Fresno State roundup: ’Dogs win 13th in a row in softball
Taylor Langdon pitched a five-hitter in the most efficient start of her four-year Fresno State career and Dominique Jackson homered to charge a four-run fifth inning as the Bulldogs won 4-0 in a nonconference softball game at Pacific on Wednesday night for their 13th consecutive victory.
Langdon – a right-hander from Glendora who entered the game with a 10.50 earned-run average, 11 1/3 innings and only three starts – struck out six and walked one as 20th-ranked Fresno State improved to 31-9-1.
Langdon was hooked up in a scoreless duel with Pacific junior Cassidy Gustafson when Jackson turned the game around. The freshman from Chico led off the top of the fifth with her team-leading 10th homer of the season, a drive to right.
Vanessa Hernandez followed with a single and Whitney Smith and Bria Kennedy walked to load the bases. Malia Rivers drove in a run with a groundout for a 2-0 Bulldogs lead, and Gustafson was replaced by Megan Walters.
Walters struck out a batter before Alyssa Villalpando singled to right for two RBIs and a 4-0 advantage over the Tigers (19-19) of the West Coast Conference.
Fresno State will return to Margie Wright Diamond on Friday to begin a three-game Mountain West series with Colorado State at 6 p.m. The Bulldogs, at 12-0, lead Nevada and San Jose State by four games in the conference with 12 regular-season contests remaining.
Football – Just in time for summer workouts, the Fresno State football team filled its head strength and conditioning coach vacancy Wednesday with the hiring of Thomas Stallworth.
A former Tennessee Volunteers linebacker, Stallworth comes to the Bulldogs after 4 1/2 months as the associate strength coach at Texas Tech. Before that he served as assistant strength coach at North Carolina State (2015) and Mississippi State (2012-14).
Stallworth replaces Joey Boese, who left Fresno State last month to accept the same job at Illinois of the Big Ten.
“This is a critical position on our coaching staff and I know Coach Stallworth will challenge our guys every day to strive for excellence in all areas of their lives,” Bulldogs coach Tim DeRuyter said in a press release. “We welcome him, his wife Ingrid, and his children India and Thomas to the Valley.”
It was critical for Fresno State to fill its vacancy as soon as possible. Per NCAA rules, strength and conditioning coaches are the only staff members allowed on the field with players during summer workouts.
Women’s golf – The Bulldogs finished third at the Mountain West Championships at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage behind Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir, who tied for seventh as an individual at 7-over 223.
UNLV won the team title at 13-over 877 followed by San Diego State (886) and Fresno State (897). The Rebels’ Alexandra Kaui was the individual titlist at 4-under 212
Also for the Bulldogs, Kristin Simonsen tied for 10th (224), Hannah Sodersten tied for 13th (226), Mimi Ho tied for 17th (228) and Yifei Wang tied for 21st (230).
Club Red Mixer – The second Club Red Mixer and Fundraiser, which welcomes back alumni from all Bulldogs sports, is scheduled for 3-6 p.m. Saturday at the soccer/lacrosse stadium near Beiden Field.
Former Bulldogs running back Ron Rivers, a 2015 Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, is the keynote speaker. Retired baseball coach Bob Bennett will also be in attendance.
Tickets are $30 each and include heavy appetizers, dessert and complimentary beer, wine and soft drinks. There are limited spots for members of the public. Details: Shari Hanlin at 559-278-6135 or sharih@csufresno.edu.
This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Fresno State roundup: ’Dogs win 13th in a row in softball."