Fresno State roundup: Nearing stunning comeback win, Bulldogs end up stunned by UNLV

Fresno State was 2 minutes and change from a stunning comeback victory on Senior Day for the women’s basketball team, but it was the one that ended up stunned in a 75-74 loss to UNLV on Saturday at the Save Mart Center.

The Bulldogs, down 21 at halftime, worked all of the way back and went up by eight with 2:50 to go when Hanna Cavinder scored through contact at the rim.

But after scoring the last of her career-high 32 points, Cavinder flexed, both arms, posing just long enough for officials to call a technical on the sophomore guard, who in hitting 13 of 20 shots including 4 of 5 at the 3-point line had carried the Bulldogs all day.

Those were the last points Fresno State (14-9, 12-6 Mountain West) would score in losing a second straight to the Rebels to close the regular season.

“Both nights I think we were a little frustrated not getting to the line and definitely there was a size difference so, you know, sometimes that comes out,” coach Jaime White said of the technical call. “Hanna gave us 32 points, so I can’t say much about that.”

UNLV hit both technical foul shots, cutting the Bulldogs’ lead to six. Nia Johnson scored in the paint to make it a four-point game. The Rebels got a stop, then another and Johnson hit a three with 35 seconds to go to cut it to one.

With fouls to give, UNLV had to foul three times to get Cavinder to the line. She had hit 74.1% of her free throws going in, and was 2 for 2 to that point Saturday, but she missed both of her final attempts. The Rebels got the rebound and Desi-Rae Young scored inside to put UNLV (15-8, 13-5) up 75-74, with 13 seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs still had a chance, and ended up getting two.

Haley Cavinder missed a jumper, but Young turned it over on a held ball while trying to secure the rebound.

White called a timeout to set up a final play, but, just like a 68-66 loss to the Rebels in the opening game of this two-game series, the Bulldogs did not get much of a shot off at the end.

Fresno State worked it with the Cavinder twins, who combined to score 52 of the Bulldogs’ points and dish out six of their 12 assists, but a handoff out top was fumbled and time expired.

Fourth in the Mountain West standings, Fresno State can finish no lower but must await its final seeding for the conference tournament.

COVID-19-related postponements and cancellations scrambled the league’s schedule, leaving a handful more games to be played in the next week ahead of the tournament March 7-10 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Zach Presno homers in ’Dogs win

The Bulldogs’ Zach Presno was on a torrid home run hitting pace a year ago when the 2020 baseball season was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In his first 56 at-bats, the Buchanan High grad hit eight homers, one every 7.0 at-bats, and he is right back at it again this year.

Presno hit his second home run in as many games Saturday in the Bulldogs’ 9-6 victory over Cal State Bakersfield at Beiden Field. Andrew Kachel also hit a home run for the Bulldogs (2-0) and Jake Dixon worked six scoreless innings on the mound for his first win.

Dixon allowed only four hits and walked one.

Presno, Ryan Higgins and Josh Lauck all had two RBIs for Fresno State.

Eric Charles, the former Redwood High star batting leadoff for Cal State Bakersfield, was 2 for 5 with an RBI.

The Roadrunners averted a sweep with a 9-4 win Sunday. Jaykob Acosta, a sophomore from Exeter, pitched three innings for his first career save. He inherited a bases-loaded, no-out jam, giving up three runs (two on a Kachel double) before striking out Presno to end the seventh, then got the final six outs while allowing just a walk.

Bakersfiled beat up starter Nik Cardinal for seven runs (six earned) in facing 13 batters.

Fresno State won the opener 13-2 on Friday.

The Bulldogs have a Tuesday game at San Francisco then open Mountain West play Saturday and Sunday at San Diego State. The weekend games will be broadcast by local ESPN affiliate KFIG (AM 940).

Softball: Perfecto for Dolcini

Hailey Dolcini pitched the 16th perfect game in the history of the Bulldogs softball program, retiring all 15 batters she faced in game 1, and Danielle Lung went the distance for a game 2 shutout as Fresno State swept Sacramento State 11-0 and 5-0 in a doubleheader at Margie Wright Diamond.

The Bulldogs scored their 16 runs on 17 hits. Miranda Rohleder went a combined 4 for 4 with five RBIs.

Fresno State (6-5) completed the series sweep Sunday with a 4-0 win over Sacramento State (3-8). Dolcini pitched a four-hitter with 11 strikeouts, sophomore Adrianna Noriega hit her first home run as a Bulldog and Fresno State had three sacrifice flies.

Fresno State next plays a doubleheader Friday at Cal State Fullerton and one game Saturday against Loyola Marymount, also at Fullerton.

Volleyball: Winning streak snapped

Sophomore Amaria Kelley recorded 13 kills but Fresno State saw a three-match winning streak snapped.

The Bulldogs won the opening set 28-26 before falling 23-25, 18-25, 25-27 to Utah State in a Mountain West match at the Save Mart Center.

Fresno State (4-2, 4-2) hit .104 as a team compared to .182 for Utah State (1-5, 1-5).

The Bulldogs, still third in the conference standings, play at Air Force on Friday and Saturday.

Lacrosse loses at Arizona State

The Bulldogs’ lacrosse team fell behind 10-0 at Arizona State and suffered a third loss in four matches, losing 22-6 at the Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium. in Tempe.

Hannah Kratz scored the Bulldogs’ first goal, but they were down 10-0, 13-1, 15-2 and 21-3 and never made much of a dent in the lead built by the Sun Devils (2-0).

Hennessey Evans and Sydney Skalstad scored two goals for the Bulldogs, who play Cal at 5 p.m. Friday in the home opener of their final season.

Water polo team gets a split

Fresno State’s 11th-ranked water polo team split a pair with No. 12 UC Davis, winning 13-7 in the opener before losing 10-7 at the Aquatics Center.

Emily Diacono and Callie Woodruff scored hat tricks in the opener, while Claire Schade had a goal, three assists, one drawn exclusion and four steals.

Emily Nicholson had two goals in each game.

The Bulldogs are 4-4 heading into a match next Saturday at Cal Baptist. Allyson Clague (Clovis West High) scored three goals in the two games combined for UC Davis.

Tennis: Title stays with Bulldogs

Fresno State captured the Pacific Central Valley Championship for the second year in a row, sweeping Nevada 4-0 and defeating Azusa Pacific 5-2 at Wathen Tennis Center.

“This year there might only be three teams but it’s still special to keep the trophy here,” Fresno State coach Luke Shields said. “Our guys are team players and in a tournament format they really step up and today they did a great job.”

Zdenek Derkas clinched the victory versus Nevada, winning 7-5, 6-0 at the No. 1 spot. Reece Falck, at No. 5, clinched the second match for the Bulldogs (4-2) with a 6-2, 6-2 win.

Fresno State hosts UC Riverside at noon Thursday.

This story was originally published February 27, 2021 at 5:29 PM.