Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Sacramento State*
Bulldogs Capture WAC Title With 7-4 Win
5/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 21, 2006
Sacramento, Calif. - Fresno State battled back from a 3-0 deficit to win their 39th game of the year and their 11th straight. Steve Susdorf was 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI to lead the Bulldogs in Sacramento. Because of the victory, Fresno State captured the WAC title as well as the No. 1 seed in the WAC Tournament, held May 25-28 in Fresno.
The game did not start out favoring the Bulldogs, as Travis Kane came out pitching extremely well, working through some trouble in the first inning by striking out two Bulldog batters, and the Hornets took advantage of the momentum in their half of the inning. Ronnie Machado Jr. started off a rally with a single, and Buddy Morales continued the inning with another single. Brian Blauser was hit to load the bases, and a single by Kyle Atrat brought home the first run of the game. An RBI groundout from Jim Strombach brought home another run and the Hornets took a 2-0 lead after the first.
Sacramento State produced another run with some small ball in the second inning, as Everet Rincon reached base after a leadoff walk, and following a sacrifice bunt by Machado Jr., the Hornets' Brian Blauser singled to put Sacramento State ahead 3-0.
Fresno State began to climb back into the game in the third, as Steve Susdorf hit his 13th home run of the season to put the Bulldogs on the board. Fresno State got another run in the fifth, as Erik Wetzel came around on a leadoff walk after a single by Loren Storey, and a sacrifice fly from Kent Sakamoto. Sacramento State moved back ahead by two runs in the bottom half of the fifth, as Morales scored on an RBI single from Jim Strombach.
The Bulldogs tied the game in the sixth, finally getting to Sacramento State starter Travis Kane, who finished the game with 11 strikeouts. Brian Lapin started off a rally with a single, and Frank LoNigro followed that with a second single. Todd Sandell then loaded the bases with a third single. Fresno State then scored two runs, as a wild pitch brought home Lapin, and Frank LoNigro was credited with stealing home as Kane's delivery sailed wide again on a suicide squeeze attempt. Kane retired Wetzel and Susdorf to end the inning in a tie.
Fresno State grabbed the lead in the seventh. Loren Storey hit his third of three singles to start the inning, and after stealing second, he scored on a RBI single from Christian Vitters. The team then added two more insurance runs in the seventh, as Frank LoNigro and Todd Sandell reached base, and after a push-along bunt from Wetzel, Susdorf drove home two runs with a single to left to put the Bulldogs ahead 7-4.
Jason Breckley entered the game in the ninth for Fresno State Andy Underwood, and helped by a double play from Sandell to Wetzel to Sakamoto he finished the game to collect his third save of the season.
Fresno State closes out the regular season with a 39-16 record and a 18-6 record in conference, wrapping up league play a half-game ahead of Hawai'i. The Bulldogs also have the top spot in the upcoming WAC Tournament at Beiden Field. The team will again play No. 6 seed Sacramento State for their first game in the tournament, starting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 25.
