The Diamond Dogs return to Pete Beiden Field for the second straight weekend to host the Pepperdine Waves (Feb. 20-23) after going 1-2 against Utah.
Head Coach Ryan Overland said on Wednesday afternoon that the series result was frustrating but he opted for an optimistic outlook.
“It was disappointing to obviously lose the series, and especially the way that we did those first two games, in different ways,” Overland said. “We were really a pitch away from winning the series and to beat a big 12 team to start the year would have been a really good step to start. But sometimes you’ve got to learn those lessons from a loss.”
Weekend takeaways
1. The youth will have a big impact. Of the 25 Bulldogs that saw playing time against Utah, 14 of them were underclassmen (10 freshman, 4 sophomores).
“There’s no doubt this freshman class is one of the more talented we’ve had, and there’s a reason why those guys are getting opportunities and getting on the field. And I think there’s some guys with some pretty bright futures here the next couple of years,” Overland said.
Sophomore starter Tyler Patrick and redshirt freshman long-reliever Moose Cuellar figure to pitch a lot of innings for the Bulldogs this season. Offensively, shortstop Brady Hewitt (4-for-11, 2 XBH) and outfielder Marcus Nolen (3 H, 4 RBI) are already contributing as true freshmen. The latter of which admitted he was still shaking off some nerves before stepping up the plate for the first time on Friday.
“Getting in the box was a lot. My head was kind of spinning, just seeing that pitcher getting into wind up, getting ready to pitch. It was a lot going through my head. And when he threw it, it was kind of just, now, I’m really here. I kind of just got to lock in and be ready to go. Yeah, those jitters, kind of after the first pitches, jitters were out. And then it was kind of just I knew what to do,” Nolen said.
2. The return of Sky Collins. The Fresno State senior is back roaming center field after a brutal injury during the seventh inning of the 2025 Mountain West Championship game. His recovery and efforts to get back to full strength have not been lost on teammates, including Cam Schneider who witnessed Sky going down only about 50 feet away.
“That dude has put in more work in that training room than anybody. He wants this just as bad, if not more, than anybody on this team, and he’s worked his butt off for it,” Schneider said.
Collins didn’t seem to lose a step in his return to the diamond. In addition to his usual elite defense, Collins had a pair of hits against Utah, including a triple to lead off the bottom of the sixth on Friday. He also singled in a run on Sunday as part of a nine-run first inning.
3. Gotta clean up the defense. The Bulldogs allowed nine errors and seven stolen bases (8 attempts) in just three games against Utah.
Back-to-back errors to lead off the third inning during Friday’s loss led to a three-run inning for the Utes and an early exit for Bulldog starter Drew Townson. Utah would score again in the 6th thanks to a Fresno State throwing error.
The lone Fresno State error on Saturday came in the sixth inning, after already getting two outs. That runner would end up scoring in what would end up being the difference in the game.
This isn’t to say fans should necessarily be worried. With a team as young as the Bulldogs are, there will be growing pains at times. It’s a lot easier to clean up the fundamentals than to create talent (which the ‘Dogs have plenty of). It was also the first series of the season and there’s plenty of room for improvement throughout the year.
“Sometimes you gotta feel it and go through it. If those lumps at the beginning of the year, taking two losses to learn some lessons help us in a couple of weeks in league and towards the end of the stretch down the year, then we’ll live with it,” Overland said.
Schneider, who played third base on Saturday and Sunday after starting in left on Friday, is confident in the team’s ability to manage all the moving parts going forward.
“We have a lot of guys in moving positions and, you know, just trying to find out where we’re all going to feed and feed into this puzzle. So once we figure that out, it’s gonna be a hard team to beat,” Schneider said.
Turning the tide
Fresno State will look to shake off its sluggish start against a Waves squad that went just 12-42 a year ago. Pepperdine began their season on the losing end of a sweep at USC before having their home opener against UC Santa Barbara postponed due to rain.
“Anybody playing Division I baseball, you’ve gotta be prepared and be ready to play from the get go,” Overland said. “For us we have to make sure we handle the stuff that we need to do on the field, and obviously having good opponents like that in the next two weeks, going on the road at Arizona and Stanford, we’re going to get some good feedback from these programs.”
Projected starters
- Friday, Feb. 20 at 6:05 p.m. — RHP Drew Townson (2.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 K) vs RHP Tommy Scavone (5 IP, 2 ER, 6 K).
- Saturday, Feb. 21 at 3:05 p.m. — RHP Tyler Patrick (4.2 IP, 4 ER, 2 K) vs LHP Collin Valentine (4.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 K).
- Sunday, Feb. 22 at 2:05 p.m. — RHP Victor Arreola (4 IP, 1 ER, 0 K) vs RHP Dylan Stewart (3 IP, 2 ER, 3 K).
- Monday, Feb. 23 at 4:05 p.m. — TBA vs TBA
The Bulldogs weekend rotation took a hit with a setback to Jake Riding, who is still recovering from an arm injury that sidelined him for the entirety of the 2025 season. Townson, Patrick and Arreola still should form one of the better rotations in the conference, assuming they can stay healthy.
Lefties BJ Rodriguez and Moose Cuellar both looked solid against Utah pitching three scoreless frames apiece, as did Carlsbad brothers Weston and Wyatt Thornbury (combined for 3 IP, 0 R, 2 K).
The staff beyond those three is full of talent, but also inexperienced. Monday’s starter remains unknown for now and could simply be based on whichever arms are left after the weekend. Freshman Gavin Ekizian pitched three innings on Sundays and is a candidate to fulfill a starter’s workload according to Overland.
For the Waves, their staff is led by tall right-hander Tommy Scavone who struck out six Trojans over five innings to keep Pepperdine in the game against USC this past Friday. The graduate has a 4.87 ERA over 24 career appearances (22 GS).
Collin Valentine (7.02 ERA in 41 IP in 25’) and Dylan Stewart (6.31 ERA in 55.2 IP in 25’) both struggled a year ago, and are looking to rebound after a tough opening weekend.
Waves to watch
Outfielder Trey Dunn hit .292 with 24 home runs (15 HR in 25’) and drove in 96 runs over 142 games at Westmont over the last four years for current Waves Head Coach Tyler LaTorre. Dunn went 1-for-6 against USC.
Another Westmont transfer, Daniel Patterson was a DII NCAA All-American as a junior in 2024 when he led the PacWest with 58 runs scored, 20 doubles, 18 home runs and a 1.169 OPS. Patterson took a slight step back in 2025 but still managed to hit .304 with 13 home runs and 46 runs batted in. The third baseman was 1-for-12 against the Trojans with a walk this past weekend.
Injury report
Redshirt senior shortstop Lee Treviño had surgery on Thursday to repair a torn ACL suffered in practice a couple weeks ago. The Visalia native hit for a team-leading .364 batting average across 46 games (39 GS) in 2025 and figured to hit near the top of the order this season.
“Just an unfortunate event of playing and turning and a guy that’s been a huge part of our championships the last two years,” Overland said.
As mentioned earlier, graduate senior pitcher Jake Riding is still recovering from an arm injury suffered before the 2025 season. There’s no timetable for his return but Overland is hoping it’s in the short term.
How to watch
All four games will be available to watch for free on the Mountain West Network, via the app or the MW website.
Story written by Al Scott, cover photo courtesy of Nate Velasco.