Collective Clout : It’s One Reason Fresno State (51-9) Won 32 Straight This Season

Bob Bennett has been a Bulldog for a long time. Fresno State’s baseball coach played for the school before he returned 20 years ago to become the top dog.

Since then, Bennett’s Bulldogs have won the league title 11 times. Ten times, he has led his troops into postseason play.

Success at Fresno, then, is nothing new to Bennett. And this may be the year Fresno finally makes it out of the regional tournament and advances to the College World Series, a feat it hasn’t accomplished since 1959, when it took third place in the Series.

Still, Bennett is careful not to call this team his best.

“I hate to compare hitting and record setting,” he said. “We’ve had four or five teams in the past capable of winning the national championship, if things would have fallen into place.”

Things have been falling into place this season. In fact, the 1988 season couldn’t have been much more orderly for the Bulldogs. They ended the regular season with a 51-9 overall record and a 20-1 mark in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. They have broken just about every school record, several PCAA marks, and are the first Fresno team ever to be ranked No. 1 in the country, even if for only one week.

In midseason, Fresno went on a tear and won 32 straight games, 2 shy of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. record set by Texas in 1977.

All this by a team that lost five pitchers and four starting position players from last season, then filled those positions with part-time players and a couple of newcomers.

Fresno’s stars are basically just that--Fresno-area players, several of whom are community college transfers, and a couple of walk-ons. There are few major college recruits.

Still, of 16 players eligible for all-PCAA honors, 3 pitchers and 6 position players from Fresno were chosen for the first team. This in a conference Fresno shares with two other nationally ranked teams, Cal State Fullerton and Nevada Las Vegas. Little wonder Bennett was voted the PCAA coach of the year.

Yet, ask Bennett about the team and he talks first about the character of his players and the teamwork before mentioning, modestly, its accomplishments on the field.

“This team is more goal-oriented,” Bennett said. “They really dig in and go after it. There has been good character and good leadership. Aside from that, we have had good hitters and a solidified pitching staff.”

Bennett’s response is typical of the Bulldogs.

Senior first baseman Lance Shebelut, whose 29 home runs are second highest in the country, says the team has a unity it didn’t have last year. Last season, Shebelut was a part-time player on a team that finished fifth in the PCAA with a 9-12 record, 34-26 overall.

“Most of the guys on the team this year were here last year, and saw the potential we had and what we did with it,” Shebelut said.

“We pretty much got together and decided we weren’t going to do what we did last year, that we were going to have a team instead of a bunch of individuals. For instance, our second hitter (shortstop Eddie Zosky) could well be hitting in the .360, .370 range. But instead, he’s moving runners over and bunting. He’s given up a lot to help the team.”

Three-year veteran pitcher John Salles says the change in attitude can be traced to the new starters and new players.

“It’s just a good batch of guys,” Salles said. “We have guys like (freshman pitcher Erik) Schullstrom and (junior left fielder) Jeff Mott, who was here but didn’t play last year, and Lance (Shebelut), who only played part time. Lance has almost 30 home runs this year when last year he only hit 7. And, he’s batting in the third spot. Last year, our third spot only hit six home runs.”

The Bulldogs, talent-deep everywhere except catcher, nevertheless have fielded a set lineup and pitching rotation for most of the season.

The starting pitchers--Salles, Rich Crane and Schullstrom--have a combined record of 41-4, with 35 complete games, 6 shutouts and an earned-run average of 2.59. The bullpen, which could have atrophied waiting for a chance to pitch, has a 10-5 record and 5 saves.

The entire pitching staff has 484 strikeouts and 174 walks in 545 innings, and given up just 28 home runs.

In the power department, the infield alone hit 53 home runs, including Shebelut’s 29. Right fielder Steve Hosey, whose .378 average and 67 runs batted in, would make him a candidate for most valuable player on any team that doesn’t include Shebelut, added 12 homers, as did designated hitter Steve Vondran. Catcher Brandon Mitchell hit 9 and left fielder Mott added 8.

Batting average, however, was not sacrificed for power. Eight of the nine regulars hit better than .314, and the one who didn’t was at .295.

Defensively, sophomore shortstop Zosky is the star. He spent the season emulating his favorite athlete, St. Louis’ Ozzie Smith. His wide range makes his fielding percentage of .928 look a little common, but that’s 18 errors over 246 chances.

His recent bout with mononucleosis is considered one of the factors in the team’s three straight losses the last week of the season--two to Santa Clara, which broke Fresno’s 32-game win streak, and one to Nevada Las Vegas. Those losses, though the two to Santa Clara were by one run, quickly dropped Fresno from its No. 1 ranking and to No. 4. Zosky is expected to be back for the playoffs, however.

Finally, there is Fresno’s leadoff hitter, sophomore Tom Goodwin, whose speed has helped him leg out 31 infield hits this season, and 57 of the team’s 89 stolen bases.

The Bulldogs finished the season May 8, and have a long wait until the NCAA West I Regional begins May 26, at their own Beiden Field. They have some concern about staying sharp--plans to scrimmage other teams were scrapped by the NCAA because their 60-game limit has already been met. But this team is used to the pressure of staying on top.