Fresno State Athletics
Sunday, February 11
Tempe, Ariz.
8:00 AM PT
Fresno State
2-2
13
vs
4 (6)
Purdue
1-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
R
H
E
Purdue
0
4
0
0
0
0
4
7
0
Fresno State
3
0
2
5
0
3
13
10
1
Bulldogs walk-off twice with wins over Purdue and Notre Dame
2/11/2018 3:43:00 PM | Softball
TEMPE, Ariz. – Fresno State slugged seven home runs on the day, including a pair of walk-off homers, to pick up a 13-4 win in six innings over Purdue and a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Notre Dame to conclude play at the Kajikawa Classic.
Katie Castellon had the walk-off against the Irish as Fresno State rallied from down 4-0 to tie the game 4-4 before Castellon hit a game-winning solo home run in the bottom of the seventh. Against Purdue, sophomore Schuylar Broussard hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning to end the game via the run rule.
Fresno State (3-2) defeated three Power-5 schools in the season-opening tournament after also defeating Stanford on Saturday. Castellon and senior Savannah McHellon both hit home runs in each of the two games on Sunday and freshman Danielle East was the winning pitcher in both games, starting in the win over Purdue and earning the win in relief vs. Notre Dame after entering in the top of the 7th in a bases loaded, no-out jam and pitching out of the inning without the Irish regaining the lead.
How It Happened (Purdue Game)
Broussard, McHellon, Castelon, and junior Rachel Minogue each homered and each had multiple RBIs in the win over the Boilermakers. The Bulldogs had a 3-0 lead just three batters into the bottom of the first as Miranda Rohleder and Castellon drew walks and McHellon homered down the left field line.
Purdue came back with three home runs of its own in the second inning to claim a 4-3 lead, but in the bottom of the third the 'Dogs moved back ahead as Broussard drove in a pair with a two-out single. Fresno State tacked on five runs in the third inning as Castellon lined a 2-run homer to center before Minogue hit a three-run shot out to center.
East put up two straight scoreless innings before Samantha Mejia came on and allowed just one hit with three strikeouts over two scoreless frames. In the bottom of the sixth, Dominique Jackson drew a leadoff walk and Minogue followed with a single to put the potential run-rule clinching base runners on. Broussard then hit a 2-1 pitch the other way over the wall in right center to complete the win.
How it Happened (Notre Dame Game)
With a quick turnaround of just over half an hour, the 'Dogs faced a Notre Dame team that was playing its only game of the day. The Fighting Irish, who received votes in both preseason national polls and had gone 3-1 in their first four games in Tempe, slugged a pair of 2-run homers in the second inning to jump to an early 4-0 lead.
Fresno State immediately answered in the bottom of the second as with one out Minogue walked, Broussard singled to center, and Kaitlyn Jennings drew a walk to load the bases. Rohleder then had an 8-pitch at-bat that ended with a single up the middle that scored two runs and cut the deficit in half.
Tiffany Kennedy-Cummings got the last out in the second inning and ended up throwing 4.1 scoreless innings of relief with nine strikeouts and just four hits allowed. The Bulldogs got within a 4-3 deficit when McHellon homered deep to left center in the fifth inning and then tied the game on the first pitch in the bottom of the sixth as Hayleigh Galvan hit her first home run as a Bulldog.
Purdue would load the bases with nobody out in the top of the seventh with a single, a double and a walk. East entered and fell behind the first batter she faced 3-1 before rallying for a strikeout and then getting a pop up to second and a soft lineout to shortstop to keep the game tied. With one out in the bottom of the seventh Castellon cleared the fence in right field to win it.
Quotable In the Notre Dame game I was very proud of the whole team. Being down 4-0 early and then coming back in the seventh and being able to win just shows the fight this team has. We never gave up and I felt each inning we were always competing and put ourselves in good situations. Savannah and Hayleigh both gave us big hits in crucial times to get our fight alive and Tiffany did a phenomenal job coming in that. Dani also coming in and shutting them down with bases loaded gave us all the momentum going into the bottom of the 7th tied.
Stepping into my at bat in the bottom of the 7th, my approach was to just find a way for our middle of the lineup to get the plate. Before the inning, Coach Garza kept telling us to get a good pitch and get a good barrel on the ball and that's exactly what I was trying to do. The feeling after I hit the ball and saw it go over was a rush I'll never forget. Coming into home plate and having my teammates there was amazing. It was a great team win and I'm proud of our fight we showed.
Even though we were battling back and forth for a while in the Purdue game, we competed every inning and we knew it was a matter of time before our inning would come. I thought Dani battled through the adversity and our team competed hard and had her back up at the plate. Whether it was the top or bottom of our lineup everyone was contributing and that was really cool to see and be a part of. Sam also did an amazing job of coming in and closing that game out for us.
In our first weekend finally being on the field with everyone, I was very happy with how we played. Of course we had our ups and downs, but it's early and I thought overall it was a good start to our season. We were able to see the fight this team has and I can't wait to see us grow over the season. We are definitely looking forward to being back home this coming weekend and competing in front of our fans. I can't wait for all the new people to see our stadium full of fans and competing under the lights!
Notable
Fresno State hosts the Bulldog Classic next weekend at Margie Wright Diamond, welcoming Saint Mary's, Pacific, UC Davis, and CSU Bakersfield. The Bulldogs' home opener will be Friday at 3:30 p.m. vs. CSU Bakersfield followed by UC Davis at 6 p.m.
"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:
Twitter: @FresnoStateSB
Instagram: FresnoStateSoftball
Facebook: FresnoStateSoftball
Katie Castellon had the walk-off against the Irish as Fresno State rallied from down 4-0 to tie the game 4-4 before Castellon hit a game-winning solo home run in the bottom of the seventh. Against Purdue, sophomore Schuylar Broussard hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning to end the game via the run rule.
Fresno State (3-2) defeated three Power-5 schools in the season-opening tournament after also defeating Stanford on Saturday. Castellon and senior Savannah McHellon both hit home runs in each of the two games on Sunday and freshman Danielle East was the winning pitcher in both games, starting in the win over Purdue and earning the win in relief vs. Notre Dame after entering in the top of the 7th in a bases loaded, no-out jam and pitching out of the inning without the Irish regaining the lead.
How It Happened (Purdue Game)
Broussard, McHellon, Castelon, and junior Rachel Minogue each homered and each had multiple RBIs in the win over the Boilermakers. The Bulldogs had a 3-0 lead just three batters into the bottom of the first as Miranda Rohleder and Castellon drew walks and McHellon homered down the left field line.
Purdue came back with three home runs of its own in the second inning to claim a 4-3 lead, but in the bottom of the third the 'Dogs moved back ahead as Broussard drove in a pair with a two-out single. Fresno State tacked on five runs in the third inning as Castellon lined a 2-run homer to center before Minogue hit a three-run shot out to center.
East put up two straight scoreless innings before Samantha Mejia came on and allowed just one hit with three strikeouts over two scoreless frames. In the bottom of the sixth, Dominique Jackson drew a leadoff walk and Minogue followed with a single to put the potential run-rule clinching base runners on. Broussard then hit a 2-1 pitch the other way over the wall in right center to complete the win.
How it Happened (Notre Dame Game)
With a quick turnaround of just over half an hour, the 'Dogs faced a Notre Dame team that was playing its only game of the day. The Fighting Irish, who received votes in both preseason national polls and had gone 3-1 in their first four games in Tempe, slugged a pair of 2-run homers in the second inning to jump to an early 4-0 lead.
Fresno State immediately answered in the bottom of the second as with one out Minogue walked, Broussard singled to center, and Kaitlyn Jennings drew a walk to load the bases. Rohleder then had an 8-pitch at-bat that ended with a single up the middle that scored two runs and cut the deficit in half.
Tiffany Kennedy-Cummings got the last out in the second inning and ended up throwing 4.1 scoreless innings of relief with nine strikeouts and just four hits allowed. The Bulldogs got within a 4-3 deficit when McHellon homered deep to left center in the fifth inning and then tied the game on the first pitch in the bottom of the sixth as Hayleigh Galvan hit her first home run as a Bulldog.
Purdue would load the bases with nobody out in the top of the seventh with a single, a double and a walk. East entered and fell behind the first batter she faced 3-1 before rallying for a strikeout and then getting a pop up to second and a soft lineout to shortstop to keep the game tied. With one out in the bottom of the seventh Castellon cleared the fence in right field to win it.
Quotable In the Notre Dame game I was very proud of the whole team. Being down 4-0 early and then coming back in the seventh and being able to win just shows the fight this team has. We never gave up and I felt each inning we were always competing and put ourselves in good situations. Savannah and Hayleigh both gave us big hits in crucial times to get our fight alive and Tiffany did a phenomenal job coming in that. Dani also coming in and shutting them down with bases loaded gave us all the momentum going into the bottom of the 7th tied.
Stepping into my at bat in the bottom of the 7th, my approach was to just find a way for our middle of the lineup to get the plate. Before the inning, Coach Garza kept telling us to get a good pitch and get a good barrel on the ball and that's exactly what I was trying to do. The feeling after I hit the ball and saw it go over was a rush I'll never forget. Coming into home plate and having my teammates there was amazing. It was a great team win and I'm proud of our fight we showed.
Even though we were battling back and forth for a while in the Purdue game, we competed every inning and we knew it was a matter of time before our inning would come. I thought Dani battled through the adversity and our team competed hard and had her back up at the plate. Whether it was the top or bottom of our lineup everyone was contributing and that was really cool to see and be a part of. Sam also did an amazing job of coming in and closing that game out for us.
In our first weekend finally being on the field with everyone, I was very happy with how we played. Of course we had our ups and downs, but it's early and I thought overall it was a good start to our season. We were able to see the fight this team has and I can't wait to see us grow over the season. We are definitely looking forward to being back home this coming weekend and competing in front of our fans. I can't wait for all the new people to see our stadium full of fans and competing under the lights!
Notable
- Broussard went 2-for-3 in both games on Sunday, driving in five runs and scoring twice.
- East was the winning pitcher in all three Bulldog victories in the tournament with 15.0 innings pitched and three games started.
- Fresno State improved to 7-0 all-time against Purdue, beating the Boilermakers on Feb. 11 for the second consecutive year and in the same location.
- In two appearances and 5.1 innings pitched in her first weekend as a Bulldog, Kennedy-Cummings had 11 strikeouts and just one unearned run allowed.
- Fresno State went 3-2 against Power-5 opposition in the tournament and has seven more games against Power-5 schools still to come this season.
- The Bulldogs are now 5-2 against Big 10 teams in the last two seasons.
- Each of Fresno State's first four games of the season were not completed in the standard 7 innings. The 'Dogs played two five innings games, one six inning, and one eight inning and were two outs away from going to extra innings against Notre Dame if not for the Castellon walk-off.
Fresno State hosts the Bulldog Classic next weekend at Margie Wright Diamond, welcoming Saint Mary's, Pacific, UC Davis, and CSU Bakersfield. The Bulldogs' home opener will be Friday at 3:30 p.m. vs. CSU Bakersfield followed by UC Davis at 6 p.m.
"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:
Twitter: @FresnoStateSB
Instagram: FresnoStateSoftball
Facebook: FresnoStateSoftball
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: East, Danielle (2-1)
L: Kaitlynn Moody (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Emily Kenny 1
HR: Lexi Huffman 1 ; Jenny Behan 1 ; Stephanie Ramsey 1
RBI: Lexi Huffman 1 ; Jenny Behan 2 ; Stephanie Ramsey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lexi Huffman 1 ; Emily Kenny 1 ; Jenny Behan 1 ; Stephanie Ramsey 1
SB: Ryleigh Scott 1
HBP: Alexa Binckes 1 ; Kaylah Hampton 1
Batting:
2B: Rohleder, Miranda 1
HR: Castellon, Katie 1 ; McHellon, Savannah 1 ; Minogue, Rachel 1 ; Broussard, Schuylar 1
RBI: Castellon, Katie 2 ; McHellon, Savannah 3 ; Minogue, Rachel 3 ; Broussard, Schuylar 5
Base Running:
RUNS: Rohleder, Miranda 2 ; Castellon, Katie 2 ; McHellon, Savannah 1 ; Hernandez, Vanessa 1 ; Galvan, Hayleigh 1 ; Jackson, Dominique 1 ; LeeHong, Chase 1 ; Nua, Jade 1 ; Minogue, Rachel 1 ; Stevens, Dolly 1 ; Broussard, Schuylar 1
SB: Rohleder, Miranda 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
5
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
LHP
/ Softball
C/OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
DP/RHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballIF
/ SoftballIF
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