Fresno State Athletics
Friday, March 17
USAFA, CO
2:00 PM
Fresno State
9-7, 2-2
5
at
14
Air Force
9-9, 1-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
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H
E
Fresno State
0
0
0
1
2
0
0
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2
5
5
5
Air Force
0
3
0
1
3
3
1
3
X
14
17
2
Photo by: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
'Dogs drop MW road opener at Air Force
3/17/2017 6:23:00 PM | Baseball
USAFA, Colo. - The Fresno State baseball team fell 14-5 in its Mountain West opener at Air Force on Friday afternoon.
Fresno State (9-7, 2-2 MW) was held to a season-low five hits on the afternoon as junior designated hitter Jared Akins led the way with a pair of doubles. Akins now has a team-high nine doubles on the season.
Air Force (9-9, 1-6 MW) slugged out 17 hits as three players had three hits apiece and the Falcons had three extra-base hits.
The Falcons got the scoring started in the bottom of the second inning scoring three runs getting a pair on a RBI double by second baseman Shaun Mize and added a third run on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Bradley Haslam as Mize moved to third base. Bulldog starting pitcher Ricky Tyler Thomas forced shortstop Tyler Zabojnik to groundout to limit the damage.
After an 18-minute delay after an injury to home plate umpire Don Giarratano, the 'Dogs got on the board in the top of the fourth on an RBI groundout by Korby Batesole drove in Jesse Medrano from third base.
Air Force responded right away in the bottom of the inning with a run on an RBI single back up the middle by Zabojnik to score Adam Groesbeck to make it 4-1.
The Bulldogs continued to chip away at the lead in the fifth scoring a pair as Stone extended his on-base streak to 29 games drawing a bases-loaded walk to score Guibor and Medrano added an RBI groundout to first base to score Silva to make it 4-3.
The Falcons continued to make it tough life on Thomas as right fielder Russell Williams was hit by a pitch to start the inning and after a sacrifice bunt moved Williams to second, center fielder Drew Wiss drew a walk before Groesbeck launched his first home run of the season cranking a three-run shot to right field to make it 7-3.
A three-run sixth inning by the Falcons increased the home team's lead to 10-3 as Air Force scored a pair of unearned runs thanks to two Bulldog errors. A run in the seventh on a single through the right side by Tyler Jones put the Falcons ahead by eight and the Falcons added three runs in the eighth to increase their lead to 14-3.
A two-run home run by senior Joe Prior, the fourth of his career, in the ninth inning made the final score 14-5. Thomas suffered his first loss of the season allowing eight hits, seven earned runs and walked a career-high six.
The Bulldogs and Falcons play game two of their three-game series on Saturday at 12 p.m. PT.
"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.
Follow us on:Â
Twitter: @Fresno StateBSB
Instagram:Â FresnoStateAthletics
Facebook:Â FresnoStateAthletics
Snap Chat:Â FSAthleticsÂ
Fresno State (9-7, 2-2 MW) was held to a season-low five hits on the afternoon as junior designated hitter Jared Akins led the way with a pair of doubles. Akins now has a team-high nine doubles on the season.
Air Force (9-9, 1-6 MW) slugged out 17 hits as three players had three hits apiece and the Falcons had three extra-base hits.
The Falcons got the scoring started in the bottom of the second inning scoring three runs getting a pair on a RBI double by second baseman Shaun Mize and added a third run on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Bradley Haslam as Mize moved to third base. Bulldog starting pitcher Ricky Tyler Thomas forced shortstop Tyler Zabojnik to groundout to limit the damage.
After an 18-minute delay after an injury to home plate umpire Don Giarratano, the 'Dogs got on the board in the top of the fourth on an RBI groundout by Korby Batesole drove in Jesse Medrano from third base.
Air Force responded right away in the bottom of the inning with a run on an RBI single back up the middle by Zabojnik to score Adam Groesbeck to make it 4-1.
The Bulldogs continued to chip away at the lead in the fifth scoring a pair as Stone extended his on-base streak to 29 games drawing a bases-loaded walk to score Guibor and Medrano added an RBI groundout to first base to score Silva to make it 4-3.
The Falcons continued to make it tough life on Thomas as right fielder Russell Williams was hit by a pitch to start the inning and after a sacrifice bunt moved Williams to second, center fielder Drew Wiss drew a walk before Groesbeck launched his first home run of the season cranking a three-run shot to right field to make it 7-3.
A three-run sixth inning by the Falcons increased the home team's lead to 10-3 as Air Force scored a pair of unearned runs thanks to two Bulldog errors. A run in the seventh on a single through the right side by Tyler Jones put the Falcons ahead by eight and the Falcons added three runs in the eighth to increase their lead to 14-3.
A two-run home run by senior Joe Prior, the fourth of his career, in the ninth inning made the final score 14-5. Thomas suffered his first loss of the season allowing eight hits, seven earned runs and walked a career-high six.
The Bulldogs and Falcons play game two of their three-game series on Saturday at 12 p.m. PT.
"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.
Follow us on:Â
Twitter: @Fresno StateBSB
Instagram:Â FresnoStateAthletics
Facebook:Â FresnoStateAthletics
Snap Chat:Â FSAthleticsÂ
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: DEVRIES, Jacob (1-1)
L: Thomas, Ricky Tyler (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Akins, Jared 2
HR: Prior, Joe 1
RBI: Prior, Joe 2 ; Stone, Jake 1 ; Medrano, Jesse 1 ; Batesole, Korby 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Guibor, Austin 1 ; Silva, Scott 1 ; Goldstein, Torin 1 ; Prior, Joe 1 ; Medrano, Jesse 1
SB: Silva, Scott 1
HBP: Dobson, Ryan 1
Batting:
2B: MIZE, Shaun 1 ; ZABOJNIK, Tyler 1
HR: GROESBECK, Adam 1
RBI: GROESBECK, Adam 3 ; MIZE, Shaun 3 ; HASLAM, Bradley 2 ; ZABOJNIK, Tyler 2 ; JONES, Tyler 1 ; WISS, Drew 1
SH: DAU, Rob 2
SF: HASLAM, Bradley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: GROESBECK, Adam 4 ; MIZE, Shaun 1 ; ZABOJNIK, Tyler 1 ; EASLEY, Ashton 1 ; WILLIAMS, Russell 3 ; WISS, Drew 4
SB: HASLAM, Bradley 1
HBP: WILLIAMS, Russell 1
PO: DAU, Rob 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
2
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
3b/ss
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
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