Fresno State Athletics
No. 12/15 Fresno State hosts Utah Valley on Thursday
2/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 24, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State softball team will host Utah Valley on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Bulldog Diamond for the home opener before heading down south to the Mayfair Tournament hosted by Long Beach State on Friday and Saturday. Thursday's home opener can be heard live on 790 ESPN Radio the Deuce with Guy Haberman calling the action.
The Bulldogs are 6-3 on the season and moved up two spots to No. 12 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll after defeating No. 12 Northwestern, No. 20 North Carolina and Maryland last week at the Cathedral City Classic.
It'll be Hero's Night at Bulldog Diamond as vehicles from Fresno Fire, Police and Ambulance will be in attendance and representatives from each will be passing out flyers and be honored before the game.
Scouting Utah Valley
The Bulldogs host Utah Valley for the 2009 home opener in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Utah Valley is 2-3 on the season with wins over Southern Utah and Idaho State. They got rained out at Houston Baptist last weekend and haven't played since opening weekend. They are led by Amanda Perez both at the plate and in the circle. Perez has a .462 batting average and hits at the plate and a 2-0 record and a 4.77 ERA in the circle.
Scouting Iowa State
Iowa State is receiving votes this week in USA Today/NFCA poll after going 4-1 last weekend at the Sleep Inn Classic hosted by North Texas. The Cyclones boast a 13-2 overall record. Fresno State has a perfect 3-0 record vs. Iowa State with wins in 2001, 2003 and 2005. Alex Johnson leads the team with a .395 batting average, 17 hits and 16 RBI's. Rachel Zabriskie has a 7-1 record in the circle and a 0.48 ERA with 58 strikeouts.
Scouting Wisconsin
Fresno State and Wisconsin will meet for the second time this season. The Bulldogs defeated the Badgers 5-0 in the season opener at the Cathedral City Kick-Off on Feb. 6. Morgan Melloh pitched a complete game shutout for the `Dogs allowing only three hits and striking out 13. Fresno State now leads the overall series 3-2. Wisconsin has a 5-8 record, last week picking up victories over Drake, Texas Tech and New Mexico. Letty Olivarez leads the Badgers in the circle with a 3.29 ERA and 42 strikeouts.
Scouting Cal State Northridge
Fresno State will also face Cal State Northridge for the second time this season. The Bulldogs and Matadors met in the final game of the Cathedral City Kick-Off on Feb. 8. The first meeting was a pitchers duel between Bulldog All-American Morgan Melloh and Claire Rietmann-Grout. Both pitchers were barely hittable going into extra innings when Bulldog freshman Michelle Moses had her first career home run in the top of the eighth, followed by a solo home run by Caitlin Stiglich in the next at bat as the Bulldogs won 3-0. Melloh had 10 strikeouts in the game and allowed only one hit. The Bulldogs lead the overall series now 34-18. Cal State Northridge has a 4-6 overall record led by Christina Saenz with a .455 batting average and 10 RBI's. They went 3-2 last weekend at the UTEP Tournament, defeating Northern Colorado, Samford and San Jose State.
Scouting Long Beach State
Long Beach State has a three-game winning streak after defeating San Diego, Boise and Colorado State at the San Diego Tournament. They are 7-7 on the season and led by Danielle Linke with 16 hits and six doubles. Taylor Petty leads the 49ers in the circle with a perfect 3-0 record and a 0.68 ERA. Fresno State leads the overall series 32-12, including a 2-0 victory at the Judi Garman Classic in 2008.
Pacific Game Rescheduled
The Bulldogs were scheduled to play a doubleheader in Stockton vs. Pacific on Valentines Day, but due to weather in the Central Valley the games were rained out. On March 31 at 2 p.m. the Bulldogs and Tigers will make up one game in Stockton.
Melloh on the Rise
Morgan Melloh finished her freshman campaign as the school record holder for strikeouts in a single season with 454. With 56 already in 2009, Melloh has 510 for her career she is now in ninth place on the Fresno State career strikeout list. She needs just 11 more to reach Carie Dever at No. 8 with 521 strikeouts. The school's all-time record holder is Jamie Southern with 1,321 strikeouts.
Melloh's strikeout/7 inning ratio was 8.8 after her freshman season and has jumped up to 9.0 with 56 strikeouts in just over 37.2 innings this year. Melloh has pitched 398 innings in her career and once at 400 IP she can be tracked officially by the NCAA. She needs a minimum 500 IP to rank on the Bulldog career record list.
Proficient Perkins
Senior Haley Perkins has proved in her three plus years as a Bulldog that she can do it all. She has played shortstop, third base and second base. She has proved she can steal bases, hit home runs and lead the team. Her senior season, Perkins is continuing to do all of those things and permanently ink her name into the Fresno State career record book. She currently ranks No. 6 in batting average (.368), No. 10 in triples (10), No. 9 in slugging percentage (.469), No. 12 in steals (22), and No. 56 in hit by pitch (23). Before her career is over she will more than likely also rank in the top 10 in at bats, hits, runs, total bases and walks.
Speedy Gilleland
Sophomore shortstop Haley Gilleland stole 23 bases out of 24 attempts in 2008 which ranked second in a single season at Fresno State. Gilleland stole her first base of the season vs. UNC on Feb. 21 and now is tied for 10th on the Fresno State career list with Becky Witt. She is just one stolen base away from tying Wende Ward at No. 9 with 25 stolen bases. Becky Witt is the school record holder with 51 from 1998-2001.
Melloh Named WAC Pitcher of the Week
Morgan Melloh earned her first WAC Pitcher of the Week honors and the sixth of her career after going 2-0 for the then ranked No. 12/14 Fresno State softball team on opening weekend. Melloh pitched two complete game shutouts, allowing only four hits and three walks while striking out 24 batters. She struck out 13 batters and gave up just three hits against Wisconsin in the season opener then pitched a one-hitter vs. Cal State Northridge in the Bulldogs 3-0 win in eight innings.
Toyota/gobulldogs Student-Athlete of the Week
Morgan Melloh was named the Toyota/gobulldogs.com Student-Athlete of the Week for her play on opening season, becoming the first softball player in 2009 to receive the honor. Freshman Michelle Moses was honored on Feb. 23 for her play in the Cathedral City Classic as she hit two-two run home runs, one off of No. 20 North Carolina to end the Tarheel's pitcher Danielle Spauldings 41.0-scoreless inning streak. She also hit a two-run home run in the top of the first inning to give the Bulldogs the 2-0 lead over No. 4 UCLA.
Cathedral City Kick-Off
Fresno State began opening weekend at the Cathedral City Kick-Off where they finished with a 3-1 record. The Bulldogs defeated Wisconsin in the season opener 5-0 before falling to Fordham 5-2. On day two, Fresno State recorded another shutout, 2-0, over Liberty. Due to rain earlier that morning however, Fresno State's game vs. then ranked No. 13/16 Houston was cancelled and will not be rescheduled. The Bulldogs finished the tournament in dramatic fashion with a 3-0 eight inning victory over Cal State Northridge. The Bulldogs hit two home runs in the top of the eighth inning, a two-run bomb by freshman Michelle Moses way over the right field wall, then a solo shot at the next at bat that was just fair down the left field line by sophomore catcher Caitlin Stiglich.
Pre-Season All-WAC Senior Haley Perkins and sophomore Morgan Melloh were named to the pre-season All-WAC team voted on by the WAC coaches. Melloh was also named the pre-season Pitcher of the Year after she was named the 2008 WAC Freshman and Pitcher of the Year.
The Bulldogs were also picked to win their 21st conference title. This is the 12th time in the last 14 years that the Bulldogs have been favored to win the regular season conference championship. Fresno State has also won two WAC Tournament titles in the six years of its existence (1999, 2007).
USA Softball Top 50 Watch List
Haley Perkins and Morgan Melloh also received pre-season recognition from USA Softball as they were two of 50 players named to the Top 50 Pre-Season Player of the Year Watch List. The 2009 Pre-Season Watch List is comprised of 50 players representing 32 schools and 13 different NCAA Division I Conferences. Melloh and Perkins are joined by fellow WAC opponent Noelle Micka (Nevada) representing the conference. Fresno State is one of 10 schools to have two student-athletes on the list while four schools placed three each on the list.
Pre-Season Top 25 Polls
Fresno State earned top 15 rankings by both top 25 pre-season polls. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) ranked the Bulldogs No. 14. Fresno State has been ranked for 27 consecutive seasons and in 244 out of the 270 weekly polls. This is the highest pre-season ranking for the Bulldog since they received a No. 9 ranking in 2001. In 2008 the `Dogs reached as high as No. 10, their highest in-season ranking since 2002.
The ESPN.com/USA Softball pre-season top 25 poll ranked the Bulldogs No. 12 in their poll. This is the highest preseason ranking the Bulldogs have earned from the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll since it began at the start of the 2006 season. Last year, the Bulldogs reached as high as No. 9 in the poll during the season and finished No. 15 in the top 25 final poll at the end of the season
Strength of Schedule Head coach Margie Wright is known for playing the best-of-the-best year in and year out but the 2009 schedule could arguably be one of the toughest in school history. The Bulldogs will take on 15 teams who made last year's NCAA Tournament, three teams from the WCWS, 12 ranked in the NFCA pre-season top 25 and three others receiving votes.
Season and Single-Game Tickets on Sale
Softball season and single-game tickets are now on sale. Single-game tickets in lower box areas are $15 and upper reserved seating is $8. Discounts are available for senior citizens and youth in the softball general admission areas and the baseball upper reserved areas. Senior tickets are $5 and youth tickets are $3 (ages 5-18). The softball Opening Night Plan is a four-game package, including the opening night game versus Utah Valley University on Feb. 26 and any three other home games. This package is only $22 for adults and provides discounts for youth. The softball WAC Pack includes six home dates, beginning with the game against San Jose State on Friday, March 20. The package also includes the Nevada and Hawai'i series. This package is only $33 for adults and provides discounts for youth.
Season tickets for softball range from $63 - $250. All packages include each of the 14 home dates including the annual Fresno State Tournament at Bulldog Diamond, with the Dogs taking on Cal on Sunday, March 8.
Bayer CropScience Classic
The annual Fresno State softball tournament at Bulldog Diamond has a new sponsor beginning in the 2009 season. Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG is one of the world's leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology.
This year's tournament includes BYU, Providence, Northern Illinois and Cal along with the host Bulldogs. The tournament runs March 5-8.
`Dogs to Host WAC Tournament
Fresno State will host the 2009 WAC Tournament at Bulldog Diamond, May 5-9. The top seven teams at the end of the regular season will compete in the double-elimination tournament. The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. (Eight teams in the WAC now sponsor softball with Boise State joining the conference this year.)
Bulldogs on Radio/TV
There will be plenty of opportunities to view the Bulldogs on television and listen to them on the air in 2009. Comcast Local 14 will broadcast six games throughout the season live from Bulldog Diamond, beginning on Sunday, March 8 vs. Cal at 1 p.m. Guy Haberman and Aubrey Fast will be announcing the games.
790 the Deuce ESPN Radio will broadcast all of the Bulldogs 2009 home games with Paul Swearengin and Guy Haberman calling the action live from Bulldog Diamond.
Internet streaming of select Bulldog road games will be made available on the all-access page. Alyssa Chambers will be calling all of the games live from the road.
Bulldog Blog
The Fresno State Media Relations office will blog throughout the season about the Fresno State softball team. To view the softball blog and blogs from all of the 17 varsity teams at Fresno State, log on to www.gobulldogs.com and click on the Bulldog Blog button on the right side of the main page.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The `Dogs' home opener is Thursday, February 26 against Utah Valley. First pitch at Bulldog Diamond is scheduled for 6:00 pm. It's Hero's Night at Bulldog Diamond and tickets can be purchased by visiting the Bulldog Ticket Office, calling 278-DOGS or online at gobulldogs.com.
