Fresno State Athletics
Big Weekend Ahead at Bulldog Diamond
3/7/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Bayer CropScience Classic Central | Fresno State Game Notes
March 7, 2012
By Jason Clay
jaclay@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
Bayer CropScience Classic
Fresno State (12-7)
Dates: March 9-11, 2012
Site: Bulldog Diamond (3,288) - Fresno, Calif.
Radio: ESPN 790 AM
TV: None
Live Stats: Gametracker Links
FRESNO, Calif. - Some of the best softball the nation has to offer will be at one of the finest softball stadiums in America this weekend as Fresno State hosts the Bayer CropScience Classic at Bulldog Diamond, March 9-11.
Fresno State (12-7) plays host to six teams this weekend in its annual classic where Bayer CropScience is in its third year as the title sponsor. The field of this years tournament is as good as it gets with the Bulldogs, No. 2/1 California and No. 18/15 Oregon highlighting the field. Also traveling to Fresno is Butler, Connecticut, Purdue and San Diego State.
Last year in the Bayer CropScience Classic, the then 23rd-ranked Bulldogs posted a 5-1 record with the lone loss coming to No. 11 Cal. Fresno State looks to avenge that loss and pick up its second victory over a top 10 program this season.
Back on Feb. 25 in the Cathedral City Classic, the Bulldogs defeated No. 7 UCLA 6-3. The `Dogs are 1-1 against ranked teams this year, losing to No. 15 Arizona in that same tournament. Fresno State, which is the only NCAA Division I program to make all 30 NCAA Tournaments, has seven victories over top 10 teams since 2007 as well as 32 victories over teams ranked in the top 25.
This weekend kicks off an eight-game home stand for the Bulldogs that ends next Tuesday, March 13 when Fresno State plays Butler and Purdue in a doubleheader. Those Tuesday games are not a part of the Bayer CropScience Classic.
Fresno State is 7-2 at home this year and is 415-85 (.830) all-time at Bulldog Diamond since its 3,288-seat facility opened in 1996. Bulldog Diamond has received a face-lift and Fresno State will unveil its new scoreboard at this weekends tournament.
Fans can get into the stadium for free on Friday by wearing any baseball or softball jersey and on Saturday, anyone with a military ID will receive free admittance as part of Fresno State's season-long Wounded Warrior Project Salute to Saturday's.
ESPN2 790 AM will broadcast five of Fresno State's six games this weekend. The only one that won't be live is Fresno State's tournament opener against UConn at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
Fresno State has seen a pitcher throw a no-hitter in each of the last three weekends, the last two by senior Michelle Moses who has a 1.30 ERA and 101 strikeouts this season.
Offensively, newcomers Stesha Brazil and Brenna Moss have led the `Dogs at the plate. Brazil is batting .345 and ranks second in the WAC with six doubles and Moss leads the league with three triples while hitting .333 on the year.
Fresno State's Series History Versus the Weekend Opponents
UConn: Fresno State has played just four games against Connecticut in program history and all four games were played in Fresno. Friday's game against UConn comes seven years to the day the schools first met on the softball diamond. Fresno State beat the Huskies 3-0 on March 9, 2005 in the first game, but lost the second game of that doubleheader 1-0. In the 2007 Bulldog Classic, Fresno State defeated UConn 3-1 and 8-0 in a doubleheader on March 6.
Oregon: Fresno State has a commanding lead in its series with Oregon, as the `Dogs have won 29 of the 32 games between the schools. The last time the two teams met was on Feb. 29, 2008 in the SDSU Tournament. Andrea Ortega, the only member currently on the team that played the Ducks back in 2008, was used as a pinch runner and scored a run in Fresno State's 4-1 victory. All four Bulldog runs scored that day came in the top of the seventh.
Purdue: Fresno State is 3-0 all-time against Purdue. The first game of the series came in the Bulldog Classic on March 10 and then the schools played a doubleheader three days later on a Tuesday as Purdue was in California on its spring break trip. The Bulldogs won the three games by a combined score of 14-5.
California: Cal is the one school that Fresno State has faced the most in program history, as Sunday's game against the Bears will be the 107th between the two schools. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 63-43, but the programs have met just 12 times since 2000 with Cal winning seven of the 12. Last year, the Bears defeated the `Dogs 6-2 in the Bayer CropScience Classic. The loss, which came when Cal was ranked No. 11, was Fresno State's only loss of the tournament.
Butler: Fresno State and Butler have never met before in softball. Butler is one of four schools, joining North Dakota State, Saint Joseph's and Charlotte, that Fresno State plays for the first time ever in 2012.
Making the Most of An Opportunity
Sophomore infielder Vonnie Martin got her first shot in the starting lineup last weekend and she sure made the most of it. Martin started all five games for the `Dogs in the San Diego State Classic, four at third base and one as the designated player. She had at least one hit in all five games and she had two doubles and one home run on the weekend. Her homer was her second of the season and of her seven hits on the year (in 18 at-bats), four have gone for extra bases. Martin scored a team-high five runs last weekend.
Coming Through In the Clutch
Fresno State came through when it needed to in the 5-1 victory over Charlotte last Sunday. All five Bulldog runs in the game came with two outs along with six of their 10 hits in the game. Stesha Brazil and Brenna Moss, Fresno State's top two hitters this year, have also been the best with two outs. Brazil is 9-for-19 (.474) when coming to the plate with two outs and Moss is 8-for-18 (.444). Brazil has a team-leading seven two-out RBIs and Moss has six. Moss is batting .381 with runners in scoring position and fellow freshmen Maria Sio is batting .364 with runners on second and third. As a team, Fresno State is hitting .245 with runners in scoring position and .248 with two outs.
No. 1 Coming To Town
Two highly ranked teams are coming to Bulldog Diamond this weekend. Cal is ranked No. 1 by USA Softball and No. 2 in the NFCA Poll and Oregon is at No. 15 and 18, respectively, in the two polls. Fresno State is no stranger to playing top-ranked teams, as it annually plays one of the toughest schedules in the country. The Bulldogs have played 21 games at home against ranked teams over the last five years. From 2007-11, Fresno State had 31 wins over top 25 teams, including six over top 10 programs. Then this year, Fresno State defeated No. 7 UCLA on Feb. 25 to give the Bulldogs seven wins over top 10 teams since `07 and 32 over ranked teams. With a shot at No. 2/1 Cal on Sunday, Fresno State will have a chance to pick up its biggest victory since beating No. 2 Arizona State on March 16, 2007.
Moses Throws Another No-Hitter
For the second week in a row, Fresno State senior pitcher Michelle Moses threw a no-hitter. She did so last Saturday in a 3-0 win over Saint Joseph's. It was the third no-hitter of her career and the 69th in program history. In her flawless performance, Moses recorded nine strikeouts and she induced four fly outs to the outfield, two pop outs in the infield and two foul outs in her 103-pitch outing. For the week, Moses went 2-1 in three starts with two complete games. In her other win, a 4-1 victory over San Diego State, Moses didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning and she had 10 strikeouts in the game with one unearned run. It was her third game of the season posting 10 or more strikeouts and the 15th of her career. Moses only allowed 10 total hits in 20.0 innings pitched over the weekend and just four earned runs. Opposing batters are hitting just .155 off her this year and her 101 strikeouts are 23 more than any other pitcher in the WAC. Moses is 7-5 in the circle with a 1.30 ERA. In her losses this season Moses has received little help from her offense, as the `Dogs have scored one or no runs in four out of her five defeats. Moses has given up just 43 hits in 83 innings pitched this year and just 1.75 runs on average in her 12 starts where she has thrown 10 complete games.
On A Tear
Over the last 10 games, freshman Brenna Moss is hitting .412 with 14 hits, two triples, six RBIs and four runs scored. She leads the team in hits, triples and runs driven in over the last 10 games. For the season Moss is second on the team with a .333 batting average, but her 21 hits lead the squad and she also leads the WAC with three triples. Moss has started all 19 games this year in center field for the Bulldogs and she enters the weekend with a seven-game hitting streak.
Double It Up
Sophomore Stesha Brazil leads the team and is tied for second in the WAC with six doubles this season. Last weekend, two of her five hits were doubles and actually, she had three extra base hits over the weekend as she added one triple to her line. Brazil has 20 hits on the season and seven of them have gone for extra bases. She has driven in eight runs and scored 10 times while her .345 batting average is the best on the team.
First To Score
Fresno State has a 10-1 record this year when it scores first. The only loss came on Feb. 24 when it scored a second-inning run against Iowa, but ended up losing that day 7-1. When its opponent scores first, the Bulldogs own a 2-6 record. The two wins came in the season-opener against Toledo and in the third game of the season on Feb. 11 against UC Riverside. Another key that hasn't happened all that much, but tends to bode well for the `Dogs is scoring in the first inning. Fresno State has scored in the first inning five times this year and it owns a 4-1 record in those games. When the Bulldogs allow their opponent to score in the first inning, Fresno State is 0-3.
Levesque Picks Up First Career Victory
Freshman pitcher Destinee Levesque earned her first career victory last Sunday against Charlotte when she threw 5.2 scoreless innings of relief. She entered the circle in the second inning with a 2-1 lead and Charlotte had one runner on-base with one out. Levesque got out of that inning and despite walking three of the first seven batters she faced, she settled in and started to take over the game. In all, Levesque only gave up two hits to the 23 batters she faced and she had three strikeouts. For the season, Levesque has made three relief appearances and owns a 3.68 ERA while opposing batters are hitting .260 against her.
This-N-That
• Senior pitcher/utility player Michelle Moses needs eight more strikeouts to become the 11th Bulldog pitcher in Fresno State history with 500 strikeouts in a career.
• Fresno State is 10-1 this season when holding its opponent to under three runs and is 10-2 when its scores three or more runs itself.
• Brooke Ortiz had her six-game hitting streak snapped last Sunday when she went 0-for-2 against Charlotte. That was the longest hitting streak of her career. As a freshman in 2011, Ortiz hit safely in five-straight games form March 13-18. Over her last six games of this season, she has posted three two-hit games, is batting .444 and has scored two runs and driven in a pair.
• Designated player Courtney Moore had a strong tournament last weekend in San Diego, going 5-for-12 with a walk and two sacrifice hits. Moore has been Fresno State's DP in 14-of-19 games this season and she is batting .290 with two home runs and seven RBIs. Her four sacrifice hits on the year lead the team.
• The eight freshmen on Fresno State's roster have combined to appear in 71 games and make 58 starts. Brenna Moss and Mario Sio have both started every single game this year and Michelle Solomon has played in 18 and started 16.
• Fresno State has not lost a game this year in which it led after the fourth inning. However, Fresno State is 0-4 when trailing after four innings.
Mid-Major Rankings
Fresno State continues to stay at No. 3 in the mid-major rankings behind Hawai'i and Louisiana-Lafayette, who are both 17-0 this season. The Bulldogs will have their shot to surpass the two, as Fresno State plays UL on March 16 and at Hawai'i for a three-game series at the end of April. The Mid-Major poll can be found at http://midmajorpoll.blogspot.com.
