Storm close out regular season hosting Sunbirds

PacWest champs begin series with Fresno Pacific on Thursday

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Dixie State Red Storm (32-14, 23-5 PacWest) vs. Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (30-16, 18-10 PacWest)
May 1-3, 2014
Bruce Hurst Field | St. George, Utah

Game Times:
Thursday – 6 p.m.
Friday (DH) – 4 p.m.
Saturday – 11 a.m. (SENIOR DAY)

Radio: None
Video: None
Live Stats: Dixie State Baseball Stats
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | #DixieBase

Dixie State against FPU: Fresno Pacific leads 1-3

DIXIE STATE PROJECTED STARTERS:
THURS: RHP Chance Abrath (Salt Lake City, UT/West) (6-1, 4.40 ERA)
FRIDAY (1): RHP John Conquy (Las Vegas, NV/Durango) (7-1, 2.12 ERA)
FRIDAY (2): RHP Kort Christoffersen (Ogden, UT/Weber) (2-2, 5.79 ERA)
SATURDAY: RHP Kody Christoffersen (Ogden, UT/Weber) (6-2, 3.35 ERA)

The 2014 Pacific West Conference champions, Dixie State baseball, will close out the regular season hosting a four-game series with Fresno Pacific beginning Thursday night at Bruce Hurst Field. The Red Storm wrapped up its third league title since 2009 taking three of four games last week at Point Loma. FPU is the conference's hottest team, winning 10 straight against PLNU, Academy of Art and Holy Names. Last year, the Sunbirds took three of four games in the first-ever series between the two teams.

FOLLOW LIVE
All four of Dixie State's games against FPU this week will feature live stats online, free of charge, with a link available at DixieAthletics.com.

REGIONALLY RANKED
The Dixie State baseball team remained at No. 5 in the NCAA West Region Rankings released officially on Wednesday. Conference foe California Baptist stayed atop the region flowed by three teams from the California Collegiate Athletic Association – Chico State, Cal Poly Pomona, UC San Diego. Cal State East Bay and Hawaii Pacific, in sixth and seventh respectively, jumped ahead of Western Oregon, now in eighth.

PACWEST CHAMPS, LEAGUE RANKS
Even with one more weekend of regular season play, Dixie State has already clinched the 2014 PacWest baseball title. The Red Storm swept a doubleheader at Point Loma on Sunday to improve to 23-5 in the PacWest and claim their first PacWest title since 2011. Dixie State's championship is even more remarkable considering that the team started the season with seven-straight non-conference losses. The Red Storm entered their first PacWest series at California Baptist at 2-9, but won 3-of-4 from the preseason PacWest favorite and never looked back. Dixie State never lost a PacWest series, utilizing a powerhouse offense that ranks first in conference games in home runs (21), second in runs (186) and slugging percentage (.426), and third in batting average (.309). This marks their third PacWest title (2009, 2011).

STARTING ROTATION
The Dixie State starting pitcher quartet with a combined 21-6 record with a 3.75 ERA. Highlighting the rotation is Conquy, who has gone eight innings or more in three consecutive starts. Conquy is 7-1 with a 2.12 ERA in 68 innings. Abrath bounced back from his shortest outing, 2.2 innings against CSULA, with a win in the PLNU series opener. Kody Christoffersen has won two straight starts while Kort Christoffersen is looking to break a three-game winless string.

STRONG BULLPEN STAFF
Dixie State's pitching bullpen staff has been stellar in 2014. Leading the charge late in ballgames is the nation's number two in saves, junior right-hander Evan Parker. His 12 saves through 47 games have already set a Dixie State season record. Parker has allowed only three earned runs on 13 hits in 20.2 IP. He has notched saves in seven of his last nine appearances. Matt Hill, Bubba Blau (Roy, UT/Roy) and Taylor Stone have been dominant in the innings leading up to the ninth.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS
Redshirt freshman Trey Kamachi still leads the DSU offense after earning consecutive PacWest Newcomer of the Week honors with a .366 batting average. Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, AZ/Desert Mountain) has been a steading force at the top of the lineup batting .330 for the season. Power numbers this season has steadily come from the trio of senior first basemen Tyler Blair, junior DH Kevin Kline, and senior outfielder Kris Kaplan. Blair and Kline pace the squad with 16 doubles. Blair has reached base safely in 29 consecutive games. Kaplan leads the Red Storm with nine home runs, just a year removed from a junior season with no homers. The power trio has combined for 120 RBIs for the Storm.

TOP-THREE FINISHES
Dixie State has finished among the top three in the PacWest Conference since becoming league members seven seasons ago (2008-2014), the only PacWest team to have done so. Under Chris Pfatenhauer, DSU finished third last season with a 23-13 PacWest record and won the league in 2014. Prior to that, former coach Mike Littlewood (now at BYU) led Dixie State to conference titles in 2009 and 2011.

SCANNING THE SUNBIRDS
Fresno Pacific sits in a three-way tie for second place in the league with an 18-10 record and are one of three teams with 30 wins overall. FPU is led on offense by Kaohu Gaspar (.407, 23 RBI) and Joshua Banuelos (.377, 3HR, 41 RBI). Three Sunbird pitchers have six wins and J.D. Salles has the lowest starting ERA (2.16) while throwing the most innings, 91.2, for FPU. Oscar Hirschkorn is in his eighth year as head coach.

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