Fresno State’s softball struggles continue at home

It’s been a rough month for Fresno State softball, so far.

The Bulldogs lost 9-3 to San Jose State on Sunday to drop the Mountain West Conference series two games to one.

Fresno State had snapped a three-game losing skid with an 8-2 win in Friday’s opener against the Spartans (29-15, 9-6), but followed with a 4-3 loss Saturday at Margie Wright Diamond.

The Bulldogs (26-20, 6-8) are just 2-9 in April, including 1-6 in conference games, falling 4.5 games behind first-place Utah State (30-11, 12-5).

The Spartans got to the Bulldogs early, tagging starting pitcher Savannah McHellon (5-7) with four runs on five hits in just 1 1/3 innings. Casey Watt hit 2-for-4 with a double and a triple and three RBI.

Fresno State’s Lindsey Willmon hit a solo home run in the eighth. It was her sixth of the season, and second this series. She connected for a two-run homer in Friday’s opener.

The Bulldogs hit the road for a three-game league series at UNLV starting Friday.

Lacrosse

Fresno State lost 16-14 to Cal on Friday night at home, closing the door on a record-breaking season for the program.

The Bulldogs led 14-13 with 13:17 remaining before the Golden Bears scored three unanswered goals to rally back for the win. Fresno State’s Caroline Dineen-Carlson scored four goals, with Sarah Bloise and Marina Mayo adding three apiece.

The Bulldogs finish 9-7 overall for their best record in program history. The team broke 25 other program records this season under sixth-year head coach Jessica Giglio, including most goals scored (188), most caused turnovers (151) and most consecutive wins (3).

Men’s tennis

It was a Senior Night sweep as the Bulldogs beat Nevada 4-1 and UC Santa Cruz 6-1 in Saturday’s doubleheader season finale at Wathen Tennis Center.

Euan McIntosh, the team’s lone senior, clinched the match against Nevada with a third-set tiebreaker on court 2 and finished 4-0 on the day.

The Bulldogs finish the season 17-12 overall and 5-2 in the Mountain West. Fresno State will play next at the Mountain West Championship Tournament, where it is the No. 2 seed after finishing one match behind top-seed Utah State.

Women’s tennis

Galina Bykova, Katerina Stloukalova and Georgia Lawson each won their singles matches in straight sets to lead the Bulldogs to a 4-1 win against Nevada in Saturday’s Mountain West Conference regular season finale. The Bulldogs will visit Las Vegas for the Mountain West Championship Tournament.

Track and Field

Sophomore Vanja Spaic opened the Bulldog Invitational with Fresno State’s first win of the day, taking the javelin in a personal-best of 161 feet, 3 inches. Kevin Sundberg (172-6) and Kayla Hopkins (178-6) won the men’s and women’s discus titles, respectively.

Fresno Pacific’s 4x400-meter men’s relay team won the event and set a new school record, with Lawrence Cairo Jr., Armon Plummer, Scott Hickam and Michael Taylor finishing in 3:13.70.

Men’s golf

Alex Lee finished tied for 15th to lead the Bulldogs at the Mountain West Championships held at the par-72 OMNI Tucson National’s Catalina Course.

Lee went 76-68-71 to finish at 1-under 215. Trevor Clayton (4-over, 74-71-75) was the Bulldogs’ only other top 40 finisher, at 35th. Fresno State shot a collective 20-over 884 for 11th in the team competition.

Boise State’s Brian Humphreys won the individual title at 12-under 204. UNLV took home the team crown with four top 20 finishes en route to a 7-under 846 total.

This story was originally published April 23, 2017 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Fresno State’s softball struggles continue at home."