FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State baseball clinched their fourth WAC regular season title in the last five years after sweeping a doubleheader against Sacramento State on Saturday. The Bulldogs won 7-6 and 10-1. The `Dogs improve to 34-23 overall and 15-8 in the WAC.
"We are pleased with today," said head coach Mike Batesole. "Winning the WAC is what we want to do. More importantly, I think that wins like this will help us for postseason. We want to go into the WAC tournament knowing we don't have to win it to get an at large berth. I don't know if we are there now, but a win tomorrow and a couple in the WAC tournament would help."
The Bulldogs are the No. 1 seed heading into next week's WAC Tournament and play their first game on Thursday after a first round bye. The `Dogs have won the last four conference tournaments and have a tournament record of 16-1.
Two of the Bulldog seniors, Sean Bonesteele and Steve Detwiler, have won a conference championship each year they were in the program. The two also have a national title to go along with their conference crowns.
"We are proud of our seniors, especially the two who've been here four years Detwiler and Bonesteele," said Batesole. "They are doing everything right. They work hard in the community and they've won the four straight championships and are within a semester of getting their degrees and that's what it's all about. Five WAC titles in a row is pretty good. We are pleased with that."
After losing the first game Friday night the Bulldogs needed two win two of the final three games to clinch the regular season title.
"We put ourselves in a hole after last night but we came out today and do what we needed to do," said first baseman Jordan Ribera. "It was a pretty happy clubhouse. They guys were pretty excited. We want to send the seniors off in a good way tomorrow and keep the momentum going for Arizona and the WAC tournament next week."