On a day with near perfect weather, the Diamond Dogs played near perfect baseball to get its first win of the 2026 campaign to defeat the University of Utah 14-8 on Sunday afternoon.
Freshman Brady Hewitt delivered the first longball of the year for Fresno State, one of 11 Bulldog hits on the day. Marcus Nolen also drove in a pair of runs as part of a nine run first inning. Head Coach Ryan Overland spoke after the game on the impact of the two freshmen.
“There’s a reason why they’re in there from day one,” Overland said. “As an 18 year old freshman, there’s some physicality gap there, and those guys are mature and ready for it. There’s going to be some ups and downs with them, but they’re exciting players.”
Despite his youth, Nolen has quickly adapted to the culture on the team.
“These guys are an amazing group of people, each day you come in here knowing they’re the brothers they got your back, and we can just continue to ride out together. We have great confidence in each other,” Nolen said.
Key players
Victor Arreola: 4 IP, 0 H, 1 R (0 ER), 3 BB, 49 pitches
Griffen Sotomayor: 1-of-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HBP
Owen Faust: 2-of-3, 4 R, BB, 2 HBP
Jett Ruby: 2-of-5, 2 R, 3 RBI
What happened
A leadoff walk and two infield errors in the first gave Utah a quick 1-0 lead, one that would not last very long. Owen Faust and Jett Ruby led off the bottom half of the frame with a pair of singles. Griffen Sotomayor (catching for the first time as a Bulldog) reached first via hit-by-pitch. Cayden Munster then tied the game, drawing a walk.
A fielder’s choice from Cam Schneider and a Sky Collins RBI single through the right side gave the Diamond Dogs a 3-1 lead. After a walk to Zach Plasschaert, freshman outfielder Marcus Nolen ripped a ball right in between the shortstop and third baseman to bring in two more. The Central East alum spoke after the game on what the biggest change has been since getting to the collegiate level.
“Just being able to experience seeing pitches each and every day, just kind of growing and sticking with your approach. You can continue to understand what you need to do and what you need to where you need to be, and just continue to work at it,” Nolen said.
After a pitching change, a throwing error and some crafty base running, the Bulldogs tacked on four more runs in the inning to lead Utah 9-1 after a very long first inning. Ruby and Sotomayor added RBI singles in the 3rd inning as well to extend the ‘Dogs lead to 11-1.
Fresno State starter Victor Arreola threw four hitless innings, allowing just one unearned run on three walks, a positive sign for the senior in his return.
“It was huge to get him back out there after not having him last year, and what he’s been through with some injuries. That’s a lot of work over a 12 month span to get back out there and tow the rubber,” Overland said.
Coach Overland added that they were initially planning on only throwing him two or three innings, but opted to extend his leash given how well he was doing.
Freshman Gavin Ekizian came in and delivered a 1-2-3 inning in his debut. Fellow freshman Brady Hewitt gave the ‘Dogs their first home run of the season leading off the bottom of the fifth inning. A sac fly later in the inning from Schneider made it 13-1.
Ekezian threw a scoreless sixth inning as well before running into trouble in the seventh. With one on and two outs, the Utes doubled down the left-field line in back-to-back at bats courtesy of Luke Jacobs and Zakye Hawkins to cut the deficit to 13-3. The ‘Dogs got one of the two runs back on a pinch hit, RBI single from Mikey Pickett.
Utah jumped on Ekezian for five runs in the top of the eighth before being pulled for Douglas Crystal who pitched the eighth and ninth innings. Fresno State would go on to win 14-8.
Injury report
Shortstop Lee Trevino is out for the year after tearing his ACL in practice. The redshirt senior is likely to be eligible for a medical redshirt that would allow him to return to the Bulldogs in 2027. Jake Riding (missed 2025 season) is out with no timetable at this time.
What’s next
Fresno State is tentatively scheduled to host Utah tomorrow for game 4 of the series at 2:05 p.m. though rain might get in the way of that.
Recap written by Al Scott, cover photo courtesy of Evan Hernandez (FSM).