Fresno State Athletics
No. 9 Dogs Host USF Dons
3/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 30, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
FRESNO, Calif. - The Bulldogs finish their 11-game homestand this weekend against San Francisco for the last home series before conference play. The Dogs have won seven straight games and are 14-1 at home. Fresno State kicks off the 2011 WAC season on the road at San Jose State on April 8.
Fresno State vs. San Francisco About the Dons Dogs Against the West Coast Conference None Fewer Than Two Ranking the Dogs Bulldogs Versus Ranked Opponents How the Dogs Stack Up Nationally Best in the WAC Fresno State Wins Historic 22-Inning Game Home Field Advantage Series Happenings 940 KYNO New Home of Fresno State baseball "We Are Your Team!" Fresno State continues its homestand this week with games against Ohio State and San Diego. The Bulldogs face the Buckeyes March 22-23 at 6:05 p.m. and on March 25-27 the Toreros come to Beiden Field for a four-game series. Log on to gobulldogs.com for tickets.
San Francisco is 11-14 on the season. The Dons are coming off a midweek loss to Cal, 4-0. USF is hitting .253 with 44 doubles, six home runs and 82 RBIs. Pete Lavin has a .337 batting average with a team-high three triples and 19 walks. Starter Matt Lujan has an ERA 3.46 and a record of 3-2. The USF pitching staff has struck out a total of 175 strikeouts. The Dons have allowed 96 runs and 203 hits in 22 games.
Fresno State has an overall record of 306-128 against schools in the West Coast Conference. The Bulldogs have played all seven schools in the WCC. The Dogs also have a winning record against every WCC school. Fresno State plays three WCC schools in 2011 and has a 6-0 record after playing Pepperdine. The Dogs look for a clean sweep over WCC teams this weekend after a three-game series against San Francisco.
The Bulldogs are one of two Top 25 teams that has only two loses, which is the least amount in the country. Fresno State has the second best winning percentage in college baseball with a 18-2 record (.900) and Virginia leads the nation with a record of 24-2 (.923). The teams that are ranked higher than the Dogs in the Top 10 range between three and seven loses on the season.
The Bulldogs broke into the Top 10 of Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball Top 25 polls. The Dogs are No. 9 in both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball's polls. Currently, Fresno State is ranked in all four major baseball polls. The Bulldogs moved up five spots to No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches poll. The fourth poll the Bulldogs are ranked in is the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association at No. 15, which is up six spots from last week.
The Bulldogs compiled a record of 8-1 against teams that are currently or were in the top 30 polls. The Dogs swept a three-game series over San Diego, who was ranked no. 28 in a preseason poll. Both CSU Bakersfield and Nebraska broke into the Collegiate Baseball
Newspaper poll the week that they faced the Dogs. The Roadrunners were ranked No. 30 and the Huskers were ranked No. 29. Fresno State also had two wins over now ranked No. 23 Oregon State. The last ranked team the Dogs faced was then No. 25 New Mexico State last season.
The Bulldogs rank among the top 20 in the nation in several statistical categories. As a team, the Dogs have the 14th best ERA (2.38) in the country and the second best winning percentage (.900). Dusty Robinson is third in doubles per game (.65), 18th in doubles (11), seventh in home runs per game (.35) and 12th in slugging percentage (.736). Danny Muno is ninth in the country in walks per game (1.05). Junior Charlie Robertson is fourth in the nation in saves with eight. Greg Gonzalez has the 19th best ERA in the country (0.90), fifth in the nation in wins (5) and seventh in hits allowed per nine innings (4.28).
As a team the Bulldogs lead the WAC in ERA (2.38), opposing batting average (.229), wins (18), earned runs allowed (50) and saves (10). Fresno State is second in the WAC in batting average (.286), slugging percentage (.429), doubles (43), triples (7), home runs (14) and sacrifice bunts (20). The Dogs are third in the WAC in on base percentage (.362), runs (129), hits (198) and RBI's (121). Dusty Robinson leads the WAC in home runs with six and doubles with 11. Greg Gonzalez has the best ERA in the conference 0.90 and has struck out a conference-high 45 batters. Charlie Robertson leads the league in saves with eight.
The Bulldogs played a school record 22-inning game against San Diego on March 26. After 13 extra innings, the Dogs finally drove a run across breaking the tie and winning, 3-2. The game lasted seven hours and 12 minutes, which is also a Fresno State record. The longest game in NCAA Division I history was 25 innings in 2009 by Texas and Boston College. The Bulldogs shattered several Fresno State and NCAA single-game records along the way. Brennan Gowens broke the NCAA record for at-bats in a game (11). The Bulldogs broke the NCAA at-bat record with 81 and by both teams with a total of 162. The Dogs tied the NCAA record of 66 putouts in a single game and broke the record of total chances with 101.
Fresno State will play 35 games at Pete Beiden Field in 2011. The Bulldogs are 14-1 and are on a seven game-winning streak at home this season. Since 2003 the Dogs have had a winning record at Beiden Field. Under Batesole, the Dogs are 183-100 at home. The best home record in Batesole's tenure came in 2006 when the Bulldogs went 34-1 at Beiden Field.
On Saturday, all youth baseball and softball players in 8th grade or younger get in to the game free with a paid adult. And on Sunday, all veterans and active military get into the game for free. Children are welcome to play catch in the outfield or run the bases following the game.
Fresno State Athletics announced that it will partner with 940 KYNO in airing the 2011 baseball season. 940 KYNO will be the new home of Bulldog baseball for the next three years. Paul Loeffler will remain the voice of Fresno State baseball. Ray O'Canto will return for his fourth season as the color commentator.
