Fresno State freshmen have big day, showing much promise in win against Cal Poly
It’s only February.
And it was just a midweek game.
But the expectations surrounding Fresno State freshman Alex Kendrick to continue to grow, especially after an outing like Tuesday.
A few other Bulldogs freshmen showed flashes, too.
Kendrick, a right-handed pitcher who was making his first college start and playing in the third game of his career, worked 3⅓ scoreless innings as Fresno State thumped Cal Poly 13-0 at Beiden Field.
Kendrick, who is from Buhach Colony-Atwater, maintains a 0.00 ERA on the season.
“You could just feel him getting better,” coach Mike Batesole said of Kendrick. “You could feel it every time he takes the ball, his chest gets a little bit further out. That’s a kid with outstanding Friday night stuff. When he’s a junior, he’s going to be something to deal with.
“Right now, he has some growing pains to go through. His stuff is so good he gets away with not having to deal with a lot of that to this point. There will be a few coming. But I love what he’s doing. I love the way he’s charging it up there and his stuff is electric.”
In eight innings on the season, Kendrick has allowed just six hits and one unearned run while striking out six. He’s limited batters to a .194 average.
The Mustangs (3-6) put their leadoff hitter aboard in each of the first three innings. Cal Poly would’ve done the same in the fourth if not for a stellar defensive play by Fresno State freshman shortstop Blake Wink, who shot to his left and snared a liner off the bat of Nick Marinconz that was headed for center field.
Nonetheless, Kendrick worked around any potential trouble each time.
“That’s electric stuff,” Batesole said. “Can you image in three years what that’s going to be like? It’s about where (Ryan) Jensen was, but a little bit more control.”
Kachel, Harrell also shine
Fresno State’s freshmen contributions didn’t stop with Kendrick.
Fellow newcomer Andrew Kachel from Christopher-Gilroy blasted a two-run homer and a three-run homer for the Bulldogs (3-4).
And freshman Jake Harrell got in a solid 1⅔ innings after struggling a bit in his first two appearances.
Harrell, the Sanger High grad, came out of the bullpen in back of Kendrick with one out and a runner on first in the fourth inning.
Harrell threw a wild pitch while walking the first batter that he faced. But the left-hander came back to retire the next two batters to get out of the fourth, then worked a perfect fifth. He finished with 20 pitches – 14 for strikes.
“He’s learning,” Batesole said of Harrell. “We just score and then he goes out there … he’s learning and he’s learning while pitching, not sitting by the water cooler watching someone else do it. And it’s a big difference.
“That kid is going to be something by the end of this year. And next year, him and Kendrick together, and then when they’re juniors, look out.”
The Bulldogs out of the bullpen had plenty to work with after Nate Thimjon blasted a three-run homer in the sixth that went over the bullpen and well past the wall in left field.
It was the team-high fourth home run this season for Thimjon and it came against right-hander Craig Colen, who had allowed just two hits over his first three appearances and innings.
Kachel hit his first career home run, the two-run shot, in a four-run second inning. His second homer came in the eighth.
“I don’t know how many freshmen we played, but a couple of times there were five on the field,” Batesole said. “They’re our best players. We’ve just got to work our way through that and the only way freshmen get better is to make mistakes.
“We’ve got to plow through this, get through this weekend (against Columbia), get through Arizona State, get through Oklahoma State. And then, I think we’ll know who we are. It has a chance to be pretty good, but I don’t know if it’s going to be pretty good before then.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 11:11 PM.