The Aztecs continue to struggle in finding their footing in the new season, starting Mountain West conference play at a slow pace with a 0-9 record.
Fresno State (5-3 MW) started off conference play with a 3-3 record after a road trip to New Mexico resulted in one win and two losses and a home series with Nevada two wins and one loss.
Going into the series at Tony Gwynn stadium, the Bulldogs showed dominance from beginning to end.
Game 1 – Friday, March 27
Fresno State struck first with an RBI double and held their lead throughout the contest to secure a 3-1 victory in game one of the weekend series.
The Bulldogs increased their lead by an additional run in the third after sophomore Ben Newton, who previously walked, scored on redshirt-junior Zach Morgan’s single through the middle.
The Aztecs made it on the scoreboard following a walk and stolen base from new-comer freshman Irvin Weems and was brought home by fellow freshman and San Diego native, Tyler Glowacki in the bottom of the fifth.
Fresno State capitalized again in the top of the sixth, securing their lead with a solo home run from senior Vinny Bologna off of senior RHP Jacob Flores.
Sophomores Caden Miller and Xavier Carter both reached first in the seventh and ninth but the Aztecs were unable to bring them home and potentially tie up the game.
Despite tossing six strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings, right handed pitcher Troy Melton was marked with his first loss of the season.
Even with a combined 14 strikeout effort from four pitchers — Melton, senior Jacob Flores, redshirt-sophomore Jonny Guzman, and redshirt-freshman Jadon Bercovich — the Aztecs were unable to secure a victory against the Bulldogs.
Game 2 – Saturday, March 28
Hoping to even out the series with the Bulldogs, sophomore RHP Kelena Sauer took to the mound and the Aztecs went to battle.
Fresno State went into a scoring frenzy, recording runs in every inning with the exception of the fifth, seventh, and ninth.
Miller sent a solo homer flying out of the park in the bottom of the third, giving one run to the Aztecs against the Bulldogs’ four.
In the bottom of the fourth, sophomore Poncho Ruiz barreled a triple before racing home on a grounder from sophomore Cole Carrigg, bringing the Aztecs a run closer with a 5-2 deficiency.
Miller, Ruiz, and freshman Irvin Weems led the Aztecs offensive production with two hits each but it wasn’t enough to push the Aztecs toward a game two victory.
Additional pitching contributions came from freshman Chris Canada, who threw three innings and gave up a two-run double that increased Fresno State’s lead to 7-2 and Senior Avery Jones struck out four but gave up a double, which plated another Bulldog runner.
Canada and Jones combined for 7 strikeouts in 5 innings pitched.
Sauer was tacked with the loss as a result of giving up five runs on five hits in four innings pitched with only one strikeout.
Game 3 – Sunday, March 29
In the series finale of the weekend series, the Aztecs limited the Bulldogs to just three hits and four runs but were not able to produce offensively on their own, resulting in a 4-0 loss and weekend sweep from Fresno State.
Left handed pitcher TJ Fondtain had a promising start after retiring the first nine batters in the contest but followed up with giving up three runs in the fourth.
Additional pitching efforts came from sophomore RHP Ricky Tibbett, Guzman, and redshirt-freshman RHP Jadon Bercovich who pitched the final four innings for the Scarlet and Black.
The Bulldogs tacked on an unearned run in the sixth after a walk from Tibbett with the bases loaded.
SDSU made a last ditch effort to put numbers on the board after singles from Ruiz and Giannola but a groundout ended the game and set the 4-0 loss in stone.
Fondtain became responsible for the Sunday loss after giving up three runs to the Bulldogs in the fourth inning.
With a young and less experienced team, the Aztecs are still searching for the missing piece that could lead to their on-field success and potentially change the course of the remainder of the season.
On deck…
The Scarlet and Black will be back in action at Tony Gwynn Stadium on Tuesday where they will host UC San Diego in the second half of the 2022 Trolley Series.
Following the midweek matchup, the Aztecs will hit the road to take on Nevada in a weekend series in Reno, NV.
