FRESNO, Calif. -- After their second series of the year was washed away due to inclement weather in Southern California, the USF Dons baseball team (3-1) is back to work tomorrow night in the Central Valley as they will take on the Fresno State Bulldogs (4-3) on March 1 at 6:05 p.m. from Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium. 

The Dons return to action looking to build off their strong opening weekend as they took three of four from the Utah Utes at Benedetti Diamond thanks in part to strong pitching and defense. USF did a tremendous job defensively as they lead the West Coast Conference with a .988 team fielding percentage, while also leading the league early on in team ERA with a 3.50 mark through four games of play. 

GAME DETAILS:

Wednesday, March 1, 2023
USF vs. Fresno State | 6:05 p.m. PST
Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium | Fresno, Calif. 
Probable Pitchers: LHP Weston Lombard (0-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. RHP Bryce Armstrong (0-0, 9.00 ERA)

THINGS TO KNOW:

• After losing a hard fought close opener that saw the Dons fought back from an double digit deficit, USF found their momentum the rest of the weekend by winning three straight games thanks to consecutive tremendous outings from Adam Shew, Jesse Barron and Max Jones to secure the win. Lombard will start the game for the Dons on Tuesday in Fresno after throwing four innings of one run ball to pick up the save in the team's first win of the year on Feb. 18.
• Leading the way for USF's offense early on has been the prolific bats of both Mario DeMera and Harris Williams III who are both hitting over .400 early on in the year as they've combined for 12 hits, three doubles, nine runs and scored and five RBI early on in the season. 
• Providing a great spark at the top of the order with his patience at the dish, JT Amaral has hit second in the Dons' batting order for the first four games of the season and has posted a .412 on-base percentage while leading his team with three walks so far. Once he's gotten on base, Amaral has also been a headache for opposing pitching staffs and defenses leading the WCC with four stolen bases this season. 
• Setting up behind the plate to lead the staff, Michael Campagna has done a great job of leading the USF pitchers while also proving to be a force in the batter's box as he's posted a .444 batting average in the three games he's played for his team. 

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS:

• Fresno State has posted a 4-3 mark through their first seven games of the season as they beat Arizona and fell short against Michigan and Michigan State down in the Valley of the Season before returning home and taking three of four against Nebraska-Omaha. 
• On the mound, the Bulldogs will send right-handed pitcher Bryce Armstrong to the mound to start against the Dons as he allowed two runs and four hits and struck out a batter in a couple of innings against the Spartans. 
• At the plate, outfielder Grady Morgan has had a nice start to his new season by posting a .320 batting average as well as a team-high eight hits for Fresno State seven games into the season. 

For updates and more information on the USF baseball program, be sure to follow @SFDonsBaseball on Twitter, @USFDonsBaseball on Instagram and @University.of.San.Francisco.Baseball on Facebook.

SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our primary sponsor - Provident Credit Union - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.