Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Buffalo
Pepsi Johnny Quik Classic Champs
3/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 14, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State used a nine-run second inning, excellent pitching and solid defense to cruise to a 20-0 victory over the Buffalo Bulls in the final game of the 2009 Pepsi Johnny Quik Classic Tournament. Fresno State pounded out 21 hits in the game and sophomore Jake Floethe threw six shutout innings.
A crowd of 2,922 watched the game as the attendance for the entire tournament was the highest in years.
The win gave the Dogs the tournament title after racking up a 5-1 record in the week-long classic, which in its 31st year, also featured University of Portland and Cal State Bakersfield.
Fresno State improved to 10-5 on the season.
The Bulldogs powered their way to the title outscoring the competition 65-12 in the six games.
"It was a good week. It was good to get a lot of the freshman out there, any time you can get them out there for eight games in eight days is good," said head coach Mike Batesole. "All the things that they got to learn this week and win some games while your learning is better than learning and losing."
The Dogs got on the scoreboard in the first when sophomore shortstop Danny Muno, the leadoff batter, drew a walk and advanced to third base on a botched pick-off attempt that allowed the ball to roll down the right field line.
After Alan Ahmady drew a walk, Tom Mendonca singled to the right side of the infield, giving the Dogs a 1-0 lead. It was Muno's 17th run of the season, most on the team.
The Bulldogs bats stayed hot in the second inning, as they scored nine runs on nine hits, eight singles and a grand slam homerun.
The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead when Gavin Hedstrom scored on a Danny Grubb RBI single. Hedstrom started the inning with a walk and stole second base setting up the RBI hit from Grubb.
Muno was hit by a pitch with one out, moving Grubb to second base. Freshman Kenny Wise drew a walk to load the bases for Ahmady, No. 2 in the NCAA in RBIs in 2008. He slapped a single deep past the shortstop for his seventh RBI of the tournament scoring Grubb. Muno went to third base and Wise moved to second.
That set the stage for the biggest hit of the game, a grand slam homerun by Mendonca that easily cleared the right-centerfield fence. It was his third homerun of the classic.
A preseason All-America, Mendonca has six home runs on the season, 35 in his career, and has a team-leading 19 RBIs this season. He has 126 RBis in his career, needing seven more to move into 10th place on the career Bulldog list. That gave the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead.
Steve Detwiler singled and reached second on an error. Hedstrom, batting for the second time in the inning, pulled a single to left field that brought home Detwiler.
Dusty Robinson followed with a two-out single. Grubb added his second RBI of the inning with a single up the middle that scored Hedstrom and moved Robinson, running on a 3-2 pitch, to third base, and gave the Bulldogs a 9-0 lead.
Muno made it 10-0 with a single between the Bulls' pitchers' legs that brought Robinson home from third base and pushed Grubb to third.
The Dogs got four more runs in the fourth inning that was started with a three-run homerun by Wise, his second of the season. That extended Fresno State's lead to 13-0. Detwiler added an RBI single that brought in Ahmady later in the inning to make the scored 14-0.
Prior to the tournament, the Bulldogs beat the Bulls 22-4.
Sophomore Jake Floethe (2-0, 0.90 ERA) made his fourth start of the season on the mound for the Bulldogs.
Floethe cruised through the first six innings, allowing just four hits while pitching a shutout. In the fifth inning, he got out of slight jam by getting the Bulls to ground into a double play with runners on first and third base and one out. It was Fresno State's ninth double play of the tournament.
He earned the victory to improve to 3-0 on the young season, and posts an impressive 0.69 ERA. Tom Harlan (0-0, 0.00 ERA) replaced Floethe in the seventh inning.
"Floethe pitched well, our whole pitching staff threw a great game tonight," said Muno. "We are feeding off each other, one guy gets a hit and the next guy continues the momentum. We are getting great at bats."
Fresno State scored three more in the bottom of the fifth inning, all with two outs, to run the score to 16-0. Jake Johnson, pinch hitting for Wise, hit a two-RBI single.
The next batter, Ahmady doubled over the right fielder's head to score Johnson and gave the Bulldogs a 17-0 lead. Ahmady has 13 RBIs on the season.
The Dogs had one more run in the seventh inning, coming off the bat of sophomore Nick Hom, who had a sacrifice fly out to right field that allowed Trent Garrison to score and gave Fresno State an 18-0 lead heading into the eighth inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Fresno State loaded the bases and scored two more runs to make the final score 20-0.
Four Bulldogs had three hits each in the game, Mendonca, Muno, Grubb and Ahmady. Muno and Robinson each scored three runs apiece.
"Seeing these guys swinging is unbelievable," said Floethe. "Once we get going we can't be stopped."
Muno was named the Ted Gavrilis Most Valuable Player of the tournament in leading the Dogs to the title. He batted .428 in the tournament with 10 runs.
Senior pitcher Holden Sprague was named the Most Outstanding Pitcher after going 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA in the tournament.
Mendonca was selected the Most Outstanding Defensive Player.
Portland's Cort Carpenter was selected the tournament's Most Outstanding Hitter.
2009 Pepsi Johnny Quik Final Standings
Fresno State: 5-1
Portland: 3-3
Buffalo: 3-3
Cal State Bakersfield: 1-5
2009 Pepsi Johnny Quik All-Tournament Team
Most Outstanding Pitcher: Holden Sprague, Fresno State
Most Outstanding Hitter: Cort Carpenter, Portland
Most Outstanding Defensive Player: Tom Mendonca, Fresno State
Ted Gavrilis Most Valuable Player: Danny Muno, Fresno State
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The Fresno State baseball team hits the road this weekend with a four-game series at Loyola Marymount March 20-22.
