Fresno State Athletics
'Dogs Ready for Four-Day Series
3/7/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 7, 2012
By Jennifer Jones
jjones@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State plays its only four-day series of the 2012 season this weekend against the University of San Francisco (March 8-11). The Bulldogs, ranked No. 9 at the time, took the three-game series last year (2-1) on Beiden Field.
Head coach Mike Batesole's 'Dogs will face off against Dons head coach Nino Giarrantano for the 18th time Thursday night.
SERIES PREVIEW: GAMES 13-16
• Fresno State Game Notes
RIVAL HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL
The University of San Francisco is currently a member of the West Coast Conference, but the two programs have been meeting since 1957. Fresno State leads the all-time series 74-15. The Dons are led by head coach Nino Giarratano in his 14th year. Thursday will be the 18th meeting between the coaches in a rivalry that has been highly competitive with the 'Dogs owning the 2011 series, 2-1 (5-3, 4-3, 3-4). Fresno State was ranked No. 9 at the time and Danny Muno went 7-for-11 in the series recording two doubles and a home run. Senior Patrick Hutcheson, junior Austin Wynns and sophomore Aaron Judge are the only returners from the starting lineup during the series.
BULLDOGS AGAINST THE WEST COAST CONFERENCE
Fresno State is 353-145 all-time against current West Coast Conference members. Head coach Mike Batesole's Bulldogs' are 42-32 against WCC teams.
DETAILING THE DONS
San Francisco has started three pitchers consistently through the start of the season: RHPs Kyle Zimmer and Abe Bobb and LHP Christian Cecilio. Zimmer, a junior, and Bobb, a sophomore, have 1.86 and 0.60 ERAs, respectively, and combine for 30 strikeouts. Cecilio, a freshman, is 1-2 on the season with 4.40 ERA. The top sluggers are junior Justin Maffei and senior Mason Morioka with .390 and .293 batting averages, respectively. The duo account for 28 hits, six doubles, one triple and four home runs.
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.
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.
TWO DAY TWOFER
Sophomore Aaron Judge hit back-to-back home runs in his first two at-bats in the 'Dogs 7-4 win over No. 1 Stanford (March 2). He followed the performance with back-to-back doubles in the series finale (March 4) and finished the weekend with four runs, four RBI and was walked three times. He leads the team this year in home runs (2), total bases (21), slugging pct. (.538), on base pct. (.431) and is tied for the lead in doubles (4) and stolen bases (3).
SHUT IT DOWN
Junior Justin Haley 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.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Frenso State is undefeated (2-0) under the Friday night lights at Beiden Field. Tyler Linehan defeated Butler (3-0) in the season opener (Feb. 17) and Justin Haley earned the 7-4 win over No. 1 Stanford (March 2) for his first win of the season. The 'Dogs are 2-1 in series openers this year.
NATIONAL 'DOGS
There are eight Bulldogs currently ranked nationally in individual categories. Sophomore Tyler Linehan is ranked 19th overall in strikeouts. He leads all starters with a 1.29 ERA and has struck out 25 batters this season in three starts, walking only five in 21 innings pitched. He averages over eight strikeouts per game and has given up only three earned runs this season.
FRESNO STATE IN THE WAC
There are over 12 categories where the Bulldogs rank in the top three in the Western Athletic Conference as a team. The Bulldogs are top in batters struck out looking (39) and strikeouts per game (8.75). They are second in strikeouts (103), steals (15), walks allowed per game (2.91) and double plays fielded (11).
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