Mejia brilliant out of the pen again as Bulldogs rally for 4-3 win

Saturday, April 7

Fresno, Calif.

3:00 PM

Fresno State

23-15, 6-2

Utah State

13-21, 3-8

Utah State

Fresno State

Mejia brilliant out of the pen again as Bulldogs rally for 4-3 win

4/7/2018 6:23:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – Entering with the bases loaded and nobody out in the third inning, Samantha Mejia did not allow a run to score and went on to retire of 15 of 17 batters faced in five scoreless innings as Fresno State rallied from an early 3-0 deficit for a 4-3 win over Utah State on Saturday afternoon.

Fresno State (23-15, 6-2 MW) won its sixth consecutive game, coming back for the victory after trailing 3-0 in the top of the first inning. Mejia allowed just one hit and one walk as she has now thrown 13 scoreless innings in three MW appearances, earning the win in all three of her conference outings. The 'Dogs clinched their third series win in as many MW series as they also beat Utah State (13-21, 3-8 MW) by a 6-1 score on Friday.

The Bulldogs scored single runs in the first, second, fifth, and sixth innings in the comeback victory. Katie Castellon was 3-for-3 to lead the 'Dogs offensively. Hayleigh Galvan had a walk and a sacrifice fly but was officially 0-for-1 in the game as her team season-long hitting streak came to an end at 18 games.

How it Happened
Utah State turned a Bulldog fielding error into three runs in the top of the first. The inning was extended on an error with two away, and the Aggies followed with a walk and Bailee Trapp hit a 3-run home run to give the visitors a quick 3-0 lead.

Fresno State turned an error into a run for themselves in the bottom of the first as Galvan drove in Miranda Rohleder with a sacrifice fly. In the second inning Rachel Minogue had a leadoff single and, after a fielder's choice groundout, the 'Dogs made it a 3-2 game as Schuylar Broussard had an RBI triple down the right field line (watch).

Utah State loaded the bases with none out in the top of the third on two singles and a walk. Mejia entered and got a pop out to second base, a 10-pitch strikeout, and a fielder's choice groundout on a 7-pitch at-bat to escape the inning (watch).

The score held at 3-2 into the bottom of the fifth when Kaitlyn Jennings hit a lead-off triple to left and scored on a Utah State throwing error to tie the game (watch). In the sixth inning Vanessa Hernandez singled and Broussard doubled to right field with one away and Dominique Jackson brought in Hernandez from third with a groundout to put the Bulldogs ahead 4-3 (watch).

Mejia allowed just a walk in the fourth inning and a 2-out single in the seventh before coaxing a soft pop out to third base to end the win (watch).

Notable

In 13.0 innings pitched in three MW appearances Mejia has allowed just three hits and a .075 opposing batting average with 11 strikeouts and a 3-0 record.
Despite her hitting streak ending Galvan has now reached base in 19 straight games.
Fresno State had two triples in a game for the third time this season.
The Bulldogs are hitting .377 with a 1.51 team ERA during their six-game winning streak.
Hernandez is 11-for-19 (.579) with two home runs, four doubles, three walks, nine RBIs and nine runs scored in the last six games with four multi-hit games.

What's Next
The Bulldogs will look for their first MW series sweep of the season in the final game vs. Utah State on Sunday at 11 a.m.

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