Fresno State pitcher Tyler Linehan let out a roar on the mound and catcher Austin Wynns raced out to congratulate him.

The rest of the Bulldogs soon followed to take part in the celebration.

While it might be too soon to get giddy about Friday's performance or to go so far as to say Linehan is back to his dominant form of a year ago, the junior left-hander finally showed he's at least on the right path.

Maybe the Bulldogs are, too.

In a surprising decision by coach Mike Batesole made on a "gut feel," Linehan made his first start of the season in Friday's Mountain West Conference opener against San Diego State -- this despite his 0-3 record and 9.82 ERA.

Linehan did not disappoint, lighting up the Aztecs for seven strikeouts while pitching an eight-hitter as the Bulldogs captured a 1-0 victory at Beiden Field.

"That's what we needed," Batesole said. "That's been one of the things that's been missing -- the Friday night guy who could match with their Friday night guy. And that's what we got. That ought to give the ballclub a lot of confidence."

Fresno State (4-12, 1-0) scored on freshman Taylor Ward's RBI double with runners on first and second and two outs in the sixth, one of the few mistakes Aztecs ace Michael Cederoth made all night.

Cederoth hit a high of 101 mph on the radar gun and often threw at 97 mph in his seven innings. He gave up eight hits and two walks but just the one run while striking out six for San Diego State (7-11).

Yet with Linehan surprisingly dealing like he was a year ago, that's all that Fresno State needed.

Linehan, who went a modest 4-5 but with a 3.58 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 83 innings last season, found out three hours before Friday's first pitch that he'd get the start.

During the past couple of weeks, Linehan had worked trying to rediscover his delivery, spending hours with pitching coach Steve Rousey. They looked at game footage from a year ago and from Linehan's freshman season and determined his windup was too long.

Linehan sped up his delivery Friday and looked like his old self, rising to the occasion as he got in -- but also out -- of trouble while throwing in the low- to mid-90s the entire night.

It also helped that Fresno State had one of its cleanest defensive nights of the season, playing errorless ball and converting two double plays.

Linehan threw 135 pitches, 87 for strikes.

"It felt good to have the team behind my back," Linehan said. "It was a good team win. We just need to keep doing it."