The Fresno State baseball team has held team meetings and players-only meetings.

The coaches have discussed among themselves what changes need to take place.

Mostly, the Bulldogs have talked about staying focused and calm, and learning from their mistakes.

With a 3-12 record leading into today's Mountain West Conference series opener against San Diego State (7-10), Fresno State has spent the entire week trying to figure out how to get its season back on track.

Fresno State hasn't gotten off to such a start since opening 4-11 in coach Mike Batesole's first season with the Bulldogs in 2003.

"They understand where we're at," Batesole said before Thursday's practice.

Batesole intentionally didn't schedule a nonconference game earlier this week so the Bulldogs could have a stretch of practices leading into the Mountain West opener. First pitch for Game 1 of the series is 6:35 p.m. today at Beiden Field.

"We've obviously made some mistakes that we need to clean up," Batesole said. "Most of it is stuff that we've practiced and haven't been able to (apply) to the field. And that's really been our focus this week, being able to take what we practice (and) take it out on the field Friday night."

Fresno State's troubles have been widespread: disastrous defense (its .950 fielding percentage ranks last in the six-team Mountain West and 252nd in the nation), horrendous hitting (.224 average, also last in the conference and 262nd in the nation), and a bad bullpen (nine relievers have combined for a 7.52 ERA, allowing 84 hits and 36 walks in 61 innings).

Many of the struggles continue to trace to Fresno State's inordinate amount of inexperience, with 20 of the 26 players on the roster either freshmen or sophomores.

But with conference play set to begin, their first as a Mountain West team, Fresno State is hoping a fresh start will lead to different results.

"We're a humbled team," said junior Aaron Judge, a preseason All-American who is batting .328 with three home runs and 12 RBIs. "We learned a lot going 3-12. Going into conference, it's kind of a clean slate.

"It's important, starting our first conference game, making a statement that we're a better team than 3-12. After the last few practices, (team confidence), it's pretty high."

As the Bulldogs have done for the majority of the season, this weekend's rotation will consist of William Munro (1-1, 1.96 ERA), Tim Borst (1-0, 3.74) and Derick Velazquez (1-1, 4.38). It's whom the Bulldogs turn to out of the bullpen that remains the bigger concern.

The Bulldogs bats, meanwhile, will try to give the team a spark beyond Judge's production. The 6-foot-7 center fielder is the only batter hitting over .300. A year ago, Fresno State had four hitters batting at least .300.

The Bulldogs might catch somewhat of a break this weekend.

After playing the likes of Pac-12 clubs Stanford, Cal and USC during the nonconference schedule, Fresno State takes on a San Diego State team that has lost five straight.

The teams played as recently as 2010 in an Aztec Invitational game that the Bulldogs won 10-3, but this weekend will mark the first time Fresno State (ahead 58-52 all-time) and San Diego State have played a series since 1999.

WEEKEND SERIES

Fresno State vs. San Diego State: Today at 6:35 p.m., Saturday at 6:35 p.m. and Sunday at 1:05 p.m., all at Beiden Field