Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Open Season vs. Pacific
2/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 5, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
FRESNO, Calif. - For the first time in 11 years, the Bulldogs will open the season at home with a double-header against the Pacific Tigers on Saturday. Game one starts at 1 p.m., followed by game two at approximately 3 p.m. Both games can be heard live on 790 ESPN Radio the Duece.
Follow the Bulldogs You can follow Fresno State throughout the season as all games can be viewed live through gametracker by logging on to www.gobulldogs.com and click on the gametracker link. Gametracker will be used to cover all of Fresno State's games, both home and away. ESPN's Guy Haberman and Paul Swearengin will once again be the voice of the `Dogs this season as they will broad¬cast 39 games, 31 at home and eight on the road on 1430 ESPN Radio and 790 the Duece.
This Weekend's Matchup
After last year's orignal scheduled series was postponed due to weather, before the two teams made-up the two-game series later in the year in Stockton and split the game. Fresno State won the two-game series in 2006 at Bulldog Diamond 2-0, 6-5. The Bulldogs lead the overall series 73-21-1.
Scouting the Tigers
Pacific ended 2007 with a 36-24 record and a 9-9 Big West Conference record for fifth place. They fell 7-0 in the NCAA Re¬gional Championship game to Arizona to end their season. The Tigers were selected to finish fourth in the preseason coaches poll in the Big West, behind powerhouses Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State. Pacifc returns 13 letterwin¬ners from 2007, including Chelsea Engle, a All-Big West Second Team member last season who as a pitcher had 19 wins and a 2.69 ERA.
Preseason Polls
The Bulldogs received 42 votes in the USA Today/NFCA preseason poll and 13 votes in the ESPN/USA Softball preseason poll. Fresno State has been ranked in at least one top 25 poll in each of the last 24 sea¬sons and 221 out of the 235 weeks since the NFCA National Poll began. Nine Bulldog opponents are in the NFCA Top 50 and seven opponents were ranked in the Top 50 by ESPN/USA Softball.
Dogs Picked Second by WAC Coaches
The Bulldogs won won the 2007 WAC Tournament Championship after Hawai'i won the regular season title. The 2008 WAC poll saw Hawai'i as the favorite again by the WAC coaches as they received six first place votes. The coaches also voted on 2008 preseason All-WAC team. Senior Jenna Cervantez and Junior Haley Perkins, both first team All-WAC selections in 2007 were also selected as a preseason favorites this year. Freshman Nicole Angene was the only freshman to make the preseason list as she was an at-large utility selection. Senior first baseman Kate Robin¬ son from Hawai'i and Nevada's senior pitcher Jordan McPherson were named preseason Player and Pitcher of the Year. The Bulldogs and Hawai'i were the only WAC teams to advance to the NCAA Tournament last season as the Bulldogs fell in the Palo Alto Regional Championship game to Stanford 1-0, and Hawai'i fell to Tennessee in the Super Regionals. Fresno State is the only team in the nation to play in all 26 NCAA Tournaments.
Robin Mackin Blogs
Junior All-American Robin Mackin will take the 2008 season off to train for the 2008 Beijing Olympics with the Canadian National Team. While she won't be around Fresno State much this year, she still wants to be able to keep in touch with the Fresno State community and support her Bulldog teammates. Each Monday, Mackin will post a blog on www.gobulldogs.com and to talk about her week on tour, the place she has been and what she has learned along the way. Tune in every week to see what Mackin did the previous week.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The Fresno State softball team opens the 2008 home season at Bulldog Diamond with a double header against Pacific Saturday, February 9 beginning at 1 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at (559) 485-TIX, in person at the Bulldog box office or at Bulldog Diamond on game day.
