Former Trojan pitcher Jake Riding signs with Fresno State
Former Pahrump Valley high school pitcher Jake Riding has signed with Fresno State to continue his playing career.
The 6-foot, 3-inch right-hander is transferring to play NCAA Division-I baseball there, after playing his freshman year at Cerro Coso Community College in Ridgecrest, California.
Riding made 13 appearances for Cerro Coso starting five games and finishing with a 3-1 record. He posted a 7.83 ERA and struck out 32 batters in 33 ⅓ innings pitched.
“We are extremely excited for Jake for the opportunity to play at one of the best college baseball programs in the country,” said Justus Scott, head baseball coach at Cerro Coso. “Jake has been dedicated and worked extremely hard over the past year and a half. He has developed into one of the best closers in the state of California. Great young man and student.”
While at Pahrump, Riding played on varsity for four years with 47 total appearances for the Trojans.
His junior season was cut short due to the COVID-19 virus, but he managed to make an appearance in three of the team’s four games.
Riding’s first appearance for Pahrump Valley came during his freshman season in a relief effort during an 8-1 defeat at the hands of the Spring Creek Spartans.
He faced two batters, giving up one hit.
During his senior year, Jake made seven starts on the mound for the Trojans and appeared in 19 of the team’s 22 games.
He went 4-3 in his starts, posting a 1.75 ERA. Riding allowed just 19 hits and gave up 12 runs over the course of his 36 innings pitched. He also struck out 46 batters.
At the plate, Riding batted .429 with 24 hits and 20 RBIs.
Riding will be looking to a Fresno State pitching group that had a collective 5.10 ERA during the 2022 season. The Bulldogs went 27-28 overall and 15-15 in Mountain West conference play.
Fresno St last won their conference title in 2019 when they won both the regular season title and the Mountain West tournament championship.
The Bulldogs will open their season with a 3-game road trip March 3-5 when they travel to San Jose State to take on the Spartans.
Contact sports writer/editor Danny Smyth at dsmyth@pvtimes.com. Follow @the_dannysmyth on Twitter.
