Bulldogs edged by New Mexico in the bottom of the seventh

Thursday, March 29

Albuquerque, N.M.

5:00 PM PT

Fresno State

17-15, 2-2

New Mexico

9-24, 3-4

Fresno State

New Mexico

Bulldogs edged by New Mexico in the bottom of the seventh

3/29/2018 8:37:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – Down 2-0 in the 7th inning, Fresno State scored three times in the top half but New Mexico battled back with two runs in the bottom of the 7th to walk off with a 4-3 win in the series opener.

Freshman Danielle East had a career-high 13 strikeouts for the Bulldogs, the most a Fresno State pitcher has had in a game since Kamalani Dung had 13 strikeouts against Utah State in 2016. East has recorded 24 strikeouts over the last two Bulldog games (14 innings) as she had 11 punch outs against Colorado State last Sunday.

Fresno State (17-15, 2-2 MW) left nine runners on base through the first six innings of the game before breaking through in the 7th inning. New Mexico (9-24, 3-4 MW) scored twice in the 2nd inning but East shut them down into the seventh to give the 'Dogs a chance to rally.

How it Happened
Fresno State loaded the bases in the first inning but couldn't score. The Lobos turned a pair of walks into two runs in the bottom of the second as, with runners on first and second and two away, Cameryn O'Grady doubled off the wall in left field to bring in two runs.

East had five strikeouts through three innings and struck out the leadoff hitter in the fourth before New Mexico loaded the bases with three straight hits. East picked up two more huge strikeouts to get out of the inning, punching out O'Grady and Sydney Towns to end the inning (watch).

Katie Castellon had a one out double and the 'Dogs followed with two walks to load the bases again in the fifth but the Lobos got consecutive shallow fly outs to strand three baserunners again. East was able to keep the deficit at just 2-0 allowing just one baserunner over the 5th and 6th innings.

Miranda Rohleder led off the seventh with a double and the 'Dogs had runners on the corners with one away after a fly out and a walk. Hayleigh Galvan delivered the big blow with a two-run double off the wall in left center to tie the game (watch). Rachel Minogue followed with a hustle double of her own that drove in pinch runner Dolly Stevens with the go-ahead run (watch).

The Lobos got the first two runners aboard in the bottom of the seventh with a single and walk. A bunt moved the runners to second and third, and East followed with her 13th strikeout for the second out but Monica Salas grounded a ball through the middle for a walk off win.

Notable
• East tallied at least one strikeout in every inning and has had at least one K in 13 of her last 14 innings pitched.
• With her 7th-inning double Galvan extended her team season-long hitting streak to 13 straight games. The MW leader in on-base percentage, Galvan reached in all four plate appearances on Thursday with the double and three walks.
• Rohleder has now reached base in 13 consecutive games.
• The game was just the second true road game the Bulldogs have played this season, with the only other coming at Cal State Fullerton on March 3.
• New Mexico did not put a ball in play until its eighth batter of the game as the first seven Lobos had four strikeouts and walked three times.

What's Next
The Bulldogs will look to even the series on Friday with first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m. Pacific time.

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