Bulldogs set to host Fresno State Invitational

FRESNO, Calif. — The Fresno State softball team will host the 2024 Fresno State Invitational Feb. 16-18 at Margie Wright Diamond.

FRESNO STATE INVITATIONAL
Feb. 16-18, 2024 • Fresno, Calif. • Margie Wright Diamond
Friday: vs. Utah Valley, 3:30 p.m. PT
vs. Oregon State, 5:30 p.m. PT
Saturday: vs. Oregon State, 2 p.m. PT
vs. Saint Mary's, 4:30 p.m. PT
Sunday: vs. Saint Mary's, 11:30 a.m. PT
Listen: Bulldog Sports Network
Watch: Mountain West Network
Live Stats: BulldogsLive.com
Tickets: Here
Twitter (X): @FresnoStateSB

OFF THE BAT

Fresno State opens the 2024 season hosting back-to-back home tournaments.
Fresno State will see Utah Valley, Oregon State and Saint Mary's this weekend.
Last weekend, Fresno State went 4-1 at the Fresno State Kickoff Classic.
After losing their season-opener the Bulldogs won four straight games.
Fresno State won four out its first five games since 2016.
In the last four games. Fresno State has outscored its opponents 21-7.
Head Coach Stacy May-Johnson enters her third season at the helm of the program, with assistant coaches Whitney Arion and Shelby Miller alongside.
The Bulldogs return 15 players including Preseason All-Mountain West selections Keahilele Mattson and Taylor Gilmore.
Fresno State added 11 newcomers including four Division I transfers.
Fresno State was picked to finish fourth in the MW preseason poll.
Fresno State finished the 2023 season with an overall record of 23-31 (10-12 MW), finishing fifth in MW play.

WHAT'S THE CONNECTION
Utah Valley - Stacy May-Johnson spent two seasons as the head coach at Utah Valley from 2020-21.

In her two seasons at UVU, she accumulated an overall winning percentage of .507, compared to an average program winning percentage of just .322 in the five seasons prior to the arrival. The 24 wins the Wolverines racked up in 2021 were the programs most since 2013.

Whitney Arion and Shelby Graves were assistant coaches under May-Johnson UVU.

Outfielder Alyssa Rebolledo's older sister Linnah Rebolledo played at Utah Valley from 2018-22, she finished her career ranked second in runs scored, fifth in games played, sixth in hits and seventh in games started. The 50 runs she scored in 2022 were the most in a single season in program history.

Oregon State - The Beaver's head coach Laura Berg is one of two former Fresno State players to have their jersey retired.

The Bulldog All-American and three-time USA Softball Olympic gold medalist guided Fresno State to its first NCAA Division I national title in 1998 as a senior outfielder and ended her Bulldog career leading the WAC in triples, runs, hits, at bats, games played and total bases. Berg is the only player to produce more than 300 career hits and a 160-game defensive errorless streak as an outfielder. She is second all-time in NCAA history with 396 career hits.

Oregon State's associate head coach Marcie Green was an ace pitcher of Fresno State 1990-93. Green wrapped up her bulldog career ranked in virtually every pitching category. The two-time all Big West honoree guided Fresno State to three Big West Conference titles en route to four NCAA Regional appearances and three Women's College World Series showings. She was named All-WCWS as a freshman when the Bulldogs finished as the national runner-up in 1990, she also helped Fresno State to third place finish at the 1991 and 1992 WCWS.

WEEKEND ONE'S TAKEAWAYS

Fresno State won four out its first five games since 2016.
Junior Almeida batted a .429 with a . 714 slugging percentage, starting all five games at shortstop.
Sophomore Kennedy Bunker batted .462 with .538. slugging percentage, starting every game at catcher.
Almeida and Sophia Medellin hit their first home runs as Bulldogs.
Sophomore left handed pitcher Serayah Neiss finished the weekend with a .69 ERA with a 1-0 record and her first career save.

GOLDEN SCHEDULE
83 percent of Fresno State's schedule will be played in the state of California. The Bulldogs will not leave the Golden State until conference play when they visit Nevada (March 15-17), Boise State (April 12-14) and New Mexico (May 2-4).

PRESEASON POLL
The 2024 MW predicted order of finish, voted on by the league's nine head coaches, had the Bulldogs picked to finish fourth after receiving 41 points. San Diego State was picked to finish first with 64 points and eight first-place votes, followed by Boise State with 57 points and one first-place vote, and Colorado State rounded out the top three with 46 points.

PRESEASON ALL-MW SELECTIONS
Fresno State earned a pair of preseason selections in left fielder Keahilele Mattson and right-handed pitcher Taylor Gilmore.
Mattson, a two-time All-Mountain West selection, has started all 151 games of her career at Fresno State. The senior owns a .343 career batting average and a .603 career slugging percentage.
The Alta Loma, Calif., native had a breakout freshman season in 2021, she was named the MW Player of the Year and MW Co-Freshman of the Year, the first player to receive both honors in the same season. She was a 2021 NFCA All-Region Second Team honoree. Mattson was a MW First Team selection in both 2021 and 2023. Last season, Mattson led the Bulldogs in hits (66), RBIs (32) and on-base percentage (.435).
Gilmore joined the Bulldogs last season after spending four seasons at Colorado State. She made an immediate impact in the circle, pitching a team-high 136.1 innings with 10 starts. The Broomfield, Colo., native finished the season with a 3.18 ERA. Gilmore dished 86 strikeouts, pitched two complete games and recorded one save.

TRANSFERS
Fresno State added 11 newcomers including four Division I transfers in Natalie Elias (Cal Baptist), D'Asha Saiki (Cal), Sophia Medellin (Cal) and Lauren Almeida (Utah Tech). The Bulldogs also add a junior college transfer in Ella Jolley (Butte College).

AT THE PLATE
Fresno State returns four of its top five hitters from last season.
Keahilele Mattson led the Bulldogs at the plate in 2023, touting a .361 batting average with 66 hits and nine home runs. Juliana Wilson finished the season with a .286 batting average, 36 hits and eight home runs.
Emma Martinez and Kennedy Bunker put up good numbers in their rookie season. Martinez had the third-most hits with 47 and Bunker followed close behind with 41.

IN THE CIRCLE
Fresno State returns its top two pitchers from 2023 in Taylor Gilmore and Serayah Neiss.
Gilmore owned a 3.18 ERA with eight wins while pitching a team-high 136.1 innings. She logged 86 strikeouts and recorded one save.
Neiss dished a team-high 93 strikeouts in her freshman season. She owned a 4.02 ERA with seven wins in 108.0 innings pitched.

MATTSON MAKING HER MARK
Keahilele Mattson has etched her name in the program's record book. Mattson currently sits at No. 3 in career all-time slugging percentage with a .603, and No. 8 in career home runs with 26.

NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE BORDER
Ruby Anderson and Alyssa Rebolledo represented the Bulldogs on the international stage.

Anderson, who made her Canadian National Team debut in 2022, spent the summer competing in the 26th annual Canada Cup as part of Team Canada.
Rebolledo spent the summer competing for Team Mexico at the Central American and Caribbean Games. Rebolledo and Team Mexico brought home the bronze medal. Her sister, Linnah Rebolledo, also plays for Team Mexico.

2023 HIGHLIGHTS

Fresno State finished the 2023 season with an overall record of 23-31.
27 of Fresno State's 54 games in 2023 were decided by two or fewer runs, including 19 by a single run.
The Bulldogs finished fifth in the Mountain West after posting a 10-12 record in conference play.
Fresno State made its first-ever appearance in a MW Tournament as it was the first time since 2006 that the conference is using a six-team postseason tournament to award the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Senior shortstop Alesia Denby was named the 2023 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year.
Denby was also named First Team All-MW for the second straight season and junior Keahilele Mattson also collected First Team All-MW honors for the second time in her career.

"Fresno State Athletics - Elevate: Imagine the Possibilities" - The Elevate Campaign provides a visionary roadmap to enhance and construct a series of athletic facilities to help further position Fresno State Athletics for sustained competitive success nationally, while also further serving as a source of pride and economic growth throughout California's Central Valley. For more information, visit GoBulldogs.com/elevate.

Fresno State Athletics

Bulldogs set to host Fresno State Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Lauren Almeida

Ruby Anderson

Kennedy Bunker

Alesia Denby

Natalie Elias

Taylor Gilmore

Ella Jolley

Emma Martinez

Keahilele Mattson

Sophia Medellin

Serayah Neiss

Alyssa Rebolledo

D'Asha Saiki

Juliana Wilson

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