Softball win streak at eight after two more victories in the Bulldog Classic

Sunday, March 10

Fresno, Calif.

2 P.M. PT

Fresno State

13-6

California Baptist

8-13

California Baptist

Fresno State

Softball win streak at eight after two more victories in the Bulldog Classic

3/10/2019 8:55:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photos: Kailee Signing Day Photos: vs. California Baptist Tournament Central

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – Fresno State completed a perfect 6-0 week in its first home tournament of the season and extended its overall winning streak to eight consecutive games on Sunday as the 'Dogs topped California Baptist, 6-4, and defeated UC Santa Barbara, 3-1, on the final day of the Bulldog Classic.

Fresno State (14-6) has its longest win streak since winning 10 consecutive games last season. The Bulldogs beat California Baptist (8-13) after the Lancers started the tournament 4-1 with three run rule wins and defeated UC Santa Barbara (5-16) for the second time this week after topping the Gauchos 6-2 on Thursday night.

Danielle East had a hand in both wins on Sunday, earning the save with two perfect innings of relief against CBU and then allowing just one run on three hits and striking out five to pick up the win against UCSB. Offensively, Miranda Rohleder reached base in six of her seven plate appearances on Sunday, going 3-for-3 against the Lancers and 1-for-2 with two walks against the Gauchos, Hayleigh Galvan totaled three hits and drove in the go-ahead runs in the opener, and Schuylar Broussard had the big hit against UCSB with a two-run homer.

How it Happened - vs. California Baptist
After striking out 13 batters in a win over Montana on Friday, Danielle Lung picked up where she left off with seven strikeouts over the first three innings against CBU and eight total K's in the game.

The 'Dogs put four runs on the board in the third inning on four hits and two Lancer errors. Emily Brodner brought in the first run on a suicide squeeze bunt (watch), McKenzie Wilson (watch) and Rohleder (watch) both had run producing singles, and Rachel Minogue brought in Rohleder with a triple down the right field line (watch).

Mackenzie Budinger got California Baptist on the board with a solo home run leading off the fourth. In the fifth inning, CBU's first two batters reached on a walk and a single and, following a sacrifice bunt, Halle Rosario tied the game with a 3-run home run down the left field line.

Fresno State had an answer in the bottom of the fifth. Wilson and Rohleder reached on infield singles and had stolen bases to get on second and third for Galvan, who singled into left center to bring both runners in and put the 'Dogs back on top 6-4 (watch).

East entered in the top of the sixth after a leadoff walk and got two strikeouts and a groundout to end the inning. In the seventh, the Bulldog sophomore needed just seven pitches to get the last three outs and record her second career save (watch).

How it Happened - vs. UC Santa Barbara
In one of the lowest scoring games of the tournament, Broussard provided all the offense that East needed. After the 'Dogs left two runners aboard in the first inning, Haley Fuller drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the second and Broussard followed with her second home run of the season out to left center (watch).

Fresno State threatened for more runs, loading the bases in the third inning and leaving two aboard in the fourth, and picked up an additional score in the fifth. Vanessa Hernandez walked with one out and Jade Nua was hit by a pitch ahead of Fuller, who just missed a 3-run homer as she doubled off the wall in left field to bring in Hernandez with the third Bulldog run (watch).

East permitted just two singles and one walk over her first five innings of work. UCSB mounted a bit of a rally in the sixth inning as Ally Nodohara had a leadoff walk and Maci Fines followed with a single. A groundout moved the runners to second and third before Wilson made a great running catch in foul territory in right (watch). Nodohara tagged and scored on the play but East got the next hitter to pop out to end the inning and permit just the one run.

In the seventh, East got a groundout followed by back-to-back strikeouts to close out the win (watch).

Quotable
Head Coach Linda Garza

On the Bulldog Classic…
"I thought it was a great performance. Our offense came up big and our pitching was huge this weekend. We found ways to get a lot of strikeouts and just put ourselves in really good positions. It's hard to play six games in four days and deal with weather but I thought we were resilient. We fought and stayed in games. I think we got a little tired towards the end and I'd like to see our offense capitalize better when we have runners in scoring position but I'm glad that Dani was able to keep us in the games today and made some good pitches when she needed to."

On entering MW play on an 8-game winnings streak…
"It gives us some good momentum. We needed to feel good playing at home and putting ourselves in positions to win. We're learning what our offense is and were able to make some changes to our lineup throughout the week and it was good to see."

Notable

Fresno State's pitching staff of Lung, East, and Hailey Dolcini combined for a 1.71 ERA and .184 opposing batting average with 45 strikeouts over 41.0 innings during the Bulldog Classic. All three had ERA's below 2.35 and all three earned wins.
Offensively, Fresno State hit .370 with a .464 on-base percentage over six tournament games, averaging 5.7 runs per game. Hernandez hit .529 with a home run, five doubles, and eight RBIs, Wilson hit .500 with seven stolen bases, and Rohleder and Minogue both hit .400 or better.
The Bulldogs have won every game this year in which they've held a lead.
Fresno State is now 12-0 when scoring first this year.
Wilson reached base in 10 straight games before not reaching against UC Santa Barbara.
In earlier action on Sunday in the Bulldog Classic, North Dakota beat Montana 6-2 and California Baptist defeated UC Santa Barbara 5-1.
Fresno State went 6-0 in the tournament while California Baptist was 4-2, North Dakota was 2-3, Montana was 1-4, and UC Santa Barbara was 1-5. All results are available in Tournament Central.
Before their games on Sunday, the 'Dogs officially signed 9-year-old Kailee Sidamrong-Phan, who is battling Cystic Fibrosis, through a partnership with Team IMPACT. Watch the full Draft Day Press Conference.

Up Next
Fresno State opens MW play next week with a three-game series at Colorado State Friday-Sunday. The Rams are 17-4 this season and will also enter conference play on an eight-game winning streak.

"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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