WEEK 7: at UNLV / Santa Clara
Tickets: UNLV / Santa Clara
Watch: Mountain West Network
Listen: KRDU 1140 & Varsity App & the iHeartRadio App
Live Stats: BulldogsLive.com
Twitter (X): @FresnoStateSB
SCHEDULE
Friday, March 21 - 6 p.m.
Saturday, March 22 - 3 p.m.
Sunday, March 23 - Noon
Tuesday, March 25 - 1 p.m. / 3:30 p.m.
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State softball team (17-9, 3-0 MW) hits the road face Mountain West foe UNLV in a three-game series March 21-23 before traveling to Santa Clara for a doubleheader on March 25.
BULLDOG BONES
Fresno State is 17-9 (3-0 MW) this season.
Fresno State is on an eight-game winning streak.
Fresno State 0-2 on the road this season, both loses were to Stanford.
Fresno State is currently in first place in the Mountain West Standings.
Fresno State opened Mountain West play with a series sweep over Boise State.
Junior pitcher Serayah Neiss was named the MW Pitcher of the Week on March 17.
Neiss leads the Bulldogs in the circle this season with a 7-3 record and 2.10 ERA through 73.1 innings.
Five Bulldogs are batting above .500 in Kennedy Bunker (.408), Natalie Elias (.375), Lauren Almeida (.323), Emma Martinez (.310) and Taryn Irigoyen (.306).
Bunker has 31 hits and 21 RBIs this season.
Fresno State was picked to finish second in the Mountain West Preseason Poll.
This marked the highest preseason ranking for Fresno State since 2021, when the Bulldogs were selected as the conference favorite.
Neiss was named a Preseason All-Mountain West selection.
Neiss posted a 2.58 ERA over 152 innings last season, recording 105 strikeouts.
She also set a program record with five saves in a single season.
Fresno State returns 18 players, including seven starters.
OPPONENT OFF THE BAT
UNLV is 16-12 (1-2 MW) this season and 7-2 at home.
UNLV is coming off series loss to Colorado State on the road.
The Rebels have lost four of their last five games.
Five Rebels are batting over .300 this season.
Ariana Martinez leads the team with a .418 batting average, 38 hits and 31 RBIs.
Amelia Weber and Yanina Sherwood have been the duo in the circle for UNLV this season holding a 3.50 ERA and a 3.90 ERA, respectively.
Fresno State took the series against UNLV in 2024 winning two games, but the Rebels have won five out of the last seven games between the teams.
Santa Clara is 16-10 this season and 12-3 at home.
The Broncos have won four of their last five games.
Bulldogs' assistant coach Raquel Savoy served as a volunteer assistant coach for Santa Clara in 2019.
LAST WEEKEND
Fresno State opened MW play with a series sweep over Boise State.
The Bulldogs posted their second run-rule victory of the season in game one, defeating the Broncos 8-0 in five innings. Serayah Neiss pitched a complete-game shutout.
Fresno State had two come-from-behind wins in games two and three, winning both by a score of 3-2.
Thie was the first time the Bulldogs have swept the Broncos since 2021.
NEISS NAMED MW PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Fresno State junior left-handed pitcher Serayah Neiss was named the Mountain West Pitcher of the Week, announced by the conference on Monday.
Neiss led Fresno State to a series sweep over Boise State to open MW play, sweeping the Broncos for the first time since 2021.
The Newberg, Ore. Native finished the weekend with a 2-0 record, 1.27 ERA, 11.0 innings pitched and 10 strikeouts against the best offense in the MW. She pitched a complete game shutout in game one, with five strikeouts and didn't allow a Bronco runner past second base. In game two, she pitched 5.0 innings with five strikeouts.
This is the first conference weekly honor of her career.
BIG BAT BUNKER
Junior Kennedy Bunker leads the team with 31 hits and a .408 batting average. She has also contributed 21 RBIs this season, along with a .526 slugging percentage and a .483 on-base percentage.
Bunker has recorded multiple hits in 10 games and six games with multiple RBIs.
KEEPING FAITH
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Faith Jordan, who pitched only 19.0 innings in 2024, has become a key part of the bullpen, having logged 50.2 innings so far this season.
Jordan holds a 3-3 record with a 2.76 ERA, while also dishing 26 strikeouts.
INFIELD SHIFT
There was very little change in the infield personnel last season, with first base, second base, and shortstop remaining unchanged throughout the year.
However, following the departure of Sophia Medellin, who started all 52 games at first base, and Bella Rocco, who appeared in 35 games with 27 starts at third base, along with the addition of transfer Marissa Montelongo, there will be new faces around the diamond this season.
Emma Martinez, who started every game at second base in 2024, has moved to shortstop in the offseason, while Montelongo will take over at second base. Lauren Almeida, who started at shortstop in 2024, shifted to third base.
First base saw an open competition during the offseason, and Madison Rey, who did not appear in the infield last season, made her first career start on opening day.
After the first four games of the season, Almeida and Rey swapped positions. Almeida has been at first and Rey has been at third since.
OUTFIELD SHUFFLE
Fresno State is on the search for the right combination of outfielders this season.
While the outfield saw frequent rotation throughout 2024, left field had been solidified for the past four seasons, with Keahilele Mattson starting all 203 games of her career in that position.
The only remaining true outfield starter was Natalie Elias, who started 49 games in the outfield last season.
In addition, four returners brought experience to the outfield: Taryn Irigoyen, Alyssa Rebolledo, Kealani Nitta, and Alyssa Orr.
Through 26 games this season, Fresno State has had eleven different outfield combinations in its starting lineup.
1ST IN OUR HEARTS, 2ND IN THE PRESEASON POLL
Fresno State was picked to finish second in the Mountain West Preseason Poll, voted on by the league's nine head coaches.
This marked the highest preseason ranking for Fresno State since 2021, when the Bulldogs were selected as the conference favorite.
NEISS EARNS PRESEASON ALL-MW HONORS
Junior left-handed pitcher Serayah Neiss was named a Preseason All-Mountain West selection, the Bulldogs' sole representative on the list.
Neiss posted a 2.58 ERA over 152 innings last season, recording 105 strikeouts. She also set a program record with five saves in a single season.