Fresno State Athletics
No. 17 Dogs Ready For La Tech
5/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 6, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State baseball team hits the road for its final road Western Athletic Conference series. The Bulldogs face Louisiana Tech May 6-8 before returning home to close out the conference season against New Mexico State may 12-15. The Dogs are 30-9 on the season and 10-5 in the WAC.
Fresno State vs. Louisiana Tech
Fresno State leads the overall series against Louisiana Tech 26-20. The last time the teams met was in 2010 at Beiden Field. Fresno State and La Tech split the four-game series. The Bulldogs won the final two meetings and have a two-game win streak against LTU heading into the weekend.
About La Tech
Louisiana Tech is 25-22 on the season and last weekend won three of four games against Nevada. La Tech is 7-9 in WAC play and in fifth place. LTU is hitting .276 with two triples, 18 home runs and 213 RBIs. Kyle Roliard has the highest batting average at .333 and has nine doubles, a triple and a home run. The LTU pitching staff has an overall ERA of 4.64 and has struck out 295 batters. Starter Mike Jefferson has an ERA of 3.25 and a record of 4-3 on the mound. He also has struck out a team-high 56 batters.
Bulldog Winning Ways
The Bulldogs are among top teams with the fewest losses in the nation. Fresno State has the ninth best winning percentage in college baseball with a 30-9 record (.769). Virginia leads the nation with a record of 42-5 (.894). Virginia, Vanderbilt (38-5) and South Carolina (35-8) are the only teams in the nation with fewer losses than the Bulldogs. The teams that are ranked higher than the Dogs in the Top 10 range between 10 and 16 losses on the season.
How the Dogs Stack Up Nationally
The Bulldogs rank among the top 20 in the nation in several statistical categories. As a team, the Dogs have the sixth best ERA (2.40) in the country, the ninth best winning percentage (.769) and the 12th best fielding percentage (.977). Dusty Robinson is 14th in home runs per game (.31). Charlie Robertson is 13th in the nation in saves (11). Greg Gonzalez is seventh in the nation with a 1.22 ERA and seventh in the nation in strikeouts (88). Gonzalez is also seventh in the country in hits allowed per nine innings (5.25).
Ranking the Dogs
Currently, Fresno State is ranked in all four major baseball polls. The Dogs are No. 19 in Baseball America and No. 18 in Collegiate Baseball's polls. The Bulldogs highest ranking this week is at No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches poll. The fourth poll the Bulldogs are ranked in is the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association at No. 18.
Bulldogs Versus Ranked Opponents
The Bulldogs compiled a record of 13-5 against teams that are currently or were in the top 30 polls. Fresno State split a four-game series with San Jose State and Hawai'i, who were both at one point ranked No. 30 in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll. 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. 3 Oregon State.
Best in the WAC
As a team the Bulldogs lead the WAC in ERA (2.40), earned runs allowed (93), home runs (32), wins (30) and saves (14). Fresno State is second in the WAC in opposing batting average (.242), triples (15), strikeouts (312), slugging percentage (.437) and sacrifice bunts (43). Dusty Robinson leads the WAC in home runs with 11 and slugging percentage at .646. Greg Gonzalez has the best ERA in the conference (1.22) and has struck out a conference-high 88 batters. Charlie Robertson leads the league in saves with 11. Kenny Wise leads the league in triples with three. Austin Wynns is fourth in the league in runners caught stealing with 13.
Red Hot on the Road
After two road trips in 2011, the Bulldogs are 9-5 on the road. Fresno State split a four-game series against San Jose State on the road. The Dogs swept UC Davis at Dobbins Baseball Complex and then won a three-game series at University of Nebraska. Fresno State split a four -game series against San Jose State and lost a midweek to Cal Poly on the road. The Bulldogs were red hot on the road in 2010 and accumulated a record of 17-6 while away from Pete Beiden Field.
The Middle Men
The Bulldogs relievers have been very effective in 2011. The Dogs have three pitchers with substantial innings out of the bullpen this season and have a combined ERA of 1.74. Charlie Robertson, Taylor Garrison and Cody Kendall have a combined 67 strikeouts in 77.2 innings pitched and have allowed only 15 earned runs. Garrison has the best ERA on the team at 1.14 and has allowed only three earned runs in 23.3 innings pitched.
Bulldogs Score First
Head Coach Mike Batesole stresses the importance of scoring first and the Bulldogs are doing just that. Fresno State has outscored opponent 224-119 in 39 games. In the first three innings, the Dogs have outscored opponents 86-41.
"We Are Your Team!" The Bulldogs hit the road for a four-game WAC series against Louisiana Tech May 6-8. The Dogs return to Beiden Field on May 12-15 hosting New Mexico State in their final WAC series of the season. For more information and tickets call 278-DOGS or log on to gobulldogs.com.
