Bulldogs open NISC Regional in Reno on Thursday

National Invitational Softball Championship - Reno Regional
May 16-18, 2019 | Reno, Nev. | Hixson Softball Park (1,000)
Teams: Fresno State, Loyola Marymount, Nevada, UC Riverside
First FS Game: vs. UC Riverside | Thu | 1 p.m
Watch: Mountain West Network
Live Stats: Sidearm

Bulldog Bones

Fresno State makes its 38th all-time postseason appearance as the 'Dogs will play in the NISC for the first time.
The 'Dogs defeated all three of their NISC regional opponents earlier this year with a 4-1 combined record against them.
Fresno State ended the regular season with a sweep of NCAA Tournament qualifier Boise State and the 'Dogs have gone 21-7 over their last 28 games, winning five of their last six MW series.
The 'Dogs are 7-2 in neutral site games this year and 22-8 in non-conference games, including a 7-0 record against WCC teams and 6-1 against the Big West.
Hailey Dolcini and Hayleigh Galvan were named MW Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively, on Tuesday. Dolcini received the honor for the fifth times this year and Galvan earned her second weekly award this season.
McKenzie Wilson broke the single-season program record with her 35th steal last week. She is on a 22-game reached base streak and 14-game hitting streak while Schuylar Broussard has reached in 21 straight games.
Danielle East has tied the program single-season saves record with four, tied for 26th most in NCAA Div. I, and the team's seven total saves is a new program season record.

By The Numbers
35 – Stolen bases this year for McKenzie Wilson, a new program record and just one steal shy of the MW season record
31 – Wins and zero losses this season for the 'Dogs when scoring first, including a 16-0 record when scoring in the 1st inning
4 – Wins, in five total games, for the Bulldogs against their NISC Reno Regional opponents, beating all three this year

Scouting the NISC Reno Regional

Loyola Marymount is 35-18 overall and finished second in the West Coast Conference with an 11-4 league record. LMU has gone 11-2 over its last 13 games and is 8-3 in neutral site games this year, with one of the losses against the 'Dogs in Fullerton, 4-1, on Feb. 28. The Lions led the WCC with a 2.29 team ERA and 11 shutouts led by Hannah Bandimere, who is 10-5 with a 1.95 ERA. LMU won the NISC title last season, beating UC Riverside at home in the final.
Nevada is one of two teams that has played in all three NISC tournaments. The Wolf Pack lost seven of eight MW series but won at least one game in each, ending the regular season with a 2-1 win at San Jose State. Nevada is hitting .278 with a 3.66 team ERA and went 7-7 at home this season. The Bulldogs won 2-of-3 games vs. the Pack in the regular season in Fresno, scoring 16 runs in the two wins, but Nevada won the series over the 'Dogs in Reno last year.
UC Riverside finished sixth in the Big West with a 26-25 overall record. Fresno State beat the Highlanders 12-0 in six innings in Los Angeles earlier this year as Vanessa Hernandez was 3-for-4 with two home runs. The team has a 4.09 season ERA with a .273 batting average. UCR went 2-5 in neutral site games but was 8-6 in road games during the regular season. Fresno State is 14-2 all-time vs. UC Riverside, which was previously led by Bulldog coach Linda Garza 2013-2016.

NISC You in Reno

The Bulldogs will compete against UC Riverside, Loyola Marymount, and Nevada in Reno, one of four NISC regional sites.
Fresno State is the top seed in the regional as the 'Dogs have the highest RPI at No. 61. Loyola Marymount (No. 74 RPI) is the second seed followed by Nevada (105) and UC Riverside (155).
Amongst the 19 total teams competing in the NISC the 'Dogs rank third in RPI, behind just Iowa State (52) and Liberty (57).
While there are four teams in two of the NISC regionals, one has five teams and another has six. The four regional winners will advance to the NISC Championship round May 24-26 in Fort Collins, Colo

Rolling into Reno

Fresno State ended the regular season in style, sweeping NCAA Tournament qualifier Boise State while winning 14 of its last 19 MW games and claiming five of the last six MW series with three straight home series wins.
The 'Dogs held Boise State to just six runs in three games after the Broncos entered the series ranked eighth in the nation averaging 7.00 runs per game. The Bulldogs handed Boise State just its third shutout of the year.

Postseasoned

In 42 years as a program Fresno State will play in the postseason for the 38th time, making its first appearance in the NISC.
The 'Dogs made three AIAW Tournament appearances and have qualified for the NCAA Tournament 33 times with 12 WCWS appearances and the 1998 National Championship.
Fresno State is 93-74 all-time in the postseason, going 63-51 in AIAW/NCAA Regionals.

Sensational Pitching

Over the last three weeks (10 games) the 'Dogs have allowed only 12 earned runs in 63.2 innings, good for a 1.34 team ERA, while posting a .190 opposing batting average.
Fresno State's pitchers have allowed just 44 hits and permitted only 22 walks while tallying 47 strikeouts during the stretch.
In the three-game sweep of Boise State the 'Dogs allowed just six runs and permitted only one walk. The team has allowed one or fewer walks in five straight games and has gone 16 straight innings without issuing a walk.

Score First, Win Game

Fresno State is still undefeated at 31-0 this season when scoring first.
The 'Dogs are 16-0 when leading after the first inning and 27-0 when leading after the second inning.
The Bulldogs also have just two losses all season in games in which they held a lead.

Fantastic Freshman (1)

Fresno State freshman McKenzie Wilson broke the single-season program record with her 35th steal of the year on Friday, breaking the record set by Brenna Moss in 2013 and 2014. Wilson leads the MW and all freshmen in NCAA Div. I in steals and is tied for 10th in the nation overall. She is just one steal shy of matching the MW single season record of 36, set by Utah's Molly McLean in 2001.
Wilson was named one of 25 finalists for the Schutt Sports / NFCA Freshman of the Year award, presented annually to the top freshman in NCAA Div. I. She is the first Bulldog to ever make the list and one of two MW players honored this year.
For the season Wilson also leads the team in batting average (.387), runs (44), hits (67), multi-hit games (18), and three-hit games (8). She is on a 22-game reached base streak and a team season-long 14 game hitting streak.

Fantastic Freshman (2)

On the other side of the ball, freshman pitcher Danielle Lung is tied for second in the MW with a .223 opposing batting average and led the team with an 8-2 record and 2.79 ERA in MW play.
Lung is also third in the MW with 5.84 hits allowed per 7 innings and is tied for fourth with 15 wins while tallying 90 strikeouts.
Lung had a streak of 22.0 consecutive innings pitched without allowing an earned run and won 10 consecutive decisions earlier this year.

Half The Pitchers of the Week

Bulldog pitchers earned seven of 14 total MW Pitcher of the Week honors this season. No other team received more than three selections.
Sophomore Hailey Dolcini earned the honor for the fifth time this week after going 2-0 with a 2.15 ERA in two starts vs. Boise State.
Freshman Danielle Lung has also received the award twice, and Dolcini is the first MW pitcher to receive five Pitcher of the Week honors in one season since former Bulldog Jill Compton got the accolade six times in 2015.

Queen of Contact

Rachel Minogue again ranks as the toughest player to strike out in NCAA Div. I, having struck out just twice in 166 at-bats this year.
Minogue had just one K over her first 118 at-bats of the year before striking out for just the second time on April 13.
Minogue went 31 games between strikeouts and has just two strikeouts this year after striking out just six times all last year.
Minogue is also second on the team hitting .343 this year and is second with 39 RBIs.

Netting Neutral Wins

Fresno State went 7-3 in neutral site games in three road tournaments during the regular season.
In neutral games the 'Dogs outscored the opposition 57-27 and the pitchers posted a 2.51 ERA and .216 opposing batting average.

Shutout Leader

Fresno State leads the MW with 13 shutouts this season. Hailey Dolcini has seven complete game shutouts and has pitched in nine total shutouts to lead the team.
The Bulldogs, who have been shutout offensively only six times this year, tallied seven shutouts all of last season and have recorded the most shutouts in a season since the 2015 team finished with 14.
The Bulldog pitching staff also ended the regular season leading the league with a .226 opposing batting average

On Base a Lot

Fresno State leads the MW and ranks 22nd in NCAA Div. I with a .399 team on-base percentage this year.
Five Bulldog starters have on-base percentages better than .400 while two have .450+ OBPs this year.
As a team the Bulldogs finished fifth in NCAA Div. I with a .410 on-base percentage last year.

Home Cooking

Fresno State went 23-5 at home this season. The 2019 'Dogs recorded the most home wins since the 2012 team finished 24-8 at home.
In 28 home game the Bulldogs hit .338 with 35 stolen bases and a 1.53 team ERA, outscoring their opposition 153-50.
Fresno State has had a winning home record in all 42 years of the program's existence and has won over 79% of its home games all time.

Super Support

The Red Wave averaged 1,069 fans per game this year. That attendance average is the highest among all 20 Div. I schools in California (including No. 2 UCLA), second highest among all non-Power-5 schools, and 16th most in all of NCAA Div. I.
Fresno State's total of 29,945 fans this season is the 12th highest in the nation.
No other MW team has averaged more than 484 fans per game this year, less than half of the 'Dogs average. Fresno State has averaged more than 1,000 fans per game for 26 consecutive seasons.

Schuy Slugging

Junior Schuylar Broussard hit five home runs over a seven game stretch after hitting seven total homers in her first 138 collegiate games.
Broussard has reached base in 21 straight games and hit .340 with a team-leading .720 slugging percentage in MW games. She also leads the MW with nine sacrifice bunts this year.
Broussard made a sensational diving catch for the final out in the Utah State finale to complete the series sweep. The play was No. 7 on the Sportscenter Top-10 that night and was shared by NCAA Softball on social media, garnering nearly 200,000 views.

Superstarter

In 22 starts this season sophomore transfer Hailey Dolcini is 17-4 with a 1.39 ERA and .198 opposing batting average. The 'Dogs are 18-4 in her 22 starts this and she went 12-1 with a 0.98 ERA at home.
Overall this season Dolcini ranks second in the MW with 134 strikeouts, 17 wins, and a .223 opposing batting average and is fourth with a 2.06 ERA..

Double Time

Bulldog senior center fielder Vanessa Hernandez leads the MW and is tied for 17th in NCAA Div. I with 18 doubles this year, the fifth most doubles in a season in program history.
Hernandez is also third on the team with 36 RBIs and has driven in multiple runs in 11 games this year with 12 multi-hit games.

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Bulldogs open NISC Regional in Reno on Thursday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Schuylar Broussard

Hailey Dolcini

Danielle East

Hayleigh Galvan

Vanessa Hernandez

Danielle Lung

Rachel Minogue

McKenzie Wilson

Fresno State Athletics

Bulldogs open NISC Regional in Reno on Thursday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Schuylar Broussard

Hailey Dolcini

Danielle East

Hayleigh Galvan

Vanessa Hernandez

Danielle Lung

Rachel Minogue

McKenzie Wilson

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