‘Dogs down Utah State 11-6 in series opener

Thursday, April 18

Logan, Utah

3 P.M. PT

Fresno State

28-14, 6-7

Utah State

13-23, 4-11

Fresno State

Utah State

‘Dogs down Utah State 11-6 in series opener

4/18/2019 8:10:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

LOGAN, Utah – Fresno State hit three home runs en route to taking a 10-0 lead and Danielle East allowed just one run and struck out six over the final three innings of the game as the 'Dogs posted an 11-6 victory over Utah State in the opener of a three-game MW series on Thursday.

Fresno State (28-14, 6-7 MW) won for the 13^th time in the last 16 games and has now won six of its last eight MW contests. The Bulldogs matched their season high for home runs and kept high-scoring Utah State (13-23, 4-11 MW) off the scoreboard in six of seven innings.

Vanessa M. Hernandez, Kelcey Carrasco, and Schuylar Broussard all homered with Carrasco adding a double and finishing the game 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. Hernandez had two hits as did Hayleigh Galvan and McKenzie Wilson. Named to the Schutt Sports / NFCA Freshman of the Year Top 25 list earlier Thursday, Wilson stole three bases in the game and is now just five steals shy of the program single-season stolen base record.

How it Happened
The Bulldogs scored their first run before an out was recorded. Wilson walked, stole second, moved to the third on an error, and scored on an RBI single from Miranda Rohleder (watch). In the second, Vanessa Hernandez walked and Carrasco had a single and, with two away, Wilson singled up the middle to score one (watch). Carrasco would then score on a Utah State fielding error to make it a 3-0 game.

Danielle Lung allowed two singles but struck out the side in the first and she worked around a pair of walks in a scoreless bottom of the second. The 'Dogs extended the lead with five runs in the third, the first two scoring on a two-run double off the bat of Carrasco (watch). Broussard was hit by a pitch and Hernandez blasted a three-run homer to left center, her second home of the year to give the 'Dogs an 8-0 lead (watch).

Fresno State left a runner on third in a scoreless fourth but added to its lead in the top of the fifth. Carrasco hit a long home run to lead off the inning (watch) and Broussard made it back-to-back jacks with her third homer of the season (watch). Wilson reached on a fielder's choice and stole her third base of the game (watch) but was left at third.

The 'Dogs had a chance to end the game in five via the run rule but Utah State fought back with six runs in the bottom of the fifth. The Aggies scored five runs before an out was recorded, opening with three singles and a hit batter to score one run before Lexi Orozco, who, like Wilson, was also named to the Freshman of the Year top 25 list on Thursday, hit a grand slam. Allanah Alvarado added a solo homer with two out to make it a 10-6 game.

East struck out two in a scoreless sixth inning and in the top of the seventh the 'Dogs added a run as they loaded the bases and Galvan had an RBI single to left (watch). The Aggies got a pair of baserunners with a single and a hit batter in the bottom of the seventh but East struck out the side, getting the last two outs on called third strikes (watch).

Notable

Wilson's 29 stolen bases this season are the third most by a Bulldog in program history and just five shy of the single season record of 34, set by Brenna Moss in 2013 and matched in 2014. In the last six games she is 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts.
Wilson posted Fresno State's first three-steal game since Rohleder had three steals in a game at New Mexico last season. She finished one steal shy of matching Moss' single game program record of four.
Lung had five strikeouts and East had six as the duo combined for 11 K's while allowing just eight hits in the game.
By pitching the last three innings of the contest East earned her second save of the year.
The Bulldogs have scored 26 runs in their last two games against Utah State, having had a 15-1 victory in the final meeting between the teams last season.
Fresno State improved to 24-0 this season when scoring first.
The Bulldogs are a perfect 14-0 this season when scoring in the first inning.

Up Next
Fresno State can clinch its third straight MW series win when the teams meet for game two of the series at 3 p.m. PT on Friday.

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