Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
San Jose State
'Dogs Sweep Spartans
3/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
By: Andrew Rich
arich1221@mail.fresnostate.edu
GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif. -- Kevin Viers homered again and the Fresno State bullpen got big outs to escape a jam in a 6-3 win over San Jose State that secured a Mountain West series sweep on Sunday at Beiden Field.
"We're back in the race, right where we want to be," said head coach Mike Batesole.
Leading off the sixth inning, Viers smoked a 0-1 pitch from Turtle Kuhaulua over the right field fence to break a 3-3 tie. The junior homered in all three games of the series and went 7-for-12 with six RBI and four runs scored.
"Whenever you have an opportunity to help the team, you have to find a way and come up clutch and do what you can to help the team," Viers said.
The Bulldogs (14-11, 6-3 MW) added two insurance runs following Viers' solo shot, starting with a Ryan Dobson safety squeeze, followed by an RBI single off the bat of Kenny Corey to give Fresno State a 6-3 after the sixth.
Those insurance runs in the sixth seemed like they would come in handy in the top of the eighth, but the Fresno State bullpen had other plans.
After two hit batters and a single loaded the bases for the Spartans in the eighth, Casey Rodriguez took the mound out of the bullpen. He struck out pinch hitter Alex deWatteville and got leadoff hitter Dillan Smith to pop out to short to record the first two outs of the inning. The Bulldogs then handed the ball to closer Jake Shull and he struck out Ozzy Braff looking to end the threat.
Shull gave up a walk and a single in the ninth, but got Chris Williams to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to secure the sweep and pick up his sixth save of the season.
The Bulldogs made it six consecutive wins in the Mountain West with the win on Sunday. Following a sweep at Nevada, Fresno State has swept UNLV and San Jose State at home.
The win might not have been possible without a dazzling defensive play by the second baseman Corey in the top of the first inning that kept the Spartans off the scoreboard. The freshman went up the middle and went into a slide, then spun and threw to first to get the final out of the inning.
"That play that Kenny Corey made was the play of the weekend," Batesole said. "If he doesn't make that play they score a couple runs. After he made that play you could see their whole dugout just go `oh here we go again' and that was huge."
Next up for the Bulldogs is a midweek game at home on Wednesday against Cal. First pitch will be at 6:35 p.m.
"Be Bold!" - The official home of the Fresno State Bulldogs is 940 AM ESPN Radio.
