Fresno State Athletics
Thursday, May 16
Las Vegas, NV
6:05 PM
Fresno State
at
UNLV
Photo by: Keith Kountz/Fresno St
No. 25 Bulldogs close out regular season at UNLV [May 16-18]
5/15/2019 12:45:00 PM | Baseball
The No. 25 Diamond 'Dogs look to clinch the Mountain West regular season championship with a win at UNLV on Thursday evening.
FRESNO, Calif. - Closing in on its second Mountain West regular season championship in the last four seasons, Fresno State Baseball wraps up the regular season at UNLV starting Thursday evening in Las Vegas.
Games 48-50:Â Fresno State (32-14-1, 17-8-1 MW) at UNLV (27-24, 14-13 MW)
First Pitch:Â May 16-18 - Thu: 6:05 p.m.; Fri: 6:05 p.m.; Sat: 1:05 p.m.
Stadium:Â Earl E. Wilson Stadium (3,000)
Surface:Â Grass
Dimensions:Â 335 (LF), 400 (CF), 335 (RF)
All-Time Series:Â Fresno State leads 55-40
Last Meeting:Â Fresno State defeated UNLV, 6-4 (March 3, 2019 in Fresno, Calif.)
Radio:Â 940 AM ESPN
Play-by-Play:Â Paul Loeffler
Video: N/A
Live Stats:Â Sidearm
Twitter:Â @FresnoStateBSB
Pitching Probables: Fresno State at UNLV
Thursday: Jr. RHP Ryan Jensen (9-1, 3.42 ERA) vs. RJr. RHP Ryan Hare (7-3, 3.39 ERA)
Friday: Jr. RHP Davis Moore (7-1, 4.56 ERA) vs. Jr. RHP Cameron Jabara (2-5, 4.09 ERA)
Saturday: So. LHP Nikoh Mitchell (2-4, 4.94 ERA) vs. RJr. RHP Chase Maddux (3-5, 4.57 ERA)
Bulldog Headlines
All-Time: Fresno State leads, 55-40
Last Meeting: March 3, 2019 (Fresno, Calif.) - W, 6-4
Current Streak: W1
Last Fresno State Win: March 3, 2019 (6-4) - Fresno, Calif.
Last UNLV Win: March 2, 2019 (7-3) - Fresno, Calif.
Where Fresno State Rank Offensively in the Mountain West/nation in 2019 (as of 5/15/19)
Batting average: Zach Ashford - 3rd (.374); McCarthy Tatum - Â 6th (.356)
Slugging percentage: Tatum - 4th (.598)
On-base percentage: Zach Ashford - 3rd (.486); JT Arruda - 4th (.451)
Runs: Ashford - 3rd (52); Carter Bins - 4th (46)
Hits: Tatum - T-4th (69)
RBI: Tatum - 1st (58)/RBI per game: 1.23 - 1st - 25th/16th in nation
Home runs: Tatum - T-2nd (10); Zach Presno, Arruda & Dempsey - T-9th (7)
Walks: Arruda - T-2nd (34); Ashford - T-4th (33)
Sacrifice bunts: Nolan Dempsey - 2nd (9) - 28th nationally
ERA: Ryan Jensen - 6th (3.42)
Opposing batting average: Jensen - 6th (.242)
Innings pitched: Jensen - 4th (76.1)
Strikeouts: Jensen - 3rd (79); Davis Moore - 4th (74)
Wins: Jensen - 1st (9) - 6th nationally
Saves: Jaime Arias - 1st (11) - 20th nationally
Fielding percentage: Ashford - T-1st (1.000)
A look at the UNLV Rebels
UNLV enters this weekend's series against the Bulldogs with a 27-24 overall record and is sitting in third place in the Mountain West with a 14-13 record.Â
The Rebels are coming off a series win at New Mexico and are 19-9 at home this season with a 7-5 mark in MW home contests. UNLV is hitting .293 as a club to rank third in the MW and are fifth in the league in scoring averaging 6.0 runs per contest.
Junior infielder Bryson Stott ranks fourth in the MW in batting average at .369 and leads the league with 61 runs, 126 total bases, 50 walks, a .498 on-base percentage and a .636 slugging percentage and are second in 19 doubles and 73 hits.
On the mound, SDSU has a 5.53 ERA, fifth in the MW, with a 1.84 strikeout-to-walk ratio with 324 strikeouts to 176 walks while holding opponents to a .289 batting average.Â
The weekend rotation of right-handers Ryan Hare, Cameron Jabara and Chase Maddux have combined to make 34 starts and are 12-13 this season. Hare leads the way with a 7-3 mark and a 3.39 ERA (fifth in MW) and has tossed 49 strikeouts in 66.1 innings. Jabara ranks second in the MW with 77.0 innings with opponents hitting .305 against him while Maddux is 3-5 with 30 strikeouts in 67.0 innings.
Redshirt senior left-hander Jackson Cofer ranks second in the MW with 10 saves and a is 2-2 with a 3.14 ERA and has 26 strikeouts in 28.2 innings.
Eyes on a Mountain West regular season title
The Diamond 'Dogs will look to wrap up their second Mountain West regular season title in the last four seasons this weekend with one win at UNLV OR one SDSU loss at home against New Mexico.
The conference title will be the 'Dogs 35th in program history and ninth under head coach Mike Batesole in his 17 seasons at Fresno State joining 2006 (league & tournament), 2007 (league & tournament), 2008 (league & tournament), 2009 (tournament), 2010 (league), 2011 (league & tournament), 2012 (tournament) & 2016 (league).
JT Arruda earns Mountain West Player of the Week honors
Redshirt sophomore shortstop JT Arruda earned his first career MW Player of the Week honor on Monday after going 7-for-12 from the plate in the 'Dogs series win over San Diego State.
Hitting .583 from the plate, the Clovis native registered a 1.167 slugging percentage on the week with a double, two home runs, three RBI and four runs scored while totaling 17 total bases.
In the 'Dogs 10-2 win over the Aztecs on Friday, Arruda had a three-hit performance and tabbed two more hits on Saturday and Sunday hitting home runs in the final two games of the series.
Fresno State in two national polls
The 'Dogs entered a second national poll on Monday making their debut in Baseball America's Top 25 at No. 25. The 'Dogs moved up one spot in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper from No. 29 to No. 28.
Bulldogs sit atop the Mountain West standings/RPI
The 'Dogs lead the MW in the RPI at No. 47 RPI and remain atop the Mountain West standings at 17-8-1 (.673) sitting 2.5 games ahead of second-place San Diego State (15-11, .577).
UNLV (14-13, .519) sits in third while Nevada (14-16, .467) is in a tight race for the fourth spot in next week's Mountain West Tournament. Fifth-place San Jose State (12-15, .444) travels to sixth-place Air Force (10-13, .435) face each other in Colorado Springs looking to leapfrog the Wolf Pack for the final spot.
'Dogs in Las Vegas             Â
The Bulldogs are 8-8 against the Rebels in Vegas since joining the Mountain West in 2013 and are 9-9 overall in Vegas after winning one of three games in the Mountain West Tournament in 2014.
May 3-5, 2013 - 1-2 [L, 1-4; L, 2-9; W, 9-4]
2014 MW Tournament - May 21-23 [W, 4-3 vs. Nevada; L, 3-5 vs. UNLV; L, 2-10 vs. Nevada]
May 8-10, 2015 - 3-0 [W, 6-1; W, 8-3; W, 6-2]
May 13-15, 2016 - 2-1 [W, 9-1; W, 7-2; L, 5-8]
May 5-7, 2017 - 2-1 [W, 12-5; W, 11-5; L, 5-14]
March 2-4, 2018 - 0-3 [L, 6-7; L, 6-7; L, 4-5]
Bulldog pitching staff continues to dominant
The 'Dogs lead the MW in ERA (3.80), opposing batting average (.255), earned runs allowed (175), hits allowed (407), walks allowed (71), doubles allowed (61), triples allowed (4), home runs allowed (27) and saves (16).
In addition, the 'Dogs have given up three runs or less in 22 of its 47 games and are 20-2 in those contests.
Magic number eight
Fresno State has had great success this year when reaching eight runs moving to 20-1 with a pair of wins last weekend after hitting that mark. Their loss came on March 9 at then-No. 25 Tennessee in a 13-9 loss to the Volunteers.
Ashford closing in on top 10 career hits mark
Zach Ashford played in his 200th career game on May 4 in the 'Dogs 8-1 win at Nevada and has played in 204 career games and is now only seven games behind Korby Batesole (211 from 2015-18) for No. 10 on the all-time games played list.
In addition, Ashford has moved his career hit total to 228 and is now only nine shy of moving into the top 10 in career hits as he will pass Phillip Romero (236 from 1989-92).
Batesole reaches 800 career win milestone & 30-win plateau     Â
Head coach Mike Batesole reached career win number 800 on Feb. 16 in the Bulldogs' 6-3 season-opening win over Utah Valley at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium. Now in his 17th season at the helm of the Bulldogs this season, Batesole has won 575 games at Fresno State and 256 at CSUN from 1996-2002 for a total of 831 career wins.Â
With the 'Dogs win at Nevada on May 5, Batesole has won at least 30 games in 14 of his 17 seasons at Fresno State and in 20 of his 24 years as a Division I head coach.
Dempsey named CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 First Team
Fresno State senior infielder Nolan Dempsey was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 First Team on May 9. A communication major, Dempsey carries a 3.78 GPA and is now eligible to become a CoSIDA Academic All-American which will be announced on June 6.
Sophomore left-hander Jaime Arias was named to the Midseason Update for the 15th annual NCBWA Stopper of the Year on April 24. Given annually to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball, Arias is one of 45 pitcher nationally and three pitchers from the Mountain West on the Midseason Update. The finalists for the award will announced on Wednesday, June 5 with the winner revealed on Saturday, June 15.
Bins named to Buster Posey Award Watch List
Junior catcher Carter Bins was named to the Buster Posey Award Watch List on April 2 which is given to the nation's top division one collegiate catcher by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission. The watch list will be narrowed down to the semifinalists announced on Friday, May 17.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will travel to the 2019 Mountain West Championships hosted by Nevada in Reno starting Thursday, May 23.
"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:Â
Twitter:Â @FresnoStateBSB
Instagram:Â fresnostateathletics
Facebook:Â FresnoStateAthletics
Games 48-50:Â Fresno State (32-14-1, 17-8-1 MW) at UNLV (27-24, 14-13 MW)
First Pitch:Â May 16-18 - Thu: 6:05 p.m.; Fri: 6:05 p.m.; Sat: 1:05 p.m.
Stadium:Â Earl E. Wilson Stadium (3,000)
Surface:Â Grass
Dimensions:Â 335 (LF), 400 (CF), 335 (RF)
All-Time Series:Â Fresno State leads 55-40
Last Meeting:Â Fresno State defeated UNLV, 6-4 (March 3, 2019 in Fresno, Calif.)
Radio:Â 940 AM ESPN
Play-by-Play:Â Paul Loeffler
Video: N/A
Live Stats:Â Sidearm
Twitter:Â @FresnoStateBSB
Pitching Probables: Fresno State at UNLV
Thursday: Jr. RHP Ryan Jensen (9-1, 3.42 ERA) vs. RJr. RHP Ryan Hare (7-3, 3.39 ERA)
Friday: Jr. RHP Davis Moore (7-1, 4.56 ERA) vs. Jr. RHP Cameron Jabara (2-5, 4.09 ERA)
Saturday: So. LHP Nikoh Mitchell (2-4, 4.94 ERA) vs. RJr. RHP Chase Maddux (3-5, 4.57 ERA)
Bulldog Headlines
- The Diamond 'Dogs close out the regular season this weekend at UNLV.
- The Bulldogs have won 13 of their last 16 games and 17 of their last 21.
- The 'Dogs are 13-3-1 over their last 17 MW games and enter their final MW road series with a 10-1 record in MW road games.
- Fresno State sits only one win over UNLV OR one loss by San Diego State at home against New Mexico shy of clinching the MW regular season crown.
- The Bulldogs are coming off a series win over San Diego State over Senior Weekend winning 10-2 on Friday and 8-3 on Sunday.
- The 'Dogs entered a second national poll this week making its debut in the Baseball American poll at No. 25.
- Fresno State leads the all-time series over UNLV, 55-40.
- For the third time in the last four weeks, the Bulldogs had a player earn Mountain West Player of the Week honors as shortstop JT Arruda claimed the honors for the first time in his career going 7-for-12 with a .615 on-base percentage & a 1.167 slugging percentage.
- The Fresno State/UNLV series dates back to 1977 with the Bulldogs leading, 55-40.
- As MW foes, the Bulldogs lead 20-16 despite the Rebels winning six of the last nine meetings over the last two seasons.
- The 'Dogs are 8-8 against UNLV in Las Vegas since moving to the MW in 2013 and are currently on a four-game losing skid in Vegas.
- Coach Batesole is 20-16 against the Rebels while at Fresno State with all 36 meetings taking place since moving to the MW in 2013.  Â
All-Time: Fresno State leads, 55-40
Last Meeting: March 3, 2019 (Fresno, Calif.) - W, 6-4
Current Streak: W1
Last Fresno State Win: March 3, 2019 (6-4) - Fresno, Calif.
Last UNLV Win: March 2, 2019 (7-3) - Fresno, Calif.
Where Fresno State Rank Offensively in the Mountain West/nation in 2019 (as of 5/15/19)
- .295 Batting Average: 2nd - 30th nationally
- .447 Slugging Pct: No. 1 - 42nd nationally
- .383 On base Pct: No. 1
- 34 sacrifice bunts: No. T-2 - 34th nationally
- 317 Runs: No. 1
- 479 Hits: No. 5
- 279 RBI: No. T-2
- 89 Doubles: No. 6
- 12 Triples: No. 5
- 45 Home Runs: No. 3
- 3.80 ERA: No. 1 - 38th nationally
- .255 Opposing bat average: No. 1
- 16 saves: No. 1
- 420 strikeouts: No. 2
- 175 Earned runs allowed: No. 1
- 407 Hits allowed: No. 1
- 171 walks allowed: No. 1
- 61 doubles allowed: No. 1
- 4 triples allowed: No. 1
- 27 home runs allowed: No. 1
- .969 Fielding Percentage: No. 4
- 470 Assists: No. 6
- 26 double plays: No. 7
Batting average: Zach Ashford - 3rd (.374); McCarthy Tatum - Â 6th (.356)
Slugging percentage: Tatum - 4th (.598)
On-base percentage: Zach Ashford - 3rd (.486); JT Arruda - 4th (.451)
Runs: Ashford - 3rd (52); Carter Bins - 4th (46)
Hits: Tatum - T-4th (69)
RBI: Tatum - 1st (58)/RBI per game: 1.23 - 1st - 25th/16th in nation
Home runs: Tatum - T-2nd (10); Zach Presno, Arruda & Dempsey - T-9th (7)
Walks: Arruda - T-2nd (34); Ashford - T-4th (33)
Sacrifice bunts: Nolan Dempsey - 2nd (9) - 28th nationally
ERA: Ryan Jensen - 6th (3.42)
Opposing batting average: Jensen - 6th (.242)
Innings pitched: Jensen - 4th (76.1)
Strikeouts: Jensen - 3rd (79); Davis Moore - 4th (74)
Wins: Jensen - 1st (9) - 6th nationally
Saves: Jaime Arias - 1st (11) - 20th nationally
Fielding percentage: Ashford - T-1st (1.000)
A look at the UNLV Rebels
UNLV enters this weekend's series against the Bulldogs with a 27-24 overall record and is sitting in third place in the Mountain West with a 14-13 record.Â
The Rebels are coming off a series win at New Mexico and are 19-9 at home this season with a 7-5 mark in MW home contests. UNLV is hitting .293 as a club to rank third in the MW and are fifth in the league in scoring averaging 6.0 runs per contest.
Junior infielder Bryson Stott ranks fourth in the MW in batting average at .369 and leads the league with 61 runs, 126 total bases, 50 walks, a .498 on-base percentage and a .636 slugging percentage and are second in 19 doubles and 73 hits.
On the mound, SDSU has a 5.53 ERA, fifth in the MW, with a 1.84 strikeout-to-walk ratio with 324 strikeouts to 176 walks while holding opponents to a .289 batting average.Â
The weekend rotation of right-handers Ryan Hare, Cameron Jabara and Chase Maddux have combined to make 34 starts and are 12-13 this season. Hare leads the way with a 7-3 mark and a 3.39 ERA (fifth in MW) and has tossed 49 strikeouts in 66.1 innings. Jabara ranks second in the MW with 77.0 innings with opponents hitting .305 against him while Maddux is 3-5 with 30 strikeouts in 67.0 innings.
Redshirt senior left-hander Jackson Cofer ranks second in the MW with 10 saves and a is 2-2 with a 3.14 ERA and has 26 strikeouts in 28.2 innings.
Eyes on a Mountain West regular season title
The Diamond 'Dogs will look to wrap up their second Mountain West regular season title in the last four seasons this weekend with one win at UNLV OR one SDSU loss at home against New Mexico.
The conference title will be the 'Dogs 35th in program history and ninth under head coach Mike Batesole in his 17 seasons at Fresno State joining 2006 (league & tournament), 2007 (league & tournament), 2008 (league & tournament), 2009 (tournament), 2010 (league), 2011 (league & tournament), 2012 (tournament) & 2016 (league).
JT Arruda earns Mountain West Player of the Week honors
Redshirt sophomore shortstop JT Arruda earned his first career MW Player of the Week honor on Monday after going 7-for-12 from the plate in the 'Dogs series win over San Diego State.
Hitting .583 from the plate, the Clovis native registered a 1.167 slugging percentage on the week with a double, two home runs, three RBI and four runs scored while totaling 17 total bases.
In the 'Dogs 10-2 win over the Aztecs on Friday, Arruda had a three-hit performance and tabbed two more hits on Saturday and Sunday hitting home runs in the final two games of the series.
Fresno State in two national polls
The 'Dogs entered a second national poll on Monday making their debut in Baseball America's Top 25 at No. 25. The 'Dogs moved up one spot in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper from No. 29 to No. 28.
Bulldogs sit atop the Mountain West standings/RPI
The 'Dogs lead the MW in the RPI at No. 47 RPI and remain atop the Mountain West standings at 17-8-1 (.673) sitting 2.5 games ahead of second-place San Diego State (15-11, .577).
UNLV (14-13, .519) sits in third while Nevada (14-16, .467) is in a tight race for the fourth spot in next week's Mountain West Tournament. Fifth-place San Jose State (12-15, .444) travels to sixth-place Air Force (10-13, .435) face each other in Colorado Springs looking to leapfrog the Wolf Pack for the final spot.
'Dogs in Las Vegas             Â
The Bulldogs are 8-8 against the Rebels in Vegas since joining the Mountain West in 2013 and are 9-9 overall in Vegas after winning one of three games in the Mountain West Tournament in 2014.
May 3-5, 2013 - 1-2 [L, 1-4; L, 2-9; W, 9-4]
2014 MW Tournament - May 21-23 [W, 4-3 vs. Nevada; L, 3-5 vs. UNLV; L, 2-10 vs. Nevada]
May 8-10, 2015 - 3-0 [W, 6-1; W, 8-3; W, 6-2]
May 13-15, 2016 - 2-1 [W, 9-1; W, 7-2; L, 5-8]
May 5-7, 2017 - 2-1 [W, 12-5; W, 11-5; L, 5-14]
March 2-4, 2018 - 0-3 [L, 6-7; L, 6-7; L, 4-5]
Bulldog pitching staff continues to dominant
The 'Dogs lead the MW in ERA (3.80), opposing batting average (.255), earned runs allowed (175), hits allowed (407), walks allowed (71), doubles allowed (61), triples allowed (4), home runs allowed (27) and saves (16).
In addition, the 'Dogs have given up three runs or less in 22 of its 47 games and are 20-2 in those contests.
Magic number eight
Fresno State has had great success this year when reaching eight runs moving to 20-1 with a pair of wins last weekend after hitting that mark. Their loss came on March 9 at then-No. 25 Tennessee in a 13-9 loss to the Volunteers.
Ashford closing in on top 10 career hits mark
Zach Ashford played in his 200th career game on May 4 in the 'Dogs 8-1 win at Nevada and has played in 204 career games and is now only seven games behind Korby Batesole (211 from 2015-18) for No. 10 on the all-time games played list.
In addition, Ashford has moved his career hit total to 228 and is now only nine shy of moving into the top 10 in career hits as he will pass Phillip Romero (236 from 1989-92).
Batesole reaches 800 career win milestone & 30-win plateau     Â
Head coach Mike Batesole reached career win number 800 on Feb. 16 in the Bulldogs' 6-3 season-opening win over Utah Valley at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium. Now in his 17th season at the helm of the Bulldogs this season, Batesole has won 575 games at Fresno State and 256 at CSUN from 1996-2002 for a total of 831 career wins.Â
With the 'Dogs win at Nevada on May 5, Batesole has won at least 30 games in 14 of his 17 seasons at Fresno State and in 20 of his 24 years as a Division I head coach.
Dempsey named CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 First Team
Fresno State senior infielder Nolan Dempsey was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 First Team on May 9. A communication major, Dempsey carries a 3.78 GPA and is now eligible to become a CoSIDA Academic All-American which will be announced on June 6.
Sophomore left-hander Jaime Arias was named to the Midseason Update for the 15th annual NCBWA Stopper of the Year on April 24. Given annually to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball, Arias is one of 45 pitcher nationally and three pitchers from the Mountain West on the Midseason Update. The finalists for the award will announced on Wednesday, June 5 with the winner revealed on Saturday, June 15.
Bins named to Buster Posey Award Watch List
Junior catcher Carter Bins was named to the Buster Posey Award Watch List on April 2 which is given to the nation's top division one collegiate catcher by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission. The watch list will be narrowed down to the semifinalists announced on Friday, May 17.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will travel to the 2019 Mountain West Championships hosted by Nevada in Reno starting Thursday, May 23.
"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:Â
Twitter:Â @FresnoStateBSB
Instagram:Â fresnostateathletics
Facebook:Â FresnoStateAthletics
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