Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
New Mexico State
Ortega Leads `Dogs to 10th Inning Victory
5/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 9, 2008
HONOLULU, Hawai'i - The Bulldogs became the first team in the WAC Tournament since the 1991 season to play two extra inning games in the same season. Fresno State fell to Louisiana Tech Thursday morning 3-2 in eight innings and came back in a must-win game vs. New Mexico State for a 7-6 victory in 10 innings.
The No. 10/10 Bulldogs are the No. 2 seed in the WAC Tournament and improved to 51-10 on the year.
Freshman Ryane Petersen got her first start in the circle during the WAC Tournament. Down 2-0 in the second, fellow freshman Nicole Angene replaced her for the Bulldogs.
Down 4-0 in the bottom, Lisamarie Coronado hit a two-run home run to cut the Aggie lead to 4-2.
Haley Gilleland scored off a wild pitch in the bottom of the third. Andrea Ortega gave the Bulldogs a 6-4 lead with a three-run home run to left field.
NMSU tied the game at 6-6 in the top of the fourth.
Morgan Melloh entered in the fourth to replace Angene in the circle. The first run in the inning was credited to Angene, the second to Melloh.
Melloh ended with nine strikeouts in seven innings pitched and improved her record to 39-6.
Caitlin Stiglich singled followed by an Aja Scheuber single down the left field line in the bottom of the 10th inning. Stiglich would score the winning run from second on an error by the NMSU shortstop on a hit by Ortega.
Ortega led the team with three RBI's and two hits. Ashley White also had two hits for the Bulldogs and Lisamarie Coronado had two RBI's.
The Bulldogs will play No. 3 seed Hawai'i on Friday at 7:30 p.m. PST. The winner will play the loser of the Nevada and Louisiana Tech game at 10:00 p.m. PST.
"Join the State- Fresno State!" - For tickets log on to www.gobulldogs.com or call (559) 278-DOGS.
