Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
UC Irvine
Bulldogs Walk-Off to 5-4 Win on Opening Night
2/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
By: Matt Burkholder
mburkholder@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State baseball season started with a dogpile in front of 1,626 fans as Kevin Viers played the hero with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to give the 'Dogs a 5-4 win on opening night.
"Everyone played their heart out [tonight]," said Viers. "I figured why can't I do the same and just tried to win the game. He left it over the plate; I went with it, and hoped it fell."
Fresno State (1-0) mounted a 4-0 lead after four innings, before UC Irvine (0-1) battled back, scoring four unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
"That's a heck of a team that just got done playing in Omaha," said head coach Mike Batesole. "We were throwing strikes and [UC Irvine] was hitting them. The good thing about it is, there were no walks or errors in there [when UCI scored its runs]."
The 'Eaters first cut the lead in half in the fifth after Keston Hiura smacked a two-run home run that carried over the right field fence against starting pitcher Jimmy Lambert. The next inning, UCI scored two runs on three hits off of reliever Tim Borst. That would be all the scoring the Bulldog staff would allow.
Jake Shull (1-0) earned the win in relief, limiting UCI to one hit in 2.0 innings pitched over the eighth and ninth.
The Bulldog bats produced 14 hits to manufacture their five runs. Manny Argomaniz and Brody Russell both accounted for three hits apiece, while clean-up hitter Joe Prior led the team in RBI (2).
Fresno State scored three runs in the third, and another in the fourth.
"What a way to start the season," said starting pitcher Lambert. "It was definitely a battle for all of us, but it makes it feel even better."
The series continues Saturday night at 6:35 p.m. A pair of junior transfers are expected to make their Division-I debuts on the mound for game two. Fresno State southpaw Dylan Lee (College of the Sequoias) will square off against the 'Eaters righty Matt Esparza (Cypress College).
All attendees of the Fresno State men's basketball game can attend Saturday night's game for free with a stub from the hoops game, while other ticket deals include a 2-for-1 Valentine's Day special as well as free admittance for children 12-and-under that wear a youth jersey to the game.
"Be Bold!" - The official home of the Fresno State Bulldogs is 940 AM ESPN Radio.
