Diamond 'Dogs host Air Force in pivotal MW series for Salute to Services Weekend

FRESNO, Calif. - The Diamond 'Dogs welcome Air Force for Salute to Services Weekend at Bob Bennett Stadium in a pivotal series for postseason positioning.

Games 41-43: Air Force (19-21, 10-10 MW) at Fresno State (24-16, 9-12 MW)

First Pitch: April 27-29 - Fri: 6:05 p.m.; Sat: 6:05 p.m.; Sun: 1:05 p.m.
Stadium: Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium
Surface: Grass
Dimensions: 330 (LF), 400 (CF), 330 (RF)
All-Time Series: Fresno State leads 26-9
Last Meeting: Fresno State won 8-7 in 10 innings over Air Force on April 15, 2017 in Fresno, Calif.

Radio: 940 AM ESPN
Play-by-play: Paul Loeffler
Video: Mountain West Network
Live Stats: Sidearm
Twitter: @FresnoStateBSB

Pitching Probables: Fresno State vs. Air Force
Friday: Jr. RHP Edgar Gonzalez (6-2, 3.05) vs. Jr. RHP Tyler Mortenson (2-5, 8.14)
Saturday: So. RHP Ryan Jensen (2-4, 4.03) vs. Jr. RHP Matt Hargreaves (2-4, 5.86)
Sunday: TBA vs. Sr. LHP Ryan Holloway (3-3, 3.24)

Promotions: Salute to Services Weekend
All active military and veterans will get in FREE with a valid ID.

Friday
First Pitch: Dr. Filtzalbert Marius – 96 year old veteran
National Anthem: Dr. Asia Smith
Cadet Honor Guard from the Civil Air Patrol will be presenting the colors for the National Anthem

Saturday
First Pitch: Harry Garcia – 88 year old veteran
National Anthem: Gilly Girls – Savannah, Hailey, Morgan, Jillian Gillingham
Youth Jersey Saturday – All kids wearing their youth team jersey get in FREE

Sunday
First Pitch: John McKenzie will be throwing out the first pitch on behalf of Bert Dollar, a former Bulldog player and veteran
National Anthem: Rebecca Potts
Post-Game: Kids will be welcomed to run the bases

Bulldog Headlines
• Fresno State welcomes Air Force to Fresno this weekend for the lone series between the two MW foes this season.
• This season's series carries great importance for both teams as the Falcons currently sit fourth in the MW while the 'Dogs are in fifth. Only the top four teams in the MW qualify for the MW Tournament held in San Diego May 24-27.
• The 'Dogs are 14-1 against AFA at home since joining the MW in 2013.
• The Diamond 'Dogs improved to 6-2 in midweek contests on Tuesday with a 8-2 win at home over CSUN.
• With the win over the Matadors, the Bulldogs are now 18-8 at home this season and have won at least 18 home games every season this century.
• The Bulldogs currently lead the Mountain West in sacrifice bunts (33) while ranking second in home runs (39) and are third in slugging percentage (.451).
• Junior OF Zach Ashford ranks fourth in the MW with a .362 batting average and is currently on a 42-game on-base streak tied for the 3rd-longest active streak in Division I.
• Junior RHP Edgar Gonzalez currently leads the MW in innings pitched (65.0), strikeouts (76) & wins (6).

Fresno State vs. Air Force - The Series
• Fresno State and Air Force have met 35 times on the baseball diamond.
• The Bulldogs lead the all-time series with the Falcons 26-9.
• Fresno State won four of six games over Air Force in 2017 winning two games on the road as well as two games at home.
• The 'Dogs are 22-7 against AFA since joining the MW going 14-1 at home, 8-5 on the road and 0-1 at neutral site.
• Fresno State won all six contests over Air Force in the regular season in 2016, but fell in the Mountain West Tournament to the Falcons 9-7 in Albuquerque, N.M.

SERIES HISTORY
All-Time: Fresno State 26-9
Last Meeting: April 15, 2017 (Fresno, Calif.) - W, 8-7 (10)
Current Streak: W1
Last Fresno State Win: April 15, 2017 (8-7) (10) - Fresno, Calif.
Last Air Force Win: April 14, 2017 (10-5) - Fresno, Calif.

Where Fresno State Ranks Offensively in the Mountain West/nation in 2018 (as of 4/26/18)
• .296 Batting Average: No. 4
• .451 Slugging Pct: No. 3
• .369 On base Pct: No. T-5
• 33 sacrifice bunts: No. 1 - 21st nationally
• 234 Runs: No. 5
• 408 Hits: No. 4
• 213 RBI: No. 5
• 77 Doubles: No. 5
• 10 Triples: No. 6
• 39 Home Runs: No. 2

Where Fresno State Ranks Pitching in the Mountain West/nation in 2018 (as of 4/26/18)
• 4.83 ERA: No. 3
• .266 Opposing bat average: No. 3
• 10 saves: No. T-4
• 341 strikeouts: No. 1
• 191 Earned runs allowed: No. 3
• 366 Hits allowed: No. 3
• 167 walks allowed: No. 5
• 56 doubles allowed: No. 2
• 9 triples allowed: No. T-2
• 21 home runs allowed: No. 3

Where Fresno State Ranks Fielding in the Mountain West/nation in 2018 (as of 4/26/18)
• .967 Fielding Percentage: No. T-6
• 413 Assists: No. 3
• 37 double plays: No. T-6

Where Fresno State Players Rank in the Mountain West/NCAA in 2018 (as of 4/26/18)
Batting average: Zach Ashford - 4th (.365)
Hits: Ashford - 8th (57)
Doubles: Carter Bins- T-3rd (16)
Home runs: Bins & Jeremiah Burks - T-5th (7)
RBIs: Bins - 9th (34)
Sacrifice bunts: Korby Batesole - 1st (10) - 15th nationally

ERA: Jamie Arias - 1st (2.13)
Opposing Batting Average: Arias - 1st (.180)
Innings pitched: Gonzalez - 1st (65.0)
Strikeouts: Gonzalez - 1st (76) - 36th nationally
Wins: Gonzalez - T-1st (6)
Saves: Jamison Hill - T-5th (5)
Appearances: Jaime Arias - T-6th (19)
Earned runs allowed: Arias - 1st (12)
Hits allowed: Arias -1st (32)
Walks allowed: Arias -1st (6)

A look at the Air Force Falcons
Air Force enters this weekend's series with the Bulldogs with a 19-21 overall record and are currently sitting in fourth place with a 10-10 mark in MW games.

The Falcons, who are 7-15 on the road in 2018, are currently on a four-game winning streak after topping Colorado Christian, 22-5 on Wednesday afternoon and won both games over MW first-place Nevada at home last Sunday.

Air Force, who was selected sixth in the MW preseason poll, ranks second in the MW and ninth in the nation with a .308 batting average and is second in the league in scoring at 7.1 runs per game.

The Falcons offensively are very dangerous ranking eighth in the nation in hits (445), 12th in triples (15), 15th in slugging percentage (.468), 17th in doubles (87) and is 25th in runs (283).

On the mound, the Falcons have a staff ERA of 6.22, sixth in the MW, while allowing 6.8 runs per game with a 1.55 strikeout-to-walk ratio collecting 284 strikeouts while issuing 183 walks and are holding opponents to a .317 average.

The weekend of rotation of right-handers Matt Hargreaves, Tyler Moretenson and southpaw Ryan Holloway have combined for seven wins and are well-balanced as Hargreaves leads the team in innings pitched (50.2), Mortenson has a team-high 41 strikeouts and Holloway has a team-low 3.24 ERA. Holloway earned MW Pitcher of the Week honors on Tuesday after tossing a complete game six-hitter in a 3-1 win over Nevada on Sunday.

Fresno State vs. Air Force in Fresno
2013 - 6-0 [W, 9-4; W, 8-5; W, 7-0; W, 8-6; W, 5-3; W, 6-4]
2014 - 3-0 [W, 8-1; W, 6-1; W, 11-1]
2016 - 3-0 [W, 14-1; W, 6-3; W, 5-1]
2017 - 2-1 [W, 7-5; L, 5-10; W, 8-7 (10)]

The 'Dogs are 14-1 at home over Air Force since joining the Mountain West in 2013, including a 13-1 mark in the regular season. The Bulldogs took two of three games at Bob Bennett Stadium in 2017 as the Falcons won the middle game, 10-5 for their first win in Fresno as conference opponents.

Fresno State outscored Air Force 25-3 in 2014 in a three-game sweep and defeated the Falcons six times at home in 2013 winning a five-game series in mid-April and won a game in the Mountain West Tournament hosted by Fresno State.

Ashford extends his on-base streak to 42 games
Junior outfielder Zach Ashford has reached base in all 38 games he has played in this season and has reached base in 42 straight games dating back to 2017. Ashford's on-base streak currently ranks tied for the 3th-longest active streak in the country with David Garza of Tennessee Tech. John Valente of St. John's (51 games) and Rylan Thomas of UCF (48 games) are currently 1-2 in the nation.

The Clovis native is currently fourth in the Mountain West with a .365 average from the plate and leads the team with 57 hits (8th in MW). He has a base hit in 35 of the 38 games he has played in this season and has only struck out 16 times in 156 at-bats (10.3 percent).

Diamond 'Dogs offense coming alive
Over the last 18 games, the 'Dogs are 11-7 hitting .326 from the plate as a team scoring 144 runs and totaling 218 hits with 69 (43 doubles, four triples and 22 home runs) going for extra-bases. Seven 'Dogs with 34 or more at-bats are hitting above .300 over that stretch.

'Dogs in plenty of close contests so far in 2018
The Bulldogs have found themselves in plenty of close contests in 2018 posting a 9-5 record in one-run games and a 10-6 mark in one or two run games.
           2018 2017   2016   2015   2014   2013
1-Run Games 9-5 5-7 11-9 8-12 7-10 5-7
1 or 2 Runs Games 10-6 8-10 16-13 13-12 14-15 12-14
- 14 of 40 games (35.0%) decided by one run ranks No. 2 in the nation.
- 16 of 40 games (40.0%) decided by one or two runs is tied for No. 7 in the nation.

Diamond 'Dogs smack trio of home runs in 8-2 win over CSUN
After a season-high three game stretch without a home run at San Diego State, the Bulldogs got back to their home run ways on Tuesday night in a 8-2 win over CSUN smacking three more and now have 39 on the season. The 'Dogs have eight multi-home run games, six players with multi-home runs and have hit at least one home run in 26 of 40 games.

2018 - 39; 2017 - 76; 2016 - 37; 2015 - 34; 2014 - 37; 2013 - 36; 2012 - 19

Gonzalez looking to finish junior campaign strong
With only four more regular season starts left, Gonzalez enters Friday night's start leading the MW in innings pitched (65.0), strikeouts (76) & wins (6) while ranking third in ERA (3.05) and fifth in opposing batting avg. (.230). His 103-pitch complete game two-hitter vs. LBSU on March 31 is one of 12 CG's nationally completed on 105 pitches or less.

Sacrificing for the team
Playing a National League style of play this season, the 'Dogs have to manufacture runs in creative ways and one of those ways is through sacrifice bunts as the 'Dogs have 30 on the season to lead the MW and rank 21st in the nation. Senior shortstop Korby Batesole leads the club and Mountain West with 10, ranking 15th in the country.

That's got to hurt!
The 'Dogs hit three more batters on Tuesday and now have hit 63 opponents to rank 11th in the nation in hit by pitchers. All 13 Bulldog pitchers have hit at least one batter with Ryan Jensen leading the team with 11 to rank second in the MW.

Batesole closing in on 800 career wins
Head coach Mike Batesole continues to rack up the wins as he is closing in another milestone sitting at 793 career wins and is only seven wins shy of 800 in his career. Now in his 16th season at the helm of the Bulldogs, Batesole has won 537 games at Fresno State and 256 at CSUN from 1996-2002. With six more wins, Batesole will have his 13th season of at least 30 wins at Fresno State and 19th overall in his 23 years as a Division I head coach.

Up next
The 'Dogs close out their five-game homestand on Tuesday night hosting Pepperdine (21-17, 12-6 WCC) at 6:05 p.m. for National Principals' Day as we honor all local elementary school principals.

"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.

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Diamond 'Dogs host Air Force in pivotal MW series for Salute to Services Weekend

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