Fresno State Athletics
Friday, February 16
Fresno, Calif.
3:30 PM
Fresno State
vs
CSU Bakersfield
Softball opens home schedule Friday hosting Bulldog Classic
2/14/2018 3:41:00 PM | Softball
Fresno State hosts Bulldog Classic (Margie Wright Diamond)
vs. CSU Bakersfield • Feb. 16, 2018 • 3:30 PMÂ
    TV: Mountain West Network •  Radio: 790 ESPN 2 • Live Stats: Sidearm
vs. UC Davis • Feb. 16, 2018 • 6:00 PMÂ
    TV: Mountain West Network •  Radio: 790 ESPN 2 • Live Stats: Sidearm
vs. Pacific • Feb. 17, 2018 • 5:00 PMÂ
    TV: Mountain West Network •  Radio: 790 ESPN 2 • Live Stats: Sidearm
vs. Saint Mary's • Feb. 17, 2018 • 7:30 PMÂ
    TV: Mountain West Network •  Radio: 790 ESPN 2 • Live Stats: Sidearm
vs. Saint Mary's • Feb. 18, 2018 • 4:00 PMÂ
    TV: Mountain West Network •  Radio: 790 ESPN 2 • Live Stats: Sidearm
Complete Tournament Schedule & Information
Complete Fresno State Weekly Notes (PDF)
• Fresno State opens its 2018 home schedule with the Bulldog Classic, welcoming CSU Bakersfield, UC Davis, Pacific, and Saint Mary's for the three-day, 12-team tournament.
• Every game of the Bulldog Classic will be live streamed for free on the Mountain West Network and will have live stats on sidearm.
• Every Fresno State game will also be aired on 790 ESPN2 with Randy Rosenbloom providing the play-by-play call.
Promotions (Promotions Page)
Friday
• CSU Bakersfield opened the season with a tournament at San Diego but played only two teams, going 0-3 against the host Toreros and 0-2 against Campbell. The Roadrunners hit just .197 over the weekend and had a 5.83 ERA, being outscored 33-16. Despite the record, Kaycee Olson pitched well for CSUB, posting a 2.19 ERA over 12.1 innings, while Paige Johnson hit .375. The Roadrunners finished 12-33 overall and 4-11 in the WAC last season.
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• UC Davis also participated in the Kajikawa Classic and posted a similar 3-2 record. The Aggies, however, played only two Power-5 opponents, losing to Arizona and Tennessee, but did beat San Diego State, 3-2, in nine innings. Three pitchers totaled a 2.80 ERA for UCD on the weekend, with Brooke Yanez allowing just one earned run with 21 strikeouts in 16 innings. The Aggies lost, 1-0, at No. 23 Cal on Wednesday. Fresno State is undefeated (11-0) all-time against UC Davis.
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• Pacific played in a tournament at Grand Canyon last weekend and went 3-2 with wins over Grand Canyon, Weber State, and Montana. The Tigers also played No. 1 Oklahoma and lost 7-0. Pacific is hitting .273 while its opponents have hit .342. Three starters are hitting better than .330, with Samantha Owen hitting .438 with 7 RBIs. After going 28-26 overall last season Pacific was tied for second in the preseason West Coast Conference Coaches' Poll, behind BYU.
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• Saint Mary's was also at the Kajikawa Classic and went 0-6. The Gaels lost to Notre Dame, 8-3, and also had losses to fellow MW schools New Mexico and Boise State. Saint Mary's hit .195 and had a 9.24 team ERA in the tournament, being outscored 45-15. The squad was picked fifth of six teams in the WCC poll after going 17-31 with a 3-12 conference record in 2017. Hailey Sparacino is hitting .533 and is tied for 7th in NCAA Div. I with three home runs.
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Powered Down
• Fresno State opened the 2018 season with three wins over Power-5 schools at the Kajikawa Classic. The 'Dogs took down Stanford, Purdue, and Notre Dame, earning wins against the Pac-12, Big 10, and ACC schools, respectively.
• The Bulldogs tallied three Power-5 wins at the Kajikawa Classic for the third consecutive season, beating both Purdue and Stanford at the tournament for the second straight year.
• Fresno State had seven total wins over Power-5 schools last season and has seven more games vs. Power-5 teams still to come this year.
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Freshman Phenom
• True freshman Danielle East was the winning pitcher in all three Fresno State victories last weekend, beating Stanford and Purdue as the starting pitcher and Notre Dame in relief.
• East threw an 8-inning shutout against Stanford for her first collegiate victory, allowing just seven singles and no walks with two strikeouts. She earned the win in both games on Sunday, beating Purdue 13-4 in 6-innings and pitching out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in relief to earn the win against Purdue.
• East totaled eight strikeouts and just two walks in 15.0 innings and is tied for second in NCAA Div. I in wins. She was named MW Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday.
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Walk-Off Sunday
• The Bulldogs beat Purdue and Notre Dame on Sunday with both games ending in walk-off home runs.
• In a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the seventh, senior Katie Castellon walked-off the 'Dogs against Notre Dame with a solo home run to right, her second long ball of the day. She became an internet sensation as video of the walk-off has been viewed more than 29,000 times on twitter.
• In Fresno State's first game on Sunday, sophomore Schuylar Broussard hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to give the Bulldogs a 13-4 lead and end the game via the run rule.
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McHellon Mashing
• Senior Savannah McHellon earned MW Player of the Week honors after hitting .417 with two home runs and four RBIs over the first week of the 2018 season. She led the team in batting average, slugging percentage (.917), and on-base percentage (.533) and reached base in all five games with hits in four of the five.
• McHellon homered in both games on Sunday. She earned MW Player of the Week following the Kajikawa Classic for the second straight year, having hit .615 (8-for-13) with two home runs and eight RBIs in the 2017 edition.
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Poll Climbing
• Fresno State earned votes in the 2018 preseason USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and moved up in the first poll of the regular season, coming in at No. 41 this week if the poll was to be extended past the top-25.
• The Bulldogs have been ranked in the top-25 in each of the last two seasons, reaching No. 17 in 2016 and No. 21 in 2017 after not being ranked since the 2011 campaign.
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Irregular Innings
• The standard length of a softball game is seven innings, but the Bulldogs did not play a seven-inning game until their fifth contest of the season.
• Each of the 'Dogs first four games did not go seven innings as two went five innings and went six via the run rule and one went extra innings, the 8-inning win over Stanford. The Notre Dame game was also two outs away from going extra innings if not for the Katie Castellon walk-off homer.
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Power Surge
• Fresno State hit seven home runs in two games on Sunday and eight total long balls in five games at the Kajikawa Classic.
• Six different Bulldogs homered in Tempe with Katie Castellon and Savannah McHellon both homering in each game on Sunday.
• Among the homers were three 2-run shots and two 2-run homers as 16 of the 21 runs the team scored in the tournament came via the long ball. The first five home runs the 'Dogs hit in the 2018 season all came with runners on base.
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Strikeout Machine
• In two appearances and 5.1 innings pitched, junior transfer Tiffany Kennedy-Cummings totaled 11 strikeouts and allowed just one unearned run in her first weekend as a Bulldog.
• She struck out nine Notre Dame batters in 4.1 scoreless innings of relief, enabling the Bulldogs to come back for a dramatic win. Kennedy-Cummings ranks ninth in NCAA Div. I with 14.4 strikeouts per seven innings.
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Split Squad
• The 2018 Bulldog rosters is nearly evenly split with 13 returners and 12 newcomers.
• Fresno State returned and lost nearly the same number of starters (5/4) from the 2017 team while returning one of their two primary starting pitchers from last year.
• The class breakdown is also fairly balanced with five seniors, eight juniors, six sophomores, and six freshmen.
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A History of Wins
• In 2017 Fresno State qualified for the NCAA Regionals for the third straight year and the 30th time in the last 33 seasons.
• The Bulldogs have won at least 30 games in 36 straight seasons with an overall winning record in each of those years.
• Fresno State has won 23 conference titles, 59 NCAA Regional games, and 93 total postseason games, reaching the Women's College World Series 12 times with four runner-up finishes and the 1998 NCAA title.
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Super Support
• In 2017 Fresno State led the MW and ranked 13th in NCAA Div. I in average home attendance.
• The 'Dogs averaged 1,101 fans per game over 25 home dates as 27,513 members of the Red Wave visited Margie Wright Diamond.
• New Mexico had the second highest average attendance in the MW last year at just 469 fans per game, less than half the Bulldogs average.
• The 'Dogs drew more fans than any other team in California and have averaged more than 1,000 fans per game for 25 consecutive seasons.
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Stacked Schedule
• Fresno State has a very difficult schedule in 2018, playing 15 games against 2017 NCAA Tournament teams with three against squads that reached the WCWS.
• The Bulldogs face eight teams that ended 2017 nationally ranked and play 12 games against Power-5 opponents.
• The squad also plays 14 games against teams that played in the 2017 National Invitational Softball Tournament, bringing the total to 29 games against 2017 postseason schools.
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Six Ranked Opponents
• The Bulldogs will face six teams that are currently ranked in the preseason NFCA/USA Today Coaches' Poll.
• Four ranked opponents began the year in the top-eight in the nation (#3 Oregon, #5 UCLA, #7 Arizona, #8 LSU). The 'Dogs will also face six teams that received votes in the preseason poll.
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'Dogs Picked Third
• The Mountain West Coaches selected Fresno State to finish third in the preseason conference poll.
• The top three teams in the poll are the three MW schools from California, as San Diego State was picked first and San Jose State second followed by the Bulldogs.
• The 'Dogs finished tied with Utah State for third place in the MW last season and earned one more point than the Aggies in the 2018 preseason poll.
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20th Anniversary of 1998 National Title
• Throughout the 2018 season the Bulldogs will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Fresno State's 1998 national championship.
• Fresno State is the only non-Power 5 school that has won a WCWS national title since 1986 and is one of just two non-Power 5 schools to ever win the WCWS since its inception in 1982 (Cal State Fullerton, 1986).
• The 'Dogs will honor the team throughout the year and in a pregame ceremony on Saturday, March 24, as several team members as well as coach Margie Wright will be in attendance.Â
 "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:Â @FresnoStateSB
Instagram:Â FresnoStateSoftball
Facebook:Â FresnoStateSoftball
Â
vs. CSU Bakersfield • Feb. 16, 2018 • 3:30 PMÂ
    TV: Mountain West Network •  Radio: 790 ESPN 2 • Live Stats: Sidearm
vs. UC Davis • Feb. 16, 2018 • 6:00 PMÂ
    TV: Mountain West Network •  Radio: 790 ESPN 2 • Live Stats: Sidearm
vs. Pacific • Feb. 17, 2018 • 5:00 PMÂ
    TV: Mountain West Network •  Radio: 790 ESPN 2 • Live Stats: Sidearm
vs. Saint Mary's • Feb. 17, 2018 • 7:30 PMÂ
    TV: Mountain West Network •  Radio: 790 ESPN 2 • Live Stats: Sidearm
vs. Saint Mary's • Feb. 18, 2018 • 4:00 PMÂ
    TV: Mountain West Network •  Radio: 790 ESPN 2 • Live Stats: Sidearm
Complete Tournament Schedule & Information
Complete Fresno State Weekly Notes (PDF)
• Fresno State opens its 2018 home schedule with the Bulldog Classic, welcoming CSU Bakersfield, UC Davis, Pacific, and Saint Mary's for the three-day, 12-team tournament.
• Every game of the Bulldog Classic will be live streamed for free on the Mountain West Network and will have live stats on sidearm.
• Every Fresno State game will also be aired on 790 ESPN2 with Randy Rosenbloom providing the play-by-play call.
Promotions (Promotions Page)
Friday
- Home Opener - Doubleheader
- Youth Jersey Friday
- All kids (8th grade and under) get in FREE with a jersey!
- Salute to Service Saturday's
- All kids active military and veterans receive free admission with ID
- Help us honor and thank the brave men and women who sacrificed so much!
- Social Media Madness
- All fans who like or follow Fresno State Athletics on a social media account receive free admission!
- Keep your phone close by to participate in the fun in game social media promotions all day long!
- Post game all JR Bulldogs are invited to come run the bases!
• CSU Bakersfield opened the season with a tournament at San Diego but played only two teams, going 0-3 against the host Toreros and 0-2 against Campbell. The Roadrunners hit just .197 over the weekend and had a 5.83 ERA, being outscored 33-16. Despite the record, Kaycee Olson pitched well for CSUB, posting a 2.19 ERA over 12.1 innings, while Paige Johnson hit .375. The Roadrunners finished 12-33 overall and 4-11 in the WAC last season.
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• UC Davis also participated in the Kajikawa Classic and posted a similar 3-2 record. The Aggies, however, played only two Power-5 opponents, losing to Arizona and Tennessee, but did beat San Diego State, 3-2, in nine innings. Three pitchers totaled a 2.80 ERA for UCD on the weekend, with Brooke Yanez allowing just one earned run with 21 strikeouts in 16 innings. The Aggies lost, 1-0, at No. 23 Cal on Wednesday. Fresno State is undefeated (11-0) all-time against UC Davis.
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• Pacific played in a tournament at Grand Canyon last weekend and went 3-2 with wins over Grand Canyon, Weber State, and Montana. The Tigers also played No. 1 Oklahoma and lost 7-0. Pacific is hitting .273 while its opponents have hit .342. Three starters are hitting better than .330, with Samantha Owen hitting .438 with 7 RBIs. After going 28-26 overall last season Pacific was tied for second in the preseason West Coast Conference Coaches' Poll, behind BYU.
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• Saint Mary's was also at the Kajikawa Classic and went 0-6. The Gaels lost to Notre Dame, 8-3, and also had losses to fellow MW schools New Mexico and Boise State. Saint Mary's hit .195 and had a 9.24 team ERA in the tournament, being outscored 45-15. The squad was picked fifth of six teams in the WCC poll after going 17-31 with a 3-12 conference record in 2017. Hailey Sparacino is hitting .533 and is tied for 7th in NCAA Div. I with three home runs.
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Powered Down
• Fresno State opened the 2018 season with three wins over Power-5 schools at the Kajikawa Classic. The 'Dogs took down Stanford, Purdue, and Notre Dame, earning wins against the Pac-12, Big 10, and ACC schools, respectively.
• The Bulldogs tallied three Power-5 wins at the Kajikawa Classic for the third consecutive season, beating both Purdue and Stanford at the tournament for the second straight year.
• Fresno State had seven total wins over Power-5 schools last season and has seven more games vs. Power-5 teams still to come this year.
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Freshman Phenom
• True freshman Danielle East was the winning pitcher in all three Fresno State victories last weekend, beating Stanford and Purdue as the starting pitcher and Notre Dame in relief.
• East threw an 8-inning shutout against Stanford for her first collegiate victory, allowing just seven singles and no walks with two strikeouts. She earned the win in both games on Sunday, beating Purdue 13-4 in 6-innings and pitching out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in relief to earn the win against Purdue.
• East totaled eight strikeouts and just two walks in 15.0 innings and is tied for second in NCAA Div. I in wins. She was named MW Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday.
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Walk-Off Sunday
• The Bulldogs beat Purdue and Notre Dame on Sunday with both games ending in walk-off home runs.
• In a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the seventh, senior Katie Castellon walked-off the 'Dogs against Notre Dame with a solo home run to right, her second long ball of the day. She became an internet sensation as video of the walk-off has been viewed more than 29,000 times on twitter.
• In Fresno State's first game on Sunday, sophomore Schuylar Broussard hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to give the Bulldogs a 13-4 lead and end the game via the run rule.
Â
McHellon Mashing
• Senior Savannah McHellon earned MW Player of the Week honors after hitting .417 with two home runs and four RBIs over the first week of the 2018 season. She led the team in batting average, slugging percentage (.917), and on-base percentage (.533) and reached base in all five games with hits in four of the five.
• McHellon homered in both games on Sunday. She earned MW Player of the Week following the Kajikawa Classic for the second straight year, having hit .615 (8-for-13) with two home runs and eight RBIs in the 2017 edition.
Â
Poll Climbing
• Fresno State earned votes in the 2018 preseason USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and moved up in the first poll of the regular season, coming in at No. 41 this week if the poll was to be extended past the top-25.
• The Bulldogs have been ranked in the top-25 in each of the last two seasons, reaching No. 17 in 2016 and No. 21 in 2017 after not being ranked since the 2011 campaign.
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Irregular Innings
• The standard length of a softball game is seven innings, but the Bulldogs did not play a seven-inning game until their fifth contest of the season.
• Each of the 'Dogs first four games did not go seven innings as two went five innings and went six via the run rule and one went extra innings, the 8-inning win over Stanford. The Notre Dame game was also two outs away from going extra innings if not for the Katie Castellon walk-off homer.
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Power Surge
• Fresno State hit seven home runs in two games on Sunday and eight total long balls in five games at the Kajikawa Classic.
• Six different Bulldogs homered in Tempe with Katie Castellon and Savannah McHellon both homering in each game on Sunday.
• Among the homers were three 2-run shots and two 2-run homers as 16 of the 21 runs the team scored in the tournament came via the long ball. The first five home runs the 'Dogs hit in the 2018 season all came with runners on base.
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Strikeout Machine
• In two appearances and 5.1 innings pitched, junior transfer Tiffany Kennedy-Cummings totaled 11 strikeouts and allowed just one unearned run in her first weekend as a Bulldog.
• She struck out nine Notre Dame batters in 4.1 scoreless innings of relief, enabling the Bulldogs to come back for a dramatic win. Kennedy-Cummings ranks ninth in NCAA Div. I with 14.4 strikeouts per seven innings.
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Split Squad
• The 2018 Bulldog rosters is nearly evenly split with 13 returners and 12 newcomers.
• Fresno State returned and lost nearly the same number of starters (5/4) from the 2017 team while returning one of their two primary starting pitchers from last year.
• The class breakdown is also fairly balanced with five seniors, eight juniors, six sophomores, and six freshmen.
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A History of Wins
• In 2017 Fresno State qualified for the NCAA Regionals for the third straight year and the 30th time in the last 33 seasons.
• The Bulldogs have won at least 30 games in 36 straight seasons with an overall winning record in each of those years.
• Fresno State has won 23 conference titles, 59 NCAA Regional games, and 93 total postseason games, reaching the Women's College World Series 12 times with four runner-up finishes and the 1998 NCAA title.
Â
Super Support
• In 2017 Fresno State led the MW and ranked 13th in NCAA Div. I in average home attendance.
• The 'Dogs averaged 1,101 fans per game over 25 home dates as 27,513 members of the Red Wave visited Margie Wright Diamond.
• New Mexico had the second highest average attendance in the MW last year at just 469 fans per game, less than half the Bulldogs average.
• The 'Dogs drew more fans than any other team in California and have averaged more than 1,000 fans per game for 25 consecutive seasons.
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Stacked Schedule
• Fresno State has a very difficult schedule in 2018, playing 15 games against 2017 NCAA Tournament teams with three against squads that reached the WCWS.
• The Bulldogs face eight teams that ended 2017 nationally ranked and play 12 games against Power-5 opponents.
• The squad also plays 14 games against teams that played in the 2017 National Invitational Softball Tournament, bringing the total to 29 games against 2017 postseason schools.
Â
Six Ranked Opponents
• The Bulldogs will face six teams that are currently ranked in the preseason NFCA/USA Today Coaches' Poll.
• Four ranked opponents began the year in the top-eight in the nation (#3 Oregon, #5 UCLA, #7 Arizona, #8 LSU). The 'Dogs will also face six teams that received votes in the preseason poll.
Â
'Dogs Picked Third
• The Mountain West Coaches selected Fresno State to finish third in the preseason conference poll.
• The top three teams in the poll are the three MW schools from California, as San Diego State was picked first and San Jose State second followed by the Bulldogs.
• The 'Dogs finished tied with Utah State for third place in the MW last season and earned one more point than the Aggies in the 2018 preseason poll.
Â
20th Anniversary of 1998 National Title
• Throughout the 2018 season the Bulldogs will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Fresno State's 1998 national championship.
• Fresno State is the only non-Power 5 school that has won a WCWS national title since 1986 and is one of just two non-Power 5 schools to ever win the WCWS since its inception in 1982 (Cal State Fullerton, 1986).
• The 'Dogs will honor the team throughout the year and in a pregame ceremony on Saturday, March 24, as several team members as well as coach Margie Wright will be in attendance.Â
 "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:Â @FresnoStateSB
Instagram:Â FresnoStateSoftball
Facebook:Â FresnoStateSoftball
Â
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
LHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
DP/RHP
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