Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Topped on Opening Day of NCAA Regional
5/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
By: Kimberly Fisher
kimfisher@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
EUGENE, Ore.- The Fresno State softball team fell to No. 24 North Dakota State 4-0 on Thursday afternoon as they competed in the opening game of the 2015 Eugene Regional at Howe Field.
"Today didn't go the way I had anticipated," head coach Trisha Ford said. "Obviously North Dakota State did a great job, we just have to minimize some of our walks and get the hit when we have runners in scoring position. I thought we did a good job of going deep In the count but we need to put the ball on the ground."
A hitless first inning was highlighted by starting pitcher Jill Compton's back-to-back Bison strikeouts, making her first postseason appearance as a Bulldog junior. The righty tossed a total of five strikeouts on Thursday, giving up only three hits in her six inning showing.
Without a single hit on the board, North Dakota State tallied the first run of the game in the second inning on four-consecutive walks and held the lead through to remaining four innings of play.
"What it comes down to is they came ready to play today and we didn't," senior Brenna Moss said. "Our mental game wasn't there today and that's on us. I can see the nerves of this being our first postseason in a couple years, but there's really no excuse for it."
Offensively, number nine batter Whitney Smith served as the `Dogs first baserunner after drawing a two-out walk in the top of the third inning.
The first hit of the game came in the third inning in favor of North Dakota State where a single up the middle scored the second run of the game followed by a base hit to score two additional Bison base runners. Through three complete innings of play, the Bison led 4-0.
Senior outfielder Michelle Solomon recorded the first hit for Fresno State with a single to left field, followed by a one-out walk drawn by Kierra Willis in the top of the fourth.
Junior designated player Bria Kennedy led off the top of the fifth inning drawing a walk, being the fourth Bulldog to reach base against the Bison.
Solomon led the team after posting the `Dogs only two hits of the game in her three at-bats on Thursday. Fresno State will be back in action tomorrow at 2 p.m., competing against the loser of the Oregon and BYU.
"We weren't aggressive with what our plan was at the plate," Ford added. "We put the ball in the air all but two times and the two times that we put the ball on the ground we were able to get baserunners so I think that was our biggest thing. Jill is going to keep us in the ballgame, we had a couple tough calls that didn't go our way and the walks hurt us today but she's our ace and the one that has got us here, she'll be better tomorrow. Hopefully we got the cobwebs off and will come out ready to go tomorrow."
Fans can listen to tomorrow's 2 p.m. game live on 940 Am ESPN Radio with Christian Lukens calling the action live in Eugene, Ore. Also, follow Fresno State softball's twitter account (@FresnoStateSB) for live updates, a stream of the game will be provided at GoDucks.com, compliments of tournament host Oregon.
Regionals are constructed of 32 programs which received an automatic bid, while the remaining 32 teams were selected on an at-large basis to make up a 64-team playing field. The NCAA Super Regionals are slated for May 21-24 at eight selected campus sites. A best-of-three tournament format will determine who advances to the 34th annual NCAA Division I Softball Championship (May 28- June 3), held for the 25th time at the Oklahoma City/ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.
EUGENE REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 14
Game 1 - 2:00 p.m. North Dakota St. vs. Fresno St.
Game 2 - 5:00 p.m. Oregon vs. BYU
Friday, May 15
Game 3 - 11:00 a.m. Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 4 - 2:00 p.m. Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 5 - 5:00 p.m. Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3
Saturday, May 16
Game 6 - 1:00 p.m. Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 7 - 4:00 p.m. Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary)
"Be Bold!" - The official home of Fresno State Softball is 790 AM ESPN2 The Deuce.
