Marcus Nolen’s First Collegiate Home Run Grand Slam Lifts Bulldogs Past Pepperdine

Marcus Nolen's first collegiate home run came with the bases loaded and changed the afternoon at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium, lifting Fresno State to an 11–7 victory over Pepperdine on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. The Instagram post identifying Nolen as a Central East HS product described the swing explicitly as a grand slam, and the original game report credited that blast as the decisive scoring moment in the Bulldogs' high-scoring win.

The final 11–7 scorebook left several storylines for Fresno State. The grand slam stood out as Marcus Nolen's first long ball at the college level and supplied a multi-run cushion in a game the Bulldogs closed out at home in Fresno. The victory came at the same venue that the team has used for its early-season series play, and the two-run and extra-inning sequences that followed helped push the Waves to seven runs.

Roster movement and firsts have been a theme for Fresno State during the opening stretch. Thebeat1037 reported that four players made their Fresno State debuts in recent action: Marcus Nolen, Austin Young, Brady Hewitt and Weston Thornbury. That same outlet logged several offensive moments across the weekend: Jett Ruby recorded the first hit of the 2026 season, Cam Schneider and Griffen Sotomayor each had two hits in one game, and Brady Hewitt delivered an RBI triple in his first collegiate at-bat while Nolen reached on an error in the bottom of the second in that contest.

Results have varied; Thebeat1037 recorded a separate game where Utah beat Fresno State 8–3 after Utah added a run with a double to left center late and closed out a final-frame comeback. In that game narrative Thebeat1037 noted Utah loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, a wild pitch scored the go-ahead run, and Fresno State struck out seven times while the Utes struck out six.

Another local recap from B95forlife supplied additional, but differing, play-by-play detail. B95 described an opening-inning eruption that left Fresno State leading 9–1 after one inning, and it credited freshman Brady Hewitt with his first collegiate home run, a solo shot to deep left that opened the fifth inning. B95 also identified Gavin Ekizian as recording four strikeouts in his collegiate pitching debut and published an "UP NEXT" note listing Fresno State at 1-2 and Utah at 2-1, with a series-closing game Monday at 2:05 p.m. PT at Pete Beiden Field to be streamed on the Mountain West Network.

The two local recaps contain some inconsistencies on inning sequences and even the spelling of key names - Thebeat1037 uses "Griffen Sotomayor" while B95 at times spells it "Griffen Sotomayer" - that should be reconciled with the official box score and Fresno State roster. For now the clear, verifiable takeaway for Fresno baseball fans in Fresno County is tangible: Marcus Nolen, a Central East HS product, delivered his first collegiate home run in the form of a grand slam to power an 11–7 home win over Pepperdine on Feb. 22, 2026, and the Bulldogs head into the next scheduled matchup seeking consistency across a roster featuring multiple recent debuts.