Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
UC Riverside
'Dogs make inaugural trip to UC Riverside for Wednesday matinee
5/2/2017 9:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Fresno State baseball team returns to action on the road on Wednesday afternoon making its first-ever trip to UC Riverside for a 3 p.m. first pitch.
Game 44: Fresno State (22-21, 11-10 MW) at UC Riverside (16-23, 4-11 Big West)
First Pitch:Â May 3Â - Wed: 3:00 p.m.
Stadium: Riverside Sports Complex (2,227)
Surface:Â Grass
Dimensions:Â 330Â (LF), 400Â (CF), 330Â (RF)
All-Time Series: Fresno State leads 3-2
Last Meeting: Fresno State defeated UC Riverside 5-4 (Feb. 26, 2017 in Fresno, Calif.)
Audio:Â UC Riverside
Play-by-play:Â N/A
Video: N/A
Live Stats:Â GoBulldogs.com
Twitter:Â @FresnoStateBSB
Bulldog Headlines
• Fresno State hits the road this week for a midweek contest on Wednesday afternoon making its first-ever trip to UC Riverside before heading to Las Vegas for its lone series of the season against UNLV.
• The 'Dogs are coming off a 3-1 week that saw them pick up a 6-3 win at Cal Poly on Tuesday before they returned home for the weekend to host San Jose State dropping the opener before winning the final two games 8-3 and 16-8.
• It was a historic day at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium on Sunday as Bulldog baseball/football legend Fibber Hirayama saw his #3 jersey retired as he became the 11th different Bulldog to have his number retired.
• On Saturday, junior southpaw Ricky Tyler Thomas was unhittable in a 8-3 Bulldog win as he tossed seven no-hit innings & picked up eight strikeouts to win his fourth game of the season.
• Fresno State leads the Mountain West in strikeouts per nine innings (8.1).
• Junior 1B Aaron Arruda ranks 17th in the nation in total bases (114), 20th in hits (67), 27th in RBIs (50), 31st in slugging percentage (.655) & 36th in batting average (.385).
• Thomas leads the Mountain West in strikeouts with 75.
Fresno State vs. UC Riverside - The Series
• Fresno State and UC Riverside have met five times with three of those meetings coming earlier this season in Fresno as the Highlanders picked wins in the first two games before the 'Dogs won the final game 5-4 in bizarre fashion as a potential game-tying home run was reversed after the batter who hit the long ball passed a teammate on the base paths.
• The 'Dogs and Highlanders split a pair of games in Fresno in 2012 in their only other meeting as UCR won the first game 5-1 before the Bulldogs won game two 2-1.
SERIES HISTORY
All-Time: UCR leads 3-2
Last Meeting: Feb. 26, 2017 (Fresno, Calif.) - W, 5-4
Current Streak: W1
Last Fresno State Win: Feb. 26, 2017 (5-4) - Fresno, Calif.
Last UC Riverside Win: Feb. 25, 2017 Â (6-4) - Fresno, Calif.
Where Fresno State Ranks Offensively in the Mountain West in 2017 (as of 5/2/17)
• .302 Batting Average: No. 4 [Leader, AFA - .339] [31st nationally]
• .447 Slugging Pct: No. 4 [Leader, AFA .529] [43rd nationally]
• .376 On base Pct: No. 4 [Leader, UNM - .419]
• 33 sacrifice bunts: No. 2 [Leader, NEV - 41]
• 293 Runs: No. 4 [Leader, UNM - 392]
• 477 Hits: No. 5 [Leader, AFA - 490] [19th nationally]
• 271 RBI: No. 3 [Leader, UNM - 354]
• 95 Doubles: No. 3 [Leader, AFA - 121] [16th nationally]
• 16 Triples: No. T-2 [Leader, UNM - 17] [15th nationally]
• 34 Home Runs: No. 5 [Leader, AFA - 46]
Where Fresno State Ranks Pitching in the Mountain West in 2017 (as of 5/2/17)
• 5.66 ERA: No. 3 [Leader, SDSU - 3.52]
• .270 Opposing bat average: No. 2 [Leader, SDSU - .258]
• 10 saves: No. 2 [Leader, SDSU - 13]
• 353 strikeouts: No. 1
• 247 Earned runs allowed: No. 4 [Leader, SDSU - 157]
• 408 Hits allowed: No. 2 [Leader, SDSU - 390]
• 229 walks allowed: No. 7 [Leader, SDSU - 135]
• 74 doubles allowed: No. 2 [Leader, SDSU - 69]
• 8 triples allowed: No. 1Â
• 29 home runs allowed: No. T-1
Where Fresno State Ranks Fielding in the Mountain West in 2017 (as of 5/2/17)
• .968 Fielding Percentage: No. 5 [Leader, SDSU .979]
• 481 Assists: No. T-5 [Leader, UNLV- 508]
• 48 double plays: No. 2 [Leader, SDSU 52] [15th nationally]
Where Fresno State Players Rank in the Mountain West/NCAA in 2017 (as of 5/2/17) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Batting Average: Aaron Arruda - 5th (.385)
Slugging percentage: Arruda - 3rd (.665)
RBI: Arruda - T-3rd (50) [27th nationally]
Runs: Jesse Medrano - T-7th (42)
Doubles: Jared Akins - T-4th (17) [22nd nationally]
Home runs: Arruda - T-1st (11)
Total bases: Arruda - 3rd (114) [17th nationally]
Sacrifice bunts: Â Korby Batesole - 1st (9) [26th nationally]
ERA: Ricky Tyler Thomas - 4th (3.74)
Opposing batting average: Thomas - 1st (.222)
Innings pitched: Rickey Ramirez - 3rd (69.1)Â
Strikeouts: Thomas - 1st (75)
          Ramirez - 4th (55)
Hits allowed: Edgar Gonzalez - 2nd (48)
Earned runs allowed: Gonzalez -2nd (24); Thomas - 3rd (27)
Doubles allowed: Gonzalez - 1st (7)
Saves: Gonzalez - T-4th (4)
Taking a look at the UC Riverside Highlanders
UC Riverside brings a 16-23 overall mark with a 4-11 record in the Big West into Wednesday's game and are coming off a series win at home over UC Santa Barbara.
The Highlanders, who are only 8-11 at home, are 4-2 against Mountain West teams this season winning two games over the 'Dogs earlier this season and have also picked up wins over UNLV and San Diego State.
UCR is hitting .254 as a team and is averaging 4.9 runs per game. Over 25 percent of the Highlanders' hits on the season have gone for extra-bases as UCR has 52 doubles, 14 triples and 24 home runs.
Senior Mark Contreras is leading the team with a .400 average and leads the Big West and ranks fourth nationally with four triples. Redshirt junior infielder Colby Schultz has started all 39 games and is hitting .313 from the plate while leading the club in hits (50), doubles (8), runs (30) and walks (18).
On the mound, Riverside has a 5.46 ERA as a staff while allowing 6.3 runs per game. Opponents are hitting .283 from the plate as a team and the staff has a 1.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio on the season with 274 strikeouts compared to 164 walks.
Bulldogs offense sees surge up national rankings
With a pair of high-scoring performances in the last two Sunday afternoon contests that has seen Fresno State combine for 43 runs, the 'Dogs have moved up the national rankings in many offensive categories.Â
Entering Tuesday, the 'Dogs rank in the top 50 in the nation in triples, doubles, hits, batting average and slugging percentage.
Thomas puts together standout performance on Saturday
Junior southpaw Ricky Tyler Thomas picked up his fourth win of the season and second straight after tossing seven innings without allowing a hit. Six Spartans did reach base on the night, five via walks and one hit by pitch, scoring one run. It was his seventh appearance this season only allowing one earned run or less.
The San Diego native also fanned eight batters for his fifth game of the season with eight or more strikeouts and currently leads the Mountain West with 75 strikeouts.
'Dogs sets a new hit batters program record
The Bulldogs set a new program record on Sunday hitting eight batters which surpassed the previous high of five that was recorded four times, most recently March 5, 2013 against San Jose State.Â
Rickey Ramirez and Ryan Jensen each had three apiece and Fred Schlichtholz and Davis Moore each had one.
Fresno State Baseball retires Fibber Hirayama #3 jersey on Sunday
The Bulldog baseball program officially retired its 11th number on Sunday afternoon as Fibber Hirayama saw his #3 join 10 other former Bulldogs in program history with their numbers hanging from the press box at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium.
The Bulldogs wore their retro Fresno Athletic Club jerseys against San Jose State in honor of Hirayama who played at Fresno State from 1950-52. He joined fellow players Augie Garrido (#1), Tom Goodwin (#1), Terry Pendleton (#8), Dick Ruthven (#17), Truman Clevenger (#18), Jimy Williams (#22), Bobby Jones (#23) & Mark Gardner (#28) and coaches Pete Beiden (#2) and Bob Bennett (#26) among former Bulldogs with retired numbers.
Fresno State joins elite company on Sunday
Fresno State head coach Mike Batesole reached the 500-win plateau at Fresno State on Sunday with the 'Dogs 16-8 win over San Jose State. He becomes only the third head coach to reach that milestone in program history joining Pete Beiden and Bob Bennett. Fresno State is now only the fifth Division I program with three head coaches who have won 500 or more games at that school.
1. North Carolina - Walter Rabb - 540, Mike Roberts - 780, Mike Fox - 830*
2. Arizona State - Bobby Winkles - 524, Jim Brock  1,099, Pat Murphy - 585
3. Oregon State - Ralph Coleman - 561, Jack Riley - 613, Pat Casey - 821*
4. California - Clint Evans - 547, Bob Milano - 688, Dave Esquer - 519*
5. Fresno State - Pete Beiden - 602, Bob Bennett - 1,302, Mike Batesole - 500*
* active head coach
Five Bulldog pitchers limit Cal Poly to four hits on April 25Â in a 6-3 win
JJ Santa Cruz, Ryan Jensen, Mark Reece, Fred Schlichtholz and Dominic Topoozian combined to toss a four-hitter against Cal Poly on April 25Â as the four hits were the second-fewest hits allowed this season by the 'Dogs trailing only the March 22 vs. Pepperdine and at New Mexico on April 2 contests that saw the Bulldogs only allow three hits.
Bulldogs explode for 27 runs in a blowout win at Nevada on April 23         Â
The Bulldogs found their offensive punch on April 23 pushing across 27 runs on 25 hits in a 27-5 defeat of the Wolf Pack.Â
It was the most runs scored since Feb. 27, 2005 when the 'Dogs scored 26 in a shutout win over Chicago State. The last time the 'Dogs had 27 or more runs came nearly 35 years to the day as the 'Dogs defeated Nevada 29-5 on April 24, 1982.
All nine position players who started the game finished with two or more hits as 11 different 'Dogs had hits. The Bulldogs finished with nine extra-base hits as it was the second game this season with five home runs and the seventh game with four or more doubles.
Arruda puts together historic afternoon against the Wolf Pack on April 23Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Junior first baseman Aaron Arruda finished that contest game at Nevada a perfect 4-for-4 with three home runs, nine RBIs, four runs scored and four hits. It was the first time a 'Dog has hit three home runs in a game since Brian Lapin in 2007 and the nine RBIs matched a program single-game best set by Josh Hannah in 1998.
Up next: The 'Dogs stay on the road this weekend traveling to UNLV (17-30, 7-14 MW) for its lone series of the season with the Rebels.
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