs scored and three RBI in seven at-bats.
Rice scored six runs in the first, one in the third, four in the sixth and one in the ninth.
The lone bright spot for the Bulldogs was a solo home run by freshman Kyle Atrat (Fresno, Calif.), who came off the bench to pinch hit in the seventh inning.
Sophomore third baseman Casey McGehee's (Santa Cruz, Calif.) 31-game hitting came to an end as he went 0-for-3 on the day. The 31 game hit-streak is the second longest in Bulldog history behind Josh Hannah with 38.
The Bulldogs will wrap up their season next week at Beiden Field as Coach Bennett will attempt to become the seventh coach in NCAA history with 1,300 wins. The series starts Friday against Hawai'i at 7:05 p.m.
