Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Pepperdine
Fresno State Drops Home Opener To No. 11 Pepperdine
2/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 10, 2006
Fresno, Calif. - Fresno State opened their home schedule on Friday night in front of 3,191 fans, but was unable to deliver the win as Pepperdine's Paul Coleman quieted the Bulldog bats, allowing four hits in 7.0 innings. Sophomore Ozzie Lewis delivered two hits for Fresno State in front of the largest home crowd in two years.
Both teams started out with the pitchers in control, as Coleman, last year's West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year and Fresno State starter Doug Fister, the preseason WAC Pitcher of the Year began a dual in earnest, as Coleman faced the minimum for three innings and Fister ended the first two innings with no score behind solid defense from the middle infield, turning a double play in the first inning, and fielding two slow rollers cleanly for outs in the second.
Pepperdine broke onto the board in the third inning as Fister retired the first two batters, but allowed a single to leadoff hitter Adrian Ortiz, who was three-for-four in the game. Following Ortiz' hit, David Uribes hit an even slower roller that shortstop Christian Vitters attempted to barehand a grounder to throw out the runner, sailing wide and into the dugout to put two Wave runners in scoring position. Pepperdine capitalized with the next batter, as Chad Tracy singled to bring two runs.
The Waves rallied again the fifth inning, when Ortiz walked and Uribes doubled to give Pepperdine runners, who brought home three runs with a groundout from Chad Tracy and two RBI singles from Michael Beattie and Donald Brown. The Bulldogs pulled closer in the sixth and seventh, scoring one run with some smallball in the sixth, bringing across Lewis with a balk, groundout and single after a hit from the sophomore outfielder, and another when Beau Mills hit a solo shot to right, his second home run of the year. Pepperdine scored two more runs in the eighth inning to bring the gap back to five runs and seal the win.
Fresno State continues their series with Pepperdine tomorrow afternoon as the two teams meet for the middle game in a three-game set at Beiden Field. Lefthander Eddie Romero takes the mound for the Bulldogs, and will face righty Barry Enright from the waves. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
