‘Dogs down Cal Poly 8-0, fall to No. 2/1 UCLA

Saturday, February 16

Los Angeles, Calif.

11:30 A.M. PT

Fresno State

5-3

0 (5)

Cal Poly

2-5

Cal Poly

Fresno State

‘Dogs down Cal Poly 8-0, fall to No. 2/1 UCLA

2/16/2019 10:03:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Fresno State earned its first run-rule win of the year with an 8-0 victory in five innings over Cal Poly in the first game on Saturday before falling, 8-0, in five innings against No. 2/1 UCLA in the night cap in the Stacy Winsberg Invitational.

Hailey Dolcini pitched Fresno State (5-4) to victory against Cal Poly (2-5) as she took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and allowed just one sun-aided hit and two walks with five strikeouts in a five-inning shutout. Against the Mustangs Rachel Minogue homered and drove in two runs while Hayleigh Galvan and Vanessa Hernandez also had 2 RBIs in the game and McKenzie Wilson had her first career three-hit game going 3-for-3 with two runs scored.

UCLA (7-0) freshman pitcher Megan Faraimo, the 2018 Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year and the No. 1 voted high school recruit in the nation in the class of 2018, was able to complete a five-inning no hitter of her own as she allowed just two walks and had 10 strikeouts while retiring the last 14 batters in a row.

How it Happened – vs. Cal Poly
The Bulldogs scored multiple runs in each of the first two innings to take an early lead. In the first, Kaitlyn Jennings drew a one-out walk and with two away Minogue hit her second home run of the season on a deep fly ball to right center field. The 'Dogs loaded the bases in the second inning on two walks and a single and, with two away, Galvan won an eight-pitch battle as she just missed a grand slam with a line shot high off the wall down the left field line that went as a 2-run double.

Dolcini kept the Mustangs out of the hit column through four thanks in part to a sensational play by Miranda Rohleder on a dive and throw to first on a grounder up the middle to end the inning. In the bottom of the fourth Wilson singled and Rohleder followed with an infield single with Wilson scoring on a Cal Poly throwing error. Jennings worked another walk and with two away she and Rohleder scored on a double from Vanessa Hernandez that got lost in the sun in right field.

Dolcini got fly outs to center and left to start the fifth and got a third fly ball with two out but, similarly to the fly ball in the fourth from Hernandez, Wilson couldn't located the ball in the sun in right field and it dropped as a double for Kianah Corey. Dolcini came back to record her fifth strikeout of the game and end the inning.

Haley Fuller drew a 13-pitch walk to begin the bottom of the fifth. Emily Brodner dropped a sacrifice bunt to push pinch runner Aaliyah Cuevas to second but she also reached on a Cal Poly fielding error. Wilson then legged out a bunt single and another Mustang fielding error on the throw to first allowed Cuevas to score and end the game.

How it Happened – vs. No. 2/1 UCLA
Fresno State had two of its first three hitters reach in the first inning as Rohleder and Galvan drew walks but Faraimo struck out the side to strand the two runners. Danielle Lung had an impressive first inning of work as she struck out Briana Perez to lead off the inning and got two fly outs to retire the Bruins in order.

Lung got the first out of the second inning on a line out but the next four Bruins would reach base with three runs scoring. After a walk and a single Zoe Shaw brought in both baserunners with a triple down the right field line and she would score on a single from Kinsley Washington. Lung stranded Shaw on third and in the fourth inning UCLA had three singles and drew a walk but Lung limited the Bruins to just one run on a sacrifice fly and left three runners aboard.

In the fourth inning Perez had a one-out double and scored on a Bubba Nickles single. Danielle East entered the game and got a pop out before the Bruins added a fifth run on an RBI double.

UCLA started the bottom of the fifth inning with a walk and hit batter and followed with a single to center but Hernandez gunned down a runner at the plate trying to score from second. The Bruins scored a seventh run on a fielder's choice and then finished the game on an RBI groundout from Nickles.

Notable

Dolcini earned her second career shutout win against Cal Poly. Pitching for UC Riverside as a freshman last season, she went 6.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts in a 1-0 win.
Fresno State improved to 4-0 this season in games Dolcini has started.
Galvan had a hit in each of Fresno State's first eight games of the season and has reached base in all nine games this year.
Fresno State has defeated Cal Poly four times over the last two seasons and now holds a 44-13 advantage in the all-time series. Bulldog Head Coach Linda Garza was the associate head coach at Cal Poly for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
The Bulldogs played two run-rule games on Saturday after not having any through their first seven games of the season.
Three of Fresno State's four losses this year are against Pac 12 teams, with two vs. No. 2/1 UCLA and one against an 8-1 Oregon State team that will likely be ranked in the top 25 when the new polls come out next week.

Up Next
Fresno State concludes play at the Stacy Winsberg Invitational facing UC Riverside at 11:30 a.m. Sunday in Los Angeles. The Highlanders are 3-5 on the season and have gone 0-3 thus far in the tournament.

"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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