Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Host Hoosiers, Roll into Pepsi Johnny Quik
3/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 7, 2008
FRESNO, Calif. - The Dogs return home after five games away from Beiden Field and will settle in for an eight-game home stand. The Dogs open with a two-game series against Big 10 foe Indiana on Saturday and then host the 30th Annual Pepsi Johnny Quik March 10-15. The Dogs and Hoosiers have never played.
About the Hoosiers
Tracy Smith is in his second season as head coach at Indiana. The Hoosiers are led the plate by Josh Phegley, who has started all six games, is batting .500 with a .731 slugging percentage. He has one homerun, a triple and a double in 26 at bats. Last season Indiana was 19-35 and 8-23 in the Big 10. Mickey Morandini is one of Indiana's most famous baseball alumnus and still holds several Hoosier records.
Pepsi Johnny Quik History
Fresno State has won 16 tournament titles with eight second place finishes... the Dogs are 127-41-1 in Pepsi Johnny Quik Tournament games all time ... The Dogs have won two tournaments in a row and four of five under Mike Batesole. Batesole's Fresno State record in the tournament is 23-5 (.821).
2008 Pepsi Johnny Quik Notes
New Mexico State assistant coach Gary Ward has been selected to the 2008 College Baseball Hall of Fame Class, joining: Owen Carroll - pitcher and coach, College of Holy Cross; William J. "Billy" Disch - coach, Sacred Heart College, St. Edward's University and Texas; Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson - infielder, Pasedena Junior College, and UCLA; Steve Arlin - pitcher, Ohio State; Eddie Bane - pitcher, Arizona State; Floyd Bannister - pitcher, Arizona State; Neal Heaton - pitcher, Miami; Burt Hooton - pitcher, Texas; Dick Howser - shortstop and coach, Florida State; Ben McDonald - pitcher, Louisiana State; Greg Swindell - pitcher, Texas. Ward was the former head coach at New Mexico State and Oklahoma State and is the father of New Mexico State head coach Rocky Ward ... Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg returns to the Pepsi Johnny Quik field. While this is Utah;s first appearance, he brought Wyoming to the tournament twice when he was the skipper there. In addidion to being the head coach at UTEP, Wyoming and Utah, Kinneberg has served successful assistant coaching stints at both Arizona and Arizona State, serving as interim head coach for the Sun Devils when legendary head coach Jim Brock was suffering with cancer. Kinneberg guided the Sun Devils to the College World Series in the role of interim head coach ... Gonzaga is making its 10th appearance in the tournament, second only to Fresno State for most appearances. Gonzaga is 27-24-2 with one second place finish. The Zags are tied for the third-most wins in Pepsi Johnny Quik History ... Indiana, New Mexico State and Utah are all making their first appearance in the tournament ... Portland is making its seventh appearance in the tournament and owns an 18-18 record ... the Dogs are 25-1 all-time against their Bulldog counterparts from Gonzaga ... New Mexico State is a member of the WAC. The Dogs and Aggies will meet again for eight league games after this weekend. The Aggies return to Fresno May 2-4.
About Last Year
The Fresno State Bulldogs fell to the Dallas Baptist Patriots by a 12-10 score in the last game of the annual Pepsi-Johnny Quik Classic in front of 1,695 fans at Beiden Field. The Bulldogs took home the PJQ title after a three-way head-to-head tie between Iowa, Dallas Baptist and Fresno State. The Dogs captured the title in ruling to a tie breaker with least runs allowed. The Bulldogs have now captured the classic two years in a row.
2007 All-Tournament Honors
All-Tournament Defensive Player: Iowa - Sophomore, infielder Jason White
All-Tournament Offensive Player: Fresno State - Junior, center-fielder Brian Lapin
All-Tournament Pitcher: Fresno State - Junior, right handed pitcher Clayton Allison
2007 Pepsi-Johnny Quik Classic Ted Gavrilis Most Valuable Player: Dallas Baptist - Senior, infielder Garrett Baker
Tough Losses
Of Fresno State's six losses this season, four have been by two runs or less, including two one-run games. The Dogs are coming off a 6-5 10-inning heartbreaker at Santa Clara on Tuesday.
Bulldog Pitching Leads the WAC
Three Dogs are among the top four WAC pitchers in earned run average. Leading the way for the Dogs is Tanner Scheppers (1.38), followed by Justin Miller (1.80) and Clayton Allison (1.86). Hawaii's Jared Alexander leads the WAC with an era of 0.43. Scheppers leads the WAC in average strikouts per games, 13.15, ranks second in the in total strikeouts with 19 and leads the league in opponents' batting average, .170.
Scheppers on Golden Spikes Award Watch List
USA Baseball announced its pre-season Golden Spikes Award Watch List and Fresno State junior pitcher Tanner Scheppers has been named to the list. The release of the watch list marks USA Baseball's first step toward identifying the top player in college baseball. The initial list - the first ever of its kind for the Golden Spikes Award - features 75 of the nation's top collegiate talents, as nominated by baseball sports information directors across the country. The watch list will also be "rolling" to ensure that athletes who play themselves into consideration by USA Baseball for the Golden Spikes Award are not ignored. Scheppers had a 4.74 ERA in 2007 with a 7-5 win-loss record and was a First Team All-WAC and an NCAA San Diego Regional All-Tournament team member. He was also a 2008 pre-season All-WAC honoree.
Looking Ahead
The Dogs get ready to head into WAC play, as they take to the road for a long pre-Easter road trip. After a non-conference game at San Francisco on March 18, the Dogs head to Hawaii to take on the Rainbows for four games March 20-22.
"Join the State-Fresno State!"- The Bulldogs will host the 30th Annual Pepsi Johnny Quik March 10-15 at Beiden Field. Tickets are available by clicking the tickets icon at the top of this page.
