June 5,2007

'Dogs already dreaming of '08
Regional defeat, draft losses don't discourage Fresno State.

By Bryant-Jon Anteola

SAN DIEGO -- Fresno State pitcher Tanner Scheppers awoke Monday morning with a baseball-sized welt above his right eye and a massive headache that even prescribed medication could not help go away.

A day earlier, Scheppers was drilled in the head by a line drive that knocked him out and sent him to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with a mild concussion.

Scheppers was carted off the Tony Gwynn Stadium field where a few hours later the rest of the Fresno State baseball joined him, knocked out of the NCAA Tournament regional for the second straight year after a 13-2 loss to Cal State-Fullerton.

The Bulldogs (37-29), too, awoke Monday feeling the lingering affects of Sunday's defeat.

And like Scheppers, who expects his bruise will get bigger and turn black in the days to come, the Bulldogs are waiting to see how much hurt they'll endure following this week's Major League Baseball Draft, which runs Thursday and Friday.

"At the end of the Fullerton game, I think a few of us started wondering if this was going to be the last time we'd play with each other," said junior outfielder Steve Susdorf, who is expected to be drafted in the middle rounds. "That's why we wanted this weekend so badly. A lot of guys' futures are up in the air.

"Who knows who's going to come back and who's going to stay. We definitely felt we could have gone further had we played the way we're capable of playing."

Fresno State had grown accustomed to wanting more as the season went on, as goal after goal was met while exceeding most people's expectations.

Several signs pointed to this season as a rebuilding year -- from an overhauled pitching staff that was directed by a new pitching coach to an underachieving season from its supposed best player in Ozzie Lewis, the preseason Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

But the pitching eventually came around once roles were defined, young bats steadily emerged, overlooked veterans overachieved to offset Lewis' fair season and a balanced team was formed that would dominate the WAC.

With only two WAC series losses, Fresno State captured its second straight regular-season conference title with a 17-7 record.

Six players were named to the All-WAC first team -- the most of all schools -- with second baseman Erik Wetzel, and outfielders Loren Storey and Steve Susdorf repeating; and catcher Danny Grubb and starting pitchers Scheppers and Justin Wilson joining them.

By the time the WAC tournament arrived, the Bulldogs were peaking, sweeping through in four games to lock up the tournament title again and earn a regional berth for the second consecutive season.

"From the very beginning, they were so young but so talented," Fresno State coach Mike Batesole said. "Once they figured it out, man, it was great. I'm really happy with them, really happy about this season."

The WAC championship game perhaps showed just how wide the gap was between Fresno State and the rest of the conference with the top-seeded Bulldogs dismantling No. 2 Nevada 17-4 and outfielder Brian Lapin hitting three home runs to earn tournament MVP.

Up next was a regional that Fresno State seemed capable of winning, matched with No. 1 San Diego, a team the Bulldogs had defeated twice in the regular season, No. 2 Fullerton, which finished fifth in the Big West Conference, and No. 3 Minnesota, which had stumbled in the last month of the season.

"The way we were playing at the end of the year and all the momentum we had, I thought we had a great chance of advancing out of the regional," Storey said. "I guess we just ran out of gas against Fullerton.

"But let's not forget, coming into this season, I don't think anyone was really expecting us to come this far. We still won the WAC. We won the WAC tournament and made it to a regional. I expect nothing less than a third WAC title from next year's team."

Which brings up the question of how far the Bulldogs can go next year.

Much, obviously, will depend on how many and which players return. Fresno State is guaranteed to lose two seniors -- Storey and pitcher Brandon Miller.

If everyone else returns, Fresno State could be considered a top-10 team.

But the likelihood of that happening is slim, which Batesole admits, with nine juniors eligible for the draft. The propensity in college baseball is for players to leave before their senior year so they have leverage in negotiating signing bonuses.

Thus, the top four outfielders -- including Storey -- could all be gone if Lapin, Susdorf and Lewis all are drafted and leave.

But if junior college transfer Clayton Allison stays, the Bulldogs would return their starting rotation and have one of the strongest one-two punches in lefty Wilson and flame-thrower Scheppers.

Wetzel will continue to provide a steady bat atop the lineup and solid defense at second base. Freshmen Tommy Mendonca and Alan Ahmady could anchor the corner infield spots and, with further development, could each provide 15-plus home runs next year.

And Grubb has been steady behind the plate all season.

"I really can't wait for next year," Batesole said. "It's going to be a sick-deep team. We've done some things that haven't been done in Fresno State history before this season, like winning back-to-back WAC titles.

"But next year's team really has a good chance to leave a mark. We'll just have to see if they can come through like these group of guys did this year."