Fresno State roundup: Scott Silva walk-off home run lifts Bulldogs in baseball

Scott Silva’s second home run of the season – in his 91st at-bat – led off the bottom of the ninth inning and gave Fresno State a 3-2 nonleague baseball win over Saint Mary’s on Tuesday night at Beiden Field.

Silva, a junior second baseman from Clovis West High and Fresno City College, drove a 2-0 pitch from Gaels reliever Anthony Gonsolin over the left field wall. Silva is third in team batting with a .341 average.

The Bulldogs (30-16) received scoreless relief from Mark Reece (3 2/3 innings), Tim Borst (two innings), Dylan Lee (one inning) and Rickey Ramirez (one inning) while winning their fourth straight and gathering momentum for a three-game Mountain West series with San Diego State beginning Friday night at Beiden Field.

Borst, a senior from Moreno Valley, was particularly dominant, striking out five without giving up a hit or walk. And this came five weeks after he struck out six in 2 2/3 innings of relief in a 6-4 victory at Saint Mary’s.

Fresno State took a 1-0 lead in the first on Silva’s leadoff single and a two-out error. Then, after the Gaels (24-18) of the West Coast Conference scored twice in the second, the Bulldogs tied it in the third on Jesse Medrano’s double and Arruda’s two-out single.

Arruda, a sophomore first baseman from Buchanan, is hitting .331 with a team second-best 33 RBIs.

Softball – Two days after clinching its second-straight Mountain West title and automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, the Fresno State softball got some love in one of the national polls, moving up three spots to No. 18 in the ESPN/USA Softball rankings released Tuesday.

The Bulldogs (37-9-1, 18-0) remained at No. 20 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association poll.

Junior first baseman Lindsey Willmon was named the Mountain West Player of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday.

The Hawaii transfer led the Bulldogs offensively in the three-game sweep against San Jose State, batting .600 (6 for 10) including two homer runs, a double, five runs and a team-leading five RBIs.

It’s the second weekly honor for Willmon in her first year at Fresno State, winning the award for the week of Feb. 16.

She’s done exceptional since then, leading the Bulldogs in almost all of their offensive categories: batting average (.362), runs scored (45), hits (54), doubles (11), triples (3), home runs (11 – tied with Dominique Jackson), total bases (104) and slugging percentage (.698),.

Fresno State continues conference play with a three-game series at Nevada (30-12, 8-7) starting Friday.

Women’s golf – Fresno State freshman Kristin Simonsen will compete in the NCAA Regional starting Thursday at Stanford University Golf Course in Palo Alto.

Simonsen, a mid-year addition to the Bulldogs, is one of six non team-tied individuals at the 54-hole tournament. The lowest three of which will advance to the NCAA Finals at Oregon’s Eugene Country Club May 20-25.

It’s the third year in a row the Bulldogs have had a golfer in the NCAA postseason, with recent graduate Madchen Ly of Clovis High making back-to-back appearances.

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 10:29 PM with the headline "Fresno State roundup: Scott Silva walk-off home run lifts Bulldogs in baseball."