Fresno State roundup: Bulldogs’ record MW softball start now 14-0

Malia Rivers helped Fresno State extend the best start in Mountain West Conference softball history Saturday at Margie Wright Diamond.

Rivers laced a single off the glove of diving Colorado State third baseman Savannah Clark to score Vanessa Hernandez in the seventh inning of the Bulldogs’ 3-2 walk-off victory.

Fresno State (33-9-1 overall), ranked 20th in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Assocation poll and 22nd by ESPN/USA Softball, is 14-0 in the Mountain West –the most consecutive wins to start the season in conference history.

Hernandez singled and went to second on Whitney Smith’s one-out bunt single. Bria Kennedy grounded out to move the runners to second and third, setting the stage for the left-handed hitting Rivers, who delivered the winner with two outs.

The Bulldogs tied the score 2-2 in the sixth as Alyssa Villalpando singled in Kennedy and Paige Gumz drove home Christina Rodriguez, who was running for Villalpando.

Colorado State (18-21, 4-9) opened the scoring in the second with Haley Hutton’s RBI single and added a run in the fourth when Hayleigh Evans scored on a throwing error.

Men’s golf – Fresno State stumbled to a combined round of 8 over and fell from first to third after the second round of the Mountain West Championship at Omni Tucson National’s Catalina Course in Tucson, Ariz.

New Mexico (280-285) leads at 11 under, with UNLV (286-281) two strokes back and Fresno State (275-296) six behind the Lobos. The Bulldogs are seeking their first Mountain West men’s golf title in their fourth year in the conference.

Nevada’s Corey Eddings (65-71) is the individual leader at 8-under 136. New Mexico’s Sam Kim (69-68) is one off Eddings’ pace, with the Bulldogs’ Trevor Clayton (66-72) and Boise State’s Logan France (71-67) two back heading into Sunday’s third and final round that begins at 7 a.m.

Women’s tennis – The Bulldogs continue to refuse to lose when it comes to Mountain West matches, completing a third straight undefeated conference season and extending their regular-season league winning streak to 17 by sweeping Nevada 7-0 at the Caughlin Club in Reno.

Fresno State, ranked 41st nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, received straight-sets wins from 5 of 6 players in singles, including sophomore and 58th-ranked Mayar Sherif Ahmed’s 6-4, 6-2 victory over Claudia Herrero. Ahmed remains tied with junior Galina Bykova, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Blaga Delic, for the most dual-match victories during the spring with 15.

Senior Sophie Watts moved with three of becoming the seventh player in program history to earn 100 career wins with her 6-1, 6-2 victory over Sheila Morales.

The Bulldogs (17-8, 4-0) travel to Fort Collins, Colo., for the Mountain West Championships beginning Thursday. The Wolf Pack fell to 8-10 and 1-3.

Men’s tennis – Nevada’s Robert Margitfalvi held off Fresno State’s Youssef Hassan 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 in a battle of sophomores at No. 5 in the final match of the day as the Wolf Pack escaped with a 4-3 Mountain West win in Reno.

The teams of Jeremy Moser/Nikolas Papic and Hassan/Mantas Bugailiskis earned Fresno State the doubles point, but the Bulldogs (9-16, 0-6) needed junior Euan McIntosh’s 7-5, 7-6(4) win over Andrew Poustie at No. 2 singles to force a 3-3 tie.

Nevada improved to 6-14 and 2-4.

The Bulldogs will face top-seeded Utah State to open the conference championships at 9 a.m. Friday at Fertitta Tennis Complex in Las Vegas.

Track and field – Fresno State’s Je’Nia Sears soared an NCAA season-best 21 feet, 9 inches in winning the long jump at Saturday’s Bulldog Invitational at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Ex-Bulldog Meagan McKee, competing for Weight City, won the hammer at 202-11, Fresno City’s Melody Harris the javelin at 153-4 and the Bulldogs’ Kayla Hopkins the shot at 46-10.

Fresno City’s Moesha Davidson won the 100 dash in 11.36, with the Bulldogs’ Shakira Lewis second in 11.78. Fresno State’s Dezirae Johnson won the 800 in 2:10.93 and teammate Kyra Johnson the 400 hurdles in 59.49.

Annemarie Schwanz, who on Friday broke her Fresno State record in the 1,500-meter run with an NCAA second-best time of 4:14.89 at the Stanford Twilight meet, won the 3,000 at her home meet in 10:06.99. The Bulldogs’ 1,600 relay of Johnson, Nailah Harris-Murillo, Sears and Kimberley Efonye won in 3:53.67.

On the men’s side, Donte McDaniel of Fresno Pacific took the long jump with a top mark of 23-7.5, with Fresno City’s Brandon Martin second at 22-3. Fresno Pacific’s Ryan Phillips won the 1,500 in 3:52.38, with the Bulldogs’ Uriel Cabanas second in 3:53.20.

Keane Bland of Fresno State won the 110 hurdles in 14.12 and teammate Kamara Biawogi the 400 hurdles in 54.22, with Fresno Pacific’s Scott Hickam, second in 54.95.

Cooper Gill (8:31.80) and Matt Kwiatkowski (8:34.48) ran 1-2 for Fresno State in the 3,000 meters. Biawogi, Bland, Esteban Vega and Cabanas combined for the victory in the 1,600 relay in 3:21.37 over the Bulldogs’ B team (3:22.28).

▪ At the Stanford meet, Schwanz topped a field of 32 finishers. Stanford’s Molly McNamara (4:15.22) was second in a race that established three of the year’s top five collegiate times, with McNamara at No. 4.

The junior already had broken her existing school record in the 1,500 once this season, finishing in 4:17.03 at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 15 in Azusa.

Lacrosse – Fresno State (4-10, 1-7 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) hosts Saint Mary’s on Sunday, looking for a third straight win over the Gaels (0-13, 0-8) after pregame ceremonies honoring five defenders and an attacker as part of senior day. Game time is 2 p.m.

Among the seniors is Anjelica Fuccillo, who took over as the school’s career points leader with 96 and is six goals and four assists away from taking the all-time lead in those categories. She also has played the most games (59) in program history.

Senior captain Sophia Aragon owns career records in ground balls (94), caused turnovers (50) and starts (57).

Other senior day honorees are Jordyn Frew, Meghan Macaulay, Ariel Ross and career wins, save-percentage and goals-against average leader Meganne Weissenfels.

This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Fresno State roundup: Bulldogs’ record MW softball start now 14-0."