BY AL SCOTT
The Bulldogs get to retake their stake on Valley bragging rights as the Diamond Dogs defeated the Bakersfield Roadrunners 17-8 on Tuesday night on the road. Fresno State improves to 9-11 on the season with its second straight win.
Catcher Justin Stransky stayed hot with a pair of homers as he went 4-for-5 with four runs driven in. The backstop also threw a runner out, preventing a Bakersfield rally in the second inning.
Stransky is now hitting .311 with five home runs and 11 runs batted in (RBI) through 20 games played this season. He’s also shown off his arm, throwing out five of nine attempted base stealers.
What happened
After going down one, two, three to begin the game, Fresno State turned the ball over to starter Hayden Crews who got Roadrunners third baseman Noah Alvarez to ground out to second. It followed however with a hit-by-pitch, three walks, a double and a sacrifice fly as Bakersfield took a 3-0 lead, ending Crews day, having gotten just two outs.
Tyler Patrick came on in relief and allowed one of the inherited runners to score on a single to second baseman Lewis Barnum V. The freshman followed it up with a pair of scoreless frames, striking out two in 2.1 innings. A single from left fielder Cam Schneider brought home a pair of runs, thanks to a Roadrunners error, to cut the deficit in half.
A pair of doubles in the third from Murf Gray and Bobby Blandford made it 4-3. Bakersfield scored a run off a wild pitch the following inning to make it 5-3. After a slow start to the season, Gray now has four doubles in his last four games. Blandford is hitting .329 with a team-leading 11 extra base hits and 19 RBI’s.
Stransky hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to tie the game at five runs apiece.
The Roadrunners retook the lead in the bottom half of the frame on another wild pitch, but Caleb Anderson recovered to finish the inning unscathed. Outfielder Sky Collins tied the game in the top of the sixth with a solo homer to left field.
Drew Townson held Bakersfield scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings. The hard-throwing righty struck out a pair in 2.1 innings to get the win in relief.
After a largely back-and-forth affair, the Bulldogs exploded for 11 runs including homers from Stransky and designated hitter Griffin Sotomayor in the final two innings to extend its lead to 17-6.
Buchanan alum Jett Ruby came off the bench and legged out an infield single in the ninth inning for the first hit of his collegiate career.
JT Guerrero got the final five outs for the Bulldogs to secure the victory and his second save of the season.
What’s next
The Bulldogs return to Mountain West Conference play as they head to Nevada for a weekend matchup with the University of Las Vegas, Nevada. First pitch on Friday from Las Vegas is set for 6:05 p.m. with ace Jack Anker (2-2) set to take the hill.
Fresno State will rematch Cal State Bakersfield again on Tuesday, May 6, at 6:05 p.m.
COVER PHOTO COURTESY FRESNO STATE BASEBALL