Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Begin Battle of the 99
3/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 15, 2012
By Jennifer Jones
jjones@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State will face cross-Valley rival CSU Bakersfield in a three-game series this weekend, March 16-18. The Bulldogs dropped their first meeting with the Roadrunners down in Bakersfield this year, but are looking to rebound on their own turf. The teams have been extremely competitive over the past few years. The all-time series is tied 8-8.
Bulldogs' head coach Mike Batesole is just eight wins away from the 600th of his coaching career and only four games away from coaching his 1,000th game.
SERIES PREVIEW: GAMES 18-20
• Fresno State Game Notes
RIVAL HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL
CSU Bakersfield is currently independent of any conference, but will join the Western Athletic Conference for the 2012-13 season. The two programs have been meeting since the Roadrunners' program began in 2009. Friday night will be the 17th meeting of the team's in a series that has been highly competitive over the years and is tied all-time 8-8. The winner of the series this weekend will lead the all-time series between the programs. Fresno State fell 4-0 on the road the last time the teams met (Feb. 22) with five different Bulldogs recording hits.
RUNNING DOWN THE ROADRUNNERS
In his fourth season with CSU Bakersfield, head coach Bill Kernen has led the Roadrunners to a 7-9 record. The team is 1-5 on the road this season. Their lone road win was against UC Santa Barbara (March 6, 7-6). Redshirt senior DC Legg leads their offense with a.380 batting average. The infielder has 19 hits, five doubles, three home runs and 13 RBI. Junior Jeff McKenzie has been their ace on the mound with a 2.05 ERA in four starts. He leads the team with 20 strikeouts in 26.1 innings pitched and has a 1-0 record.
IT'S KIND OF A BIG DEAL
With a 592-403-1 overall record, head coach Mike Batesole is just eight wins away from reaching 600 for his career, and will coach his 1,000th game Tuesday, March 20 against Kent State. He has amassed over 300 wins at Fresno State in nine seasons at the helm and is 169-102 overall in Western Athletic Conference play.
FINISHING STRONG
Fresno State is undefeated this season in games where they are leading after the sixth inning.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Fresno State is undefeated (3-0) under the Friday night lights at Beiden Field. Tyler Linehan defeated Butler (Feb. 17, 3-0) and San Francisco (March 9, 6-2). Justin Haley earned the 7-4 win over No. 1 Stanford (March 2), his first of the year. The 'Dogs are 2-1 in series openers this year.
RED WAVE STAND UP
The series against No. 1 Stanford (March 2-4, 2012) was the highest attended series since 2006. The first game against Stanford was the first non-season opener to reach over 2,900 fans in over six years. Beiden Field averaged over 3,000 fans a game in the series. The 'Dogs had not had a home crowd over 2,900 since the 2010 season opener against Nebraska (3,280) on Feb. 19.
SHUT IT DOWN
Junior Justin Haley has been on fire on the mound and was named WAC Pitcher of the Week (March 12). The 6-5, 225-pound righty held San Francisco scoreless (March 8) for 7.0 innings in his first start of the season. He struck out a career-high nine batters, walking just two while averaging less than four batters faced per inning. He also shut down No. 1 Stanford (March 2) when he came in to relieve starter Tyler Linehan. He gave up no runs, no hits and no walks after striking out three in 3.1 innings pitched. The performance earned him his first win of the season.
SPEED KILLS
Fresno State has stolen 21 of 25 bases attempted this season. Sophomore Aaron Judge and senior Patrick Hutcheson are ranked among the best in the WAC for steals at five each.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Seniors Patrick Hutcheson and Kenneth Wise had big weekend's against San Francisco (March 8-11). They combined for 13 hits, five RBI, four runs, two doubles and two home runs. Hutcheson had multiple hits in three of the four games and Wise finished with a .786 slugging pct.
HOME SWEET HOME
Fresno State will play 36 games in Beiden Field this season, the most since 2007. The Bulldogs play host to 19 of their 20 games in March, starting with No. 1 Stanford (March 2) and ending with New Mexico (March 31). The 'Dogs played over 55 percent of their contests in 2011 at home and won 84 percent of them, boasting a 26-5 record, their best home record in over a decade.
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