Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
San Jose State
Bulldog Freshman Pitch 'Dogs to Win
3/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
By: Matt Burkholder
mburkholder@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif. - Redshirt freshman Anthony Arias started Saturday's game for Fresno State while true freshman Ricky Thomas finished it behind 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief work to give the Diamond 'Dogs a 9-2 win at Beiden Field. The two paired for 13 strikeouts in the win.
"Those two freshman are the future of our program," said head coach Mike Batesole. "They have a chance to be real Friday night guys someday."
Arias, in his third career start, pitched into the fifth until he ran into some trouble. Thomas inherited a bases loaded situation needing two outs, and was just shy of inducing a double play to end the inning against the first batter he faced, Dillan Smith. The result allowed the Spartans to plate one run before the inning ended on the next at-bat.
Thomas, in his first appearance since Feb. 24, would go on to retire the next 11 batters he faced in a row, starting in the sixth by retiring the side with three strikeouts. For the effort, he earned his first collegiate win.
The Bulldog hitters broke up the game for the two freshman pitchers in the fourth, striking for seven runs on five hits and two errors. Fresno State led 9-1 after four full innings.
"[Matt Brown] that [San Jose State] threw had good stuff," Batesole said. "But once we got a little crack in there and they had to make four outs instead of three, that opened it up," referring to the errors made by SJSU in the fourth.
Kevin Viers and Brody Russell hit back-to-back home runs during the onslaught. Viers led Fresno State going 2-for-5 with three RBI and a home run. He has homered in consecutive games against SJSU. Russell hit his first home run since Feb. 15 vs. UC Irvine.
Fresno State (13-11, 5-3 MW) will go for the series sweep against SJSU (7-15, 1-7 MW) on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Bulldog senior RHP Garrett Mundell (1-1, 2.37 ERA) is projected to face off against the Spartans' righty Hilario Tovar (1-0, 7.62 ERA) in the finale.
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