March 7, 2005
Final Stats
Fresno, Calif. -
The Bulldogs started the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic in good form on Monday, winning 5-3 over the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. Fresno State brought in six different pitchers in the game, but they allowed no earned runs, and Beau Mills and Chase Moore both had home runs for the Bulldogs.
Southern Utah started off the game hot to get the Bulldogs in a hole. Leadoff hitter Greg Marshall reached on an error, and after the starting pitcher Brandon Burke retired the next two batters, Jeff Oliverson made him pay with a two-run shot to give the Thunderbirds the lead.
Fresno State manufactured a run in the second inning, and then exploded for four runs in the fourth. Beau Mills started the inning with his fifth home run of the year, and Nick Moresi was hit by the following pitch. Chase Moore then hit a huge home run to just a shade left of center to give the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead. Fresno State would add another run off of a Ryan Overland RBI single to stretch the lead to 5-2.
Errors would haunt the Bulldogs in the seventh, Southern Utah's best chance to get back into the game. Gil Infante started the inning by retiring the first two batters he faced, but gave up a triple to Tyler Dimick, who scored after a Beau Mills error allowed the inning to continue. Jason Breckley then walked the next batter, but Brandon Mozeley came in for his first appearance of the year, and got the Bulldogs out of the jam.
Matt Garza closed out the game for the Bulldogs, recording his first save of the year with was highlighted by Southern Utah's Jason Ruiz breaking his aluminum bat on a 93 mile-per-hour fastball that fell weakly into Ozzie Lewis' glove for the final out.
Other winners on the day were San Francisco, Penn State, and Dallas Baptist.
San Francisco won convincingly over Pennsylvania 7-0 in the opener. Starting pitcher Nick Pereira was the star for the Dons, pitching 8.0 innings of scoreless ball, scattering four hits and striking out seven. Jeff Gordon came in to close out the game for San Francisco.
The second game was highlighted by Penn State's Joe Blackburn, who hit a three-run homer in the third inning to help lead his team to a 6-3 win over the Monmouth Hawks. Shortstop Mike Milliron also added to the effort, going 3-5 to tie Gonzaga's Scott Campbell for the tournament lead in hits so far.
Gonzaga's inability to push runners across the plate, and Dallas Baptist's clutch hitting was the story of the 4 p.m. game. Gonzaga stranded 11 runners, including leaving the bases loaded twice on the way to a 5-4 loss. Dallas Baptist was led by the power hitting of Cody Montgomery, who had a triple and a home run in the victory, getting two RBIs as well.
Tommorow's schedule begins with Monmouth playing Dallas Baptist at 10 a.m., followed by San Francisco vs. Southern Utah at 1 p.m. and Gonzaga vs. Penn State at 4 p.m., before the Bulldogs face the Pennsylvania Quakers at 7 p.m. in the nightcap . All games for the tournament will be held at Beiden Field.
