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Utah Tech University Athletics

Clayton on the hill vs MSUB
Stan Plewe/Utah Tech Athletics
0
MSU-Billings MSUB 1-8
7
Winner Dixie State DX-BASE 3-7
MSU-Billings MSUB
1-8
0
Final
7
Dixie State DX-BASE
3-7
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
MSU-Billings MSUB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
Dixie State DX-BASE 0 0 0 0 1 3 3 0 X 7 7 0

W: Clayton, Porter (1-2) L: Cooper,Cody (0-1)

2
MSU-Billings MSUB 1-9
3
Winner Dixie State DX-BASE 4-7
MSU-Billings MSUB
1-9
2
Final
3
Dixie State DX-BASE
4-7
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
MSU-Billings MSUB 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 5 1
Dixie State DX-BASE 0 0 2 0 1 0 X 3 5 0

W: Abrath, Chance (1-1) L: Pape,Griffen (0-1) S: Parker, Evan (1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | John Potter, Media Relations Assistant

Dixie State sweeps series with 7-0, 3-2 wins over MSUB

Clayton, Abrath dominate on the hill as DSU continues to win

ST. GEORGE, Utah – Dixie State baseball has rallied from another slow start to the season with a sizable winning streak that continued Friday at Bruce Hurst Field. The Red Storm exploded for seven late runs to back up a three-hit performance from Porter Clayton (Idaho Falls, ID/Bonneville) in a 7-0 win over Montana State Billings in game one. DSU scratched across a run in the bottom of the fifth inning, in support of Chance Abrath (Salt Lake City, UT/West), to defeat the Yellowjackets 3-2 to complete a three-game sweep of the non-conference series.
 
The Red Storm improves to 4-7 on the season, riding a four-game winning spurt. MSUB fell to 1-9 after dropping their eighth straight.
 
"Clayton and Abrath gave us exactly what we needed in two great starts," Dixie State head coach Chris Pfatenhauer said after the games. "Both guys pitched extremely well and gave us quality innings.  The back end guys were solid as well."
 
Making his third start of the year, Clayton was spectacular on the hill for Dixie State. He never allowed more than a single hit in any inning, holding MSUB to three hits over seven innings while fanning eight. Half of those strikeouts came in Clayton's last inning, the Yellowjacket seventh. He struck on Kevin Toon to lead off the frame, but a passed ball allowed the runner to reach. Clayton then struck out the next two batters looking before surrendering a single to center. With two on, the southpaw recomposed himself to fan a fourth man in the inning on five pitches.
 
Clayton earned the win to improve to 1-2 on the year.
 
The Dixie State offense finally broke through against MSUB starting pitcher Cody Cooper by manufacturing a run with small ball. Zach Watts (West Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) lined the first pitch of the inning to left field for a base hit and advance to second on a Yuto Kata (Chiba, Japan/Juan Diego (Utah)) sacrifice bunt. With two outs and Watts now at third, Tanner Morache (Surrey, Canada/Surrey) singled up the box for his fourth RBI of the series.
 
"Offensively we were able to cash in in some crucial situations and take advantage of each walk and error they made," Pfatenhauer said. "A lot of guys had tremendous at bats and worked walks and/or just allowed us to see a ton of pitches."
 
DSU exploded for three runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings. With the bases loaded, Cam Gust (Riverton, UT/Riverton) took a pitch in the back, causing a bruise and a run batted in. Watts battled from a 0-2 count for a single scoring Donald Glover (Las Vegas, NV/Legacy). Kata added a run-scoring ground ball to second base to push Dixie State ahead, 4-0.
 
The Storm extended the lead to 7-0 in the seventh inning without the benefit of a base hit. Three walks and a sac bunt loaded the bags with one out allowing Jacob Davison (Taylorsville, UT/Taylorsville) to tally an RBI with the fourth walk of the frame. Two final runs crossed home after the Billings defense misplayed a ground ball off the bat of Gust.
 
Jordan Dreibelbis (Las Vegas, NV/Faith Lutheran) and Julian Burrola (Las Vegas, NV/Coronado) each pitched a scoreless frame that included one strikeout each to hold off the MSUB offense in the late innings.
 
Abrath powered through six innings by striking out a season-high 10 batters. He evened his record to 1-1 despite surrendering two runs on three hits.
 
MSUB broke through in the first inning with a run, but Dixie State responded to take a 2-1 lead after three innings. DSU drew three walks with one out against Griffen Pape to set up Kevin Kline (Las Vegas, NV/Rancho). Down 1-2 in the count, Kline knocked a two-run single scoring Morache and Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, AZ/Desert Mountain).
 
The Yellowjackets answered with a two-out RBI single in the fourth to knot the game at 2-2.
 
Kline plated the eventual game-winner in the Dixie State fifth. McLaughlin lined a double to left field and Glover trailed with a single to right. MSUB went to the bullpen after the successive hits, but the change did not affect Kline. Again down in the count (0-2), Kline hit a sharp liner to center field deep enough to allow McLaughlin to tag up from third base for a 3-2 lead.
 
Asked to secure the lead, Dixie State turned to senior closer Evan Parker (Ogden, UT/Bonneville). Six pitches into his appearance, Parker had recorded a strikeout and induced a fly ball to right field. The Yellowjackets swatted two hits to put the potential tying run into scoring position. Parker was able to work out of the jam, securing his second save, by inducing a game-ending groundout after working Matt Durbin to a full count.
 
Both teams had five hits in the nightcap after DSU won the battle in the hit column 7-3 in Friday's first game. Morache and Watts had two hits for DSU in the 7-0 shutout, while five (Morache, McLaughlin, Glover, Kline, Watts) each tallied single safeties in the series finale.
 
After the sweep, the atmosphere in the Dixie State clubhouse has noticeably improved.
 
"Guys feel really good about the direction we are going and know how important each game is," Pfatenhauer added.
 
Dixie State continues its current homestand on Saturday against Minot State. The first game of a three-game series is set for first pitch at 4 p.m. (contingent on the MSUB-Minot game that precedes at 1 p.m.). Saturday's meeting will be the first ever on the diamond between Dixie State and Minot State.
 

 
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