Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Grasp Series over Nevada
4/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
By: Kimberly Fisher
kimfisher@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif.- Following a one-hit shutout on Friday night, the Fresno State softball team claimed the series against Nevada on Saturday evening, edging the Wolf Pack 5-3 during "Bark in the Park" at Margie Wright Diamond.
The Bulldogs stand alone atop of the Mountain West conference with a 35-14 overall record and 16-4 during the regular season.
"We started Jill [Compton] tonight which is the first time we've done that this year," head coach Trisha Ford said. "She did a great job of coming out and being solid for about five innings and I think Hannah [Harris] did a phenomenal job of coming in any shutting them down."
The first hit of the game came from Bulldog leftfielder Kierra Willis who tripled to center field and reached home on a single up the middle from Paige Gumz, scoring the `Dogs first run. Fresno State packed on two more runs on a pair of singles and a walk, capping the second inning with a 3-0 lead over the Wolf Pack.
After setting a new single-game high of 11 strikeouts on Friday night, Jill Compton (24-10) drew the start in the circle and tossed the duration of five innings in what was the second game of the weekend series against Nevada. Heading into Saturday's action with 200 strikeouts on the season, Compton added seven against Nevada before junior Hannah Harris came in relief at the top of the sixth.
"I was really proud of Hannah's effort and the fact that we got hits when we needed to get hits," Ford added. "If you look at the top of our lineup that's where most of our hits came from and Whitney [Smith] had two RBIs at the bottom of the lineup, she is doing a heck of a job turning our lineup over. Bria [Kennedy] had some very solid at-bats with bases loaded, she has taken walks in very critical moments and I think she's doing a great job. Our defense held up and we got the timely hits when we needed them."
Harris went the distance of two complete innings, allowing Nevada no hits or runs and striking out one of the six batters faced during what was her first save of the season. The junior righty holds a 2.38 earned run average behind Compton at 1.93 on the season.
The Bulldogs added two additional runs on four walks and a single in the bottom of the third and held a 5-0 lead through four innings of play. Bulldog catcher Paige Gumz led the team on Saturday night posting two hits in four at-bats and scored one run for the `Dogs while junior shortstop Whitney Smith had a team-leading two runs batted in on the night.
Nevada (14-32, 4-13 MW) regained three runs in the top of the fifth inning off of five hits and one Bulldog defensive error.
Weekend Promotions
The final 2015 home game will be on Sunday, April 26 where the senior class will be honored before the third game against Nevada at 12 p.m. Join us as we thank our seniors for their hard work and dedication to the Bulldog softball program!
Looking Ahead
Senior day at Margie Wright Diamond will be held Sunday afternoon prior to the series finale against Nevada at 12 p.m. Following this weekend's action, Fresno State will travel to Stockton, Calif., for a single non-conference game with the University of Pacific on Saturday, May 2 before competing in the final regular season series against UNLV at Eller Media Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev.
"Be Bold!" - The official home of Fresno State Softball is 790 AM ESPN2 The Deuce. For ticket information contact the Bulldog Ticket Office at 559-278-3647 or log on to www.gobulldogs.com.
