RENO, NV – The bats came alive today for the Fresno State baseball team in a 14-8 victory over the Nevada Wolf Pack on Sunday to snag the weekend series win.
The Bulldogs jump to 24-23 (13-14 Mountain West) on the season with the crucial win over the Wolf Pack (18-27, 8-15 MW).
NOTES:
Fresno State hit a season-high 21 hits in Sunday's win, the first 20+ hit game since April 12, 2022, at Sac State.
Sophomore Bobby Blandford was a single away from the cycle with a home run, a triple, and two doubles added to his resume today.
Tommy Hopfe earned his ninth save of 2023, pitching two innings with only one hit and one walk against him.
For the second game in a row, every Diamond Dog in the starting lineup reached a bag at least once.
Marco Pirruccello blasted his third home run of the season over the left field wall.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Bobby Blandford crushed the first hit of the game with a double down the right field line in the second inning, immediately followed by a triple from Ben Newton that brought in the first run for the 'Dogs. Doubles from Tyler Davis and Grady Morgan, accompanied by singles from Travis Welker and Murf Gray gave Fresno State a 3-0 lead over Nevada.
The 'Dogs had an electric third inning with back-to-back homers from Marco Pirruccello and Bobby Blandford, followed by a double from Ben Newton. Tyler Davis, Travis Welker and Grady Morgan hit consecutive singles to score two more runs. Starting pitcher Trevor Garcia shut the inning down in three frames.
The Wolf Pack offense sparked scoring six runs in the next two innings on five hits.
Fresno State scored two additional runs in the sixth from another RBI double from Ben Newton and a sacrifice fly from Tyler Davis. Nevada was not ready to back down as they replied with two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
The 'Dogs ultimately overpowered the Pack by scoring four more runs in the last two frames with an RBI single from Grady Morgan, a double from Marco Pirruccello and a triple from Bobby Blandford to snag the 14-8 victory.
UP NEXT: The 'Dogs are heading to the Central Coast for a midweek matchup against the Cal Poly Mustangs on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. PT.