Fresno State baseball: Batesole calls out team for selfish play

Fresno State coach Mike Batesole called out the Bulldogs baseball team after dropping a fourth straight game Saturday.

Bulldogs starting pitcher Rickey Ramirez endured a costly inning during an otherwise strong day, giving up five runs off five hits in the fourth inning alone en route a 6-4 loss to UC Riverside at Beiden Field at Bennett Stadium. Ramirez did bounce back from the rough stretch to finish with four scoreless innings and 11 strikeouts over eight innings.

Moreso, Batesole was critical of Fresno State’s offense after amassing nine strikeouts and getting just two hits and three walks from its No. 5-9 hitters.

“There was no resemble of team offense out there,” Batesole said. “What you’re seeing is everyone going out there taking selfish at-bats.

“It looks like a high school scout league Sunday game, where I’m going to take my at-bat to impress the scouts. How’s that working for you so far?”

Fresno State (2-4), which struck out 17 times in a 4-3 loss over 18 innings Friday, will try to avoid a three-game sweep in Sunday’s series finale.

“These guys have a plan,” Batesole said. “They know exactly what the plan is.

“When you’re this poor offensively as we’ve been from the start, there’s only two possible answers: Either you’re not committed to the plan or you are committed and you’re not good enough.

“It’s going to change tomorrow,” Batesole said, “or there’s going to be different guys in the lineup.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2017 at 7:17 PM with the headline "Fresno State baseball: Batesole calls out team for selfish play."