COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Fresno State Baseball's Tommy Hopfe, Murf Gray and Jake Dixon have been named Preseason All-Mountain West selections, the conference announced Thursday.
In addition, Fresno State was selected to finish second in the conference in the MW Coaches Preseason poll with 28 points and two first-place votes.
The Diamond 'Dogs finished the 2023 season with a 30-27 record (16-14 MW) in Head Coach Ryan Overland's first season at the helm of the program.
Fresno State will return 20 Diamond 'Dogs and introduce 18 new players.
The Bulldogs will start the season on Friday, February 16 at 6:05 p.m. PT against Milwaukee at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium.
#15 Murf Gray, So., INF
Reigning Mountain West Freshman of the Year Murf Gray returns to the Bulldogs having rounded out the season with a .297 average with 54 hits, 29 runs scored, 8 doubles, a pair of triples and 8 home runs in 182 at-bats.
Gray earned Mountain West Freshman of the Week honors 7 times, five of which were consecutive.
In addition, Murf totaled a .338 on-base percentage and a .495 slugging percentage with 90 total bases.
Gray forced 6 walks and was struck out only 24 times in 57 games.
As the starting third baseman for the 'Dogs, Gray was responsible for 20 putouts and 58 assists with only 10 errors recorded.
#33 Tommy Hopfe, Sr., UTL/RHP
Tommy Hopfe has been an integral part of the Bulldog lineup as he led the team with a .321 average and .592 slugging percentage while also leading the team with 70 hits and 23 two-out RBIs.
Hopfe averaged 1.32 hits per game and 0.25 homers per game.
On the mound, Hopfe had a 4.87 ERA with 21 strikeouts, in 20.1 innings pitched.
He ranked second in the conference and 14th in the country in saves on the season with 11.
Hopfe was also named All-Mountain West First Team and Mountain West All-Tournament Team.
#38 Jake Dixon, Gr., LHP
Jake Dixon spent 40.2 innings on the mound in 8 total appearances as the Saturday starter for the Bulldogs before his season was cut short due to injury.
In that time, Dixon accumulated a 5.09 ERA with a 3-3 record.
Dixon struck out 42 batters while allowing only 6 walks and 9 doubles, 2 triples, and 4 home runs in 2023.
Despite the short season, Dixon remained in the top 4 on the team in batters struck out at 42.
2024 MOUNTAIN WEST BASEBALLPRESEASON COACHES POLL
Rank Team (1st place votes) Points
1. San José State (4) 33
2. Fresno State (2) 28
3. Air Force (1) 27
4. San Diego State 19
5. New Mexico 15
5. UNLV 15
7. Nevada 10
2024 MOUNTAIN WEST BASEBALLPRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Name Cl. Pos. Institution
Sam Kulasingam Sr. INF Air Force
Jay Thomason Sr. INF Air Force
Jake Dixon Gr. P Fresno State
Murf Gray So. INF Fresno State
Tommy Hopfe Sr. UTL Fresno State
Reed Spenrath Sr. INF New Mexico
Chris Canada Jr. P San Diego State
Omar Serrano Jr. P San Diego State
Hunter Dorraugh Sr. INF San José State
Robert Hamchuk Sr. OF San José State
Theo Hardy Sr. INF San José State
Mickey Thompson Sr. P San José State
Rylan Charles Sr. OF UNLV