Newly ranked Fresno State softball team digs deep to stay hot heading into conference play

The Fresno State softball backed up its first national ranking since 2017 with a gritty but perfect weekend at Margie Wright Diamond.

Playing in its own Bulldog Classic, No. 25 Fresno State (21-4) went 5-0 with three come-from-behind wins and a late rally in another game.

Sunday, Hailey Dolcini struck out 14 in a five-hitter and Schuylar Broussard smashed a three-run homer that one-hopped the fence separating the grounds from Cedar Avenue, sending the Bulldogs past UC Davis 3-2.

Epitomizing the nothing-comes-easy weekend, Broussard’s hit with one out in the fourth was the first of only two in the game for Fresno State.

Dolcini, showing new life on her fastball, got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first, allowed a run in the second and a homer in the seventh when she struck out three to end it.

She got a win and a save in relief Friday and Saturday nights when Fresno State rallied to beat North Dakota State 6-5 and 8-7. Saturday, the Bulldogs trailed 6-0 and 7-2 before tying with a five-run sixth and walking off on a bases-loaded throwing error.

The Bulldogs’ 8-5 win Friday over East Carolina came on a tiebreaking three-run fifth.

Only the Thursday opener, an 8-0 mercy-rule win against BYU, came easy.

It was an emotional weekend for Fresno State, which welcomed senior catcher Kelcey Carrasco back after she took time off following the death of her father in a car crash. Trisha Carrasco, Rudy Carrasco’s widow and Kelcey’s mom, threw out the first pitch Saturday.

The Bulldogs joined the National Fastpitch Coaches Association/USA Today rankings on the strength of a win Feb. 29 over No. 3 Texas.

Fresno State next moves to Mountain West Conference play starting with a weekend series at Boise State. The Bulldogs swept the Broncos to end the 2019 regular season. Six of the nine MW teams go into conference play with winning records.