Fresno State softball shows power, pitching in going 3-2 on opening weekend

The Fresno State softball team did what was expected on opening weekend in Florida.

The Bulldogs beat the teams they were supposed to beat, won the toss-up game against host South Florida and played No. 7 Florida and No. 17 Michigan close.

Fresno State did it with power, aggressive play and good pitching, especially from sophomore Danielle Lung.

The only downer in Tampa came Sunday when the Bulldogs lost 1-0 to Michigan in nine innings, stranding runners at second and third in both international tiebreaker innings before the Wolverines scored with a sacrifice to move the tiebreaker runner from second to third folllowed by an RBI hit.

The high point was beating South Florida 3-2 on Friday. Both teams received votes in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 (South Florida 19 points, Fresno State two). Hailey Dolcini pitched a five-hitter with nine strikeouts and Kelcey Carrasco hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer.

Dolcini and Lung shared the pitching duties against Michigan with Lung going the final 3 1/3. For the weekend Lung pitched 19 innings with 23 strikeouts, three walks, 10 hits and two runs allowed.

Hitting with power is an emphasis for Fresno State and that came in the opening 5-0 win over Georgia State on Schuyler Broussard’s three-run homer, Carrasco’s sacrifice flly and Kelsey Hall’s RBI double.

Aggressive play is important, too, and the Bulldogs got that in tying Florida 3-3 when two runs scored on Kaitlyn Jennings’ short single. The Gators eventually got away with a 6-4 win but not before catcher Alex Preston hit a solo homer.

Jennings was the spark in a 3-0 win over Illinois State, hitting an RBI triple and a solo homer.

McKenzie Wilson, who set the Fresno State season record for stolen bases last year with 39, was 5 for 5 and batted 7 for 16 with two runs scored.

The Bulldogs open the home season Friday night in their own tournament with a doubleheader against Cal Poly and Fordham. The weekend includes a Saturday night matchup with Cal.