Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Portland
Bulldogs Take Two From Portland
3/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 4, 2006
Fresno, Calif. - Playing a doubleheader following a rainout Friday night, the Bulldogs took full advantage of their starting pitching on the way to two wins Saturday. Andy Underwood pitched 8.0 innings and struck out 10 on the way to a 7-2 victory, and Eddie Romero and Jason Breckley combined for a shutout in Game 2 as the Bulldogs won 3-0. Kent Sakamoto had five hits on the day to lead Fresno State from the plate.
The Bulldogs established their presence early on Saturday, opening the first game with their biggest inning of the day. After an opening flyout to deep center field, the Bulldogs put four consecutive batters on base, and all four scored courtesy of RBIs from Kent Sakamoto, Brian Lapin and Frank LoNigro, who hit a triple to collect his first extra-base hit of the year.
That was more than enough for Andy Underwood, who was perfect through four innings. The Pilots got their only runs of the day in the sixth inning, putting together a rally to cut the lead to two after Underwood hit leadoff batter Danny Meier. Catcher Nik Kosach singled to put Meier in scoring position, and RBI hits from Jesse Rodgers and and Matthew Peters brought the score to 4-2.
Adam O'Daniel started a rally in the bottom half with a single, moved to second on an overthrow from the Portland shortstop, and reached third when Erik Wetzel beat out a sacrifice bunt to put runners on the corners. Steve Susdorf was able to score O'Daniel with a sacrifice fly to center, extending the Bulldog lead. Fresno State added two more runs the following inning as Frank LoNigro knocked in his third and fourth RBI of the game to take the 7-2 lead.
The second game marked more of the same, as the Bulldogs grabbed an early lead. Leadoff hitter Steve Susdorf opened the Fresno State half of the first with a single, and after moving over on a stolen base, scored off of a double from Kent Sakamoto, who had five hits on the day. Fresno State used classic small ball to add another run in the second, as outfielder Brian Lapin stole second after singling up the middle, was bunted to third by Frank LoNigro, and scored on a deep ground ball by Adam O'Daniel to put the `Dogs up 2-0.
That was plenty for Eddie Romero, who pitched his way out of some early jams to the second longest appearance of his career, lasting 7.0 innings while striking out six and allowing no runs. Handing the ball off to closer Jason Breckley, he made the most out of his two innings, giving up just one hit while striking out five, a career high on the way to his first save of the season in his first save situation.
Fresno State finishes a three-game series with Portland tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. The Bulldogs will then get just one day off before hosting San Francisco for two weekday games on Tuesday and Wednesday, with first pitch for both games scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
