FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Fresno State baseball coach Ryan Overland has watched many former Diamond ‘Dogs advance through professional baseball, but one former standout is quickly drawing increased attention.<\/p>\n
Murf Gray, in his first professional season, has been steadily climbing the minor league ranks and recently has begun turning heads with his performance at the Double-A level.<\/p>\n
“It’s hard to keep up almost every day, another home run, another six RBI,” Overland said.<\/p>\n
Gray has hit three home runs in his past seven games at Double-A. He is ranked among baseball’s Top 100 prospects and is the Pittsburgh Pirates’ No. 3 prospect.<\/a><\/p>\n “I’m just so thankful. I’ve learned so many things, picked people’s brains, you know this opportunity means the world,” Gray said.<\/p>\n Overland said Gray’s current success is consistent with what he showed during his time at Fresno State.<\/p>\n “You know – I think he was somebody that big moments were never big moments for him. And that was very clear and especially him getting in the lineup as a freshman,” Overland said. “I think he’s always felt like he belonged. With Murf also it was almost like you had to be careful of things you said to him cause he was going to do it. And he was going to put his heart into doing it.”<\/p>\n Gray credited Overland for helping him stay focused through difficult stretches.<\/p>\n “Whether I had a bad at-bat, had an error, did something wrong, there was always Coach Overland there like, ‘don’t worry about it dude you’re going to get them on this next at bat…’ just the constant you know push of hey you’re going to be fine just continue to play the game at a high level,” Gray said.<\/p>\n “That was our biggest thing at school, you know, the Mountain West Conference. It’s a big-hitters conference. If you don’t have your foot on the gas, you can get left behind. So that’s the biggest thing for me: keep going, keep the foot on the gas and keep moving forward.”<\/p>\n Beyond his on-field accomplishments, Overland praised Gray’s character and competitiveness.<\/p>\n “People have always been gravitated to the person and the caring and the humbleness that he has,” Overland said. “The appreciation and joy for playing this game that it matters. It matters on the field. But he’s also a pretty mean competitor. He shows up every day to get better and really wants to win.”<\/p>\n Overland’s description closely mirrors how Gray once described Fresno State baseball legend Aaron Judge.<\/p>\n “One of the aspects that I love seeing is how humble he is. You never hear the guy talk about himself. He’s always for the team talking about his guys and hyping his team up being there when it mattered,” Gray said.<\/p>\n As Gray continues his pursuit of the major leagues, he said he is focused on maintaining the traits that helped him reach professional baseball.<\/p>\n “Be open to change, but knowing what you are as a player,” Gray said. “Knowing the qualities that got you drafted that got you to where you are. You can expand on those qualities but don’t ever lose those.”<\/p>\n For sports updates, follow Sydney Berger on Facebook<\/a>, X<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2026 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n