FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno State baseball team opened its only series this season against Air Force with a 9-8 victory on Thursday night.
With the win to open Heroes Weekend, Fresno State holds on to its solo spot in first place in the Mountain West standings at 18-19 overall and 11-5 in conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bulldogs came out firing in the first inning of the game as Owen Faust, Eddie Saldivar, and Murf Gray hit consecutive singles at the top of the order. Justin Stransky hit a sacrifice fly, and Griffen Sotomayor hit a long ball over the right-field wall to clear the bases and give Fresno State an early 4-0 lead.
Air Force leveled the game in the top of the second with three-straight hits, five total, to score four runs. The Falcons took the lead in the third with an RBI double.
Faust hit a nearly identical double in the fourth inning, plating Sky Collins and evening the score at five.
The Bulldogs had a late offensive surge, with RBI singles from Sotomayor, Lee Trevino and Cayden Munster that added three runs in the seventh.
Saldivar and Gray led off the eighth inning with back-to-back walks, and Stransky plated Saldivar by getting on first by an RBI fielder's choice.
The Falcons continued to battle late in the game, scoring three runs on only two hits. Air Force, however, came up just short of Fresno State, which claimed a 9-8 win to open the series.
NOTES
Jack Anker struck out 10 Falcon batters to open the series. This is his fourth game of 2025 with 10+ strikeouts recorded.
Griffen Sotomayor hit his fourth home run of the season.
JT Guerrero earned his fifth save to lead the team.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs look to claim a series win over the Falcons on Friday at 6:05 p.m. PT at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium.