Fresno State: Bulldogs blast Boise State in softball sweep; golfer earns MW honor

Fresno State started defense of its Mountain West softball title in dominating fashion, blasting Boise State for a combined 31 runs on 32 hits – including five home runs – in sweeping a road series-opening doubleheader Tuesday afternoon.

Alyssa Villalpando stole the show, driving in seven in a 17-8 win in game 1 and two in a 14-4 victory in game 2. The senior third baseman busted opened the floodgates in the first with a grand slam and added a bases-loaded stand-up double in the third. She finished 4 for 8 for the No. 25 Bulldogs (20-9-1, 2-0).

Morgan Howe and Vanessa Hernandez homered to push the lead to 15-2 after four innings.

Boise State (8-25, 0-5) homered three times in game 1 but couldn’t match Fresno State’s blistering offense that rolled along into the second game.

With the score 2-2 after four in game 2, Bria Kennedy led off the fifth with a home run and Willis added a two-run shot.

In the circle, senior Jill Compton (10-4) went all five innings in the opener. She gave up eight earned runs on nine hits while fanning five. Freshman Kamalani Dung (4-0) won game 2, giving up four runs on six hits in six innings. She struck out six.

The series concludes at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

▪ The Bulldogs slipped in the two major national softball polls, dropping from No. 23 to 25 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association rankings and out of the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 after checking in 25th last week. The Bulldogs were tops among others receiving votes in the latter.

Women’s golf – Junior Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir was named Mountain West golfer of the week after a 13th-place finish at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational in Hawaii. After an opening 76, she followed with consecutive par 72s to finish 4-over 220. It’s the second such honor in three weeks for Bjorgvinsdottir, who earned it after the Fresno State Classic on March 9.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 8:51 PM with the headline "Fresno State: Bulldogs blast Boise State in softball sweep; golfer earns MW honor."