MESA, Ariz. - The Diamond 'Dogs earned their first victory of 2023 on Saturday afternoon blanking Arizona, 5-0 at Sloan Park in the MLB Desert Invitational.
With interim head coach Ryan Overland earning his first win leading the 'Dogs, Fresno State (1-1) found its offensive groove finishing with 12 hits on the afternoon led by three from leadoff hitter Ben Newton and two apiece from Tommy Hopfe, Bobby Blandford and Grady Morgan.
Payton Allen smacked the 'Dogs first home run of the season with a two-run bomb in the eighth inning and Marco Pirruccello and Michael McKernan added singles.
On the mound, junior left-hander Jake Dixon turned in a masterful performance throwing six shutout innings limiting Arizona (1-1) to five hits while striking out six to earn the win.
Trevor Garcia came on in relief for the final three innings to earn his first save of the season allowing one hit adding two strikeouts.
How It Happened
The Bulldogs got off to a hot start in the top of first inning matching their run total from Friday's season opener getting a run off a ground ball that turned into a double play and an RBI double from Blandford that drove home Tyler Davis from first.
Running into a minor jam in the bottom of the second, Arizona put a pair of runners into scoring position with one out, but Dixon escaped with no harm done securing a strikeout and groundout.
The 'Dogs extended their lead to 3-0 in the fourth on a two-out RBI single back up the middle by Newton that drove in Pirruccello.
Getting out of another jam in the sixth, Dixon was able to escape a pair of base runners in scoring position with one out to get a strikeout looking and a flyout to left field to preserve his shutout efforts.
Allen pushed the Bulldogs in front, 5-0 with his two-run bomb to left in the eighth and Garcia kept the shutout intact in the ninth stranding a Wildcat on third base.
Game Notes
The 'Dogs move to 5-7 all-time against Arizona with its first win since 1961.
Fresno State earned its first win over a Pac-12 opponent since June 1, 2019 against Stanford in the NCAA Tournament snapping a 10-game losing skid against opponents from that conference.
Dixon earned his ninth career win and Garcia picked up his second career save.
It was the Bulldogs first shutout since blanking Sacramento State, 19-0 on April 12, 2022.
Up next
The 'Dogs wrap up the MLB Desert Invitational on Sunday facing Michigan State (1-0) at 12 p.m. PT from Salt River Fields in Scottsdale.