Bulldogs back in action at Judi Garman Classic

Fresno State at Judi Garman Classic (Fullerton, Calif.)
Live Updates on Twitter: @FresnoStateSB

vs. #7/7 Tennessee (13-2) • Feb. 28, 2019 • 5:00 p.m. PT
Watch: Flosoftball ($) | Radio: 790 ESPN2 | Live Stats
Series History: Tied 2-2 | Streak: FS W 1 | Last: FS 7-3 (2/12/16)

vs. Loyola Marymount (7-5) • Feb. 28, 2019 • 7:30 p.m. PT
Watch: Flosoftball ($) | Radio: 790 ESPN2 | Live Stats
Series History: FS Leads 13-6 | Streak: LMU W 1 | Last: LMU 8-3 (2/28/16)

vs. UT San Antonio (9-6) • Mar. 1, 2019 • 8:00 p.m. PT
Watch: Flosoftball ($) | Live Stats
Series History: First Meeting

vs. UConn (3-9) • Mar. 2, 2019 • 12:30 p.m. PT
Watch: Flosoftball ($) | Radio: 790 ESPN2 | Live Stats
Series History: FS Leads 5-1 | Streak: FS W 4 | Last: FS 8-2 (3/10/12)

vs. #5/6 Washington (14-1) • Mar. 2, 2019 • 3:00 p.m. PT
Watch: Flosoftball ($) | Radio: 790 ESPN2 | Live Stats
Series History: UW Leads 12-9 | Streak: UW W 2 | Last: UW 5-1 (3/4/17)

Bulldog Bones

After 10 days off Fresno State returns to action competing at the Judi Garman Classic for the sixth consecutive season.
The Bulldogs play their first 16 games of the season away from Fresno with six games against 2018 NCAA Tournament teams, including two this week.
Fresno State went 3-2 at the Stacy Winsberg Invitational, defeating Long Beach State, Cal Poly, and UC Riverside and falling to No. 2 UCLA and No. 23 Oregon State.
Fresno State will play consecutive games against Huskies (UConn and Washington) on Saturday.
The 'Dogs returned three All-MW selections in 2019 in Danielle East, Rachel Minogue, and Hayleigh Galvan, who was also an NFCA All-Pacific Region selection in 2018.

Scouting the Judi Garman Classic

Tennessee made the NCAA Super Regionals last season and is 13-2 this year with its only losses against No. 1 Florida State and No. 19 James Madison. The Lady Vols are the 7th highest scoring team in the nation (7.6 runs per game), and are 8th in Div. I with a .454 on-base percentage and 10th in batting average (.356). The team has four starters hitting better than .440 and has a 1.71 team ERA. The all-time series is tied 2-2 with the 'Dogs winning 7-3 in 2016.
Loyola Marymount was receiving votes in the national polls after beginning the year 5-0 but then went 1-5 before a 2-1 home win over San Diego State on Tuesday. The Lions were also at the Stacy Winsberg Invitational and took just a 3-1 loss vs. UCLA but beat UC Riverside just 2-0 and Cal Poly 7-6. Pitchers Hannah Bandimere and Linnay Wilson both have sub-two ERA's and Andrea Gonzalez is hitting .432. Fresno State is 13-6 all-time against Loyola Marymount.
UT San Antonio enters the week on a seven-game winning streak after starting the year 2-6. The Roadrunners have three straight shutout wins as well but will face nationally ranked Tennessee and Auburn before facing the Bulldogs. UTSA has a 2.06 team ERA from three pitchers, two of which have ERA's below 1.90. The squad was picked last in the Conference USA preseason poll after a 20-30 record last year. The 'Dogs and Roadrunners have never before met.
UConn began the year 3-0, including a win over Michigan State, but is on a 9-game losing streak since. The Huskies were picked last in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll after a 20-35 overall record last year. UConn is hitting just .207 as a team this year and averaging less than three runs per game, but pitcher Marybeth Olson has a 1.20 ERA and leads NCAA Div. I with 25 strikeouts to just one walk. The Bulldogs have won four straight games vs. UConn.
Washington is 14-1 and has won 13 consecutive games, with its only loss in extra innings vs. Notre Dame. The Huskies began the year ranked No. 2 by USA Softball after reaching the WCWS last year and have five wins over ranked teams. UW has a 1.35 team ERA this year as its three pitchers all have ERAs below 1.50 and ace Taran Alvelo is tied for 8th in NCAA Div. I with seven wins. The 'Dogs are 9-12 all-time against Washington, last beating the Huskies in 2014.

Netting Neutral Wins

Fresno State is 5-2 in neutral site games this year and all five of its games this week will be neutral site contests.
When not having to face the home team the 'Dogs are averaging 5.9 runs per game while allowing only 3.0 runs per game.
The Bulldog pitching staff has a 2.77 ERA and a .229 opposing batting average through seven neutral site games this year.

Scoring Early and Late

Fresno State has scored runs in the first inning five times this year and are undefeated in those games (five of its six total wins).
However, the Bulldogs have done the bulk of their scoring in later innings with 32 of their 53 runs coming in the fifth inning or later.
The 'Dogs have outscored the opposition 17-4 in the sixth inning and later and the team has not blown a lead in any game this year.

Irregular Innings

Fresno State has played four consecutive games that ended via the run rule after not playing any run-rule games through the first seven games of the year.
The last four games have also all been shutouts with three 8-0 finals and a 12-0 Bulldog win over UC Riverside.

Dazzling Debut

Sophomore transfer Hailey Dolcini started her Fresno State career with a bang as she was named MW Pitcher of the Week for her first week as a Bulldog.
In six games (five starts) this season Dolcini is 3-1 with a 2.01 ERA, allowing just seven earned runs over 24.1 innings pitched.
Fresno State won each of Dolcini's first four starts as a Bulldog and the sophomore has allowed two earned runs or fewer in all six of her appearances.

Power Play

Fresno State plays two Power 5 schools this week among seven games against such programs this year. The 'Dogs are 0-3 against P-5s so far this year in games against UCLA (2) and Oregon State.
The Bulldogs had four victories against Power-5 schools last season, beating Stanford twice and knocking off Purdue and Notre Dame.

Winning Big

The Bulldogs have totaled 45 runs scored in their six wins this season, averaging 7.5 runs per game while hitting .325 in the victories.
By contrast, the 'Dogs have scored just eight total runs in their five losses, an average of 1.6 runs per game, while hitting .148.

Picking Up Where They Left Off

Senior Rachel Minogue and junior Hayleigh Galvan were All-MW selections last season and the duo continued to rake in the first week of the 2019 season as both were named to the Hawaii Paradise Classic All-Tournament team.
Galvan has reached base in all 11 games this season with hits in 10 of them as she leads the league in on-base percentage (.541), is tied for the MW lead with six doubles, and is second in batting average (.452).
Minogue is hitting .303 with 8 RBIs and two home runs with three multi-RBI games.

No, I'm Vanessa Hernandez!

Fresno State has two players named Vanessa Hernandez on the 2019 roster (no relation).
The pair also have the same middle initial, M, and both middle names are five letters. The senior outfielder (#10) is Vanessa Monet Hernandez and the freshman infielder (#23) is Vanessa Marie Hernandez.
To differentiate the duo, the senior is listed as Vanessa Hernandez and the freshman is Vanessa M. Hernandez. They also answer to Big Ness and Lil Ness, respectively.

Votes Received

Fresno State received votes in the preseason ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll. The squad also received top-25 votes last year but has not been ranked since 2017.
The Bulldogs face four teams that were ranked in the preseason poll including No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Washington.

'Dogs Picked Second

The Mountain West Coaches selected Fresno State to finish second in the preseason conference poll behind only reigning league champion Boise State.
The 'Dogs placed third in the league in 2018 and have finished in third place or better in each of their six years as a member of the MW with league titles in 2015 and 2016.

"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: @FresnoStateSB
Instagram: FresnoStateSoftball
Facebook: FresnoStateSoftball

Bulldogs back in action at Judi Garman Classic

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Hailey Dolcini

Danielle East

Hayleigh Galvan

Vanessa Hernandez

Vanessa M. Hernandez

Rachel Minogue

Fresno State Athletics

Bulldogs back in action at Judi Garman Classic

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Hailey Dolcini

Danielle East

Hayleigh Galvan

Vanessa Hernandez

Vanessa M. Hernandez

Rachel Minogue

Related Videos