Fresno State notebook: Thomas, Russell sweep MW baseball awards
The Fresno State baseball team earned its first Mountain West series sweep over the weekend and with it the Bulldogs swept the conference’s weekly honors for the second time this season.
Sophomore ace Ricky Tyler Thomas was named the MW pitcher of the week and senior Brody Russell earned player of the week honors after they helped the Bulldogs win three games against Air Force to move into a first-place tie with New Mexico.
It’s the first career weekly honor for Thomas, who in Friday’s series opener gave up just two hits and one run (unearned) with eight strikeouts in seven innings in a 14-1 win. Thomas, who has fanned at least five batters in each of his seven starts this season, leads the MW and ranks 26th in the nation with 54 strikeouts on the season.
Russell hit 9 for 14 over the week, raising his season batting average to .413 to rank second in the Mountain West. He started by going 3 for 4 with a double, three runs scored and two RBIs in Tuesday’s 10-5 win over then-ranked No. 16 Long Beach State. Russell added two hits each in all three games against Air Force, doubling twice, scoring three times and driving in two runs.
It’s the second time this season that the Bulldogs baseball team has swept the conference’s weekly awards, with Russell and pitcher Jimmy Lambert doing it for the week of March 1-8.
The Bulldogs return to action Tuesday, when they play at Pacific (9-16) at 6:30 p.m. Fresno State then hosts Sacramento State at 6:05 p.m. Wednesday at Beiden Field before visiting New Mexico for a conference series Friday-Sunday.
Basketball – Fresno State star senior guard and Mountain West Player of the Year Marvelle Harris will get a chance to showcase his skills in front of all 30 NBA teams later this month at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.
Harris, who helped lead the Bulldogs to the Mountain West tournament title and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 15 years, was invited to the 64th annual PIT scheduled April 13-16 in Portsmouth, Va.
He’s the second Bulldogs player in three years to be invited to the showcase, joining former teammate Tyler Johnson. At the 2014 Portsmouth Invitational, Johnson caught the attention of the Miami Heat, then played on their Summer League team before joining the NBA roster for the regular season.
Lacrosse – Junior captain Caroline Dineen-Carlson was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women’s lacrosse player of the week, the league announced Monday.
Last week, Dineen-Carlson scored a career-high six goals and had one assist in Fresno State’s 15-5 win over Cal and scored once in a 17-3 loss against No. 7-ranked USC.
This story was originally published April 4, 2016 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Fresno State notebook: Thomas, Russell sweep MW baseball awards."