ST. GEORGE, Utah – Dixie State made it a weekend sweep in Pacific West Conference play taking both games of Saturday's doubleheader from visiting Academy of Art at Bruce Hurt Field. The Red Storm broke through late to win 11-4 in the first game and held off a late rally to win 10-6 in a seven-inning game.
 
Dixie State improves to 20-8 on the season and 15-1 in PacWest action. After dropping its first seven games of the year, the Storm has taken 20 of the last 21 games.
 
In game one, Academy of Art (5-24, 3-13 PacWest) scored a pair of runs in the first and one more in the second to take a 3-0 lead against freshman hurler Aaron Pope (Chubbuck, ID/Highland). Dixie State scored twice in the fifth inning before exploding for eight runs in the sixth. A pair of errors from ART U coupled with six hits did the offensive damage. Kevin Kline (Las Vegas, NV/Rancho) had a pair of RBI singles in the frame and Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, AZ/Desert Mountain) added a two-run double.
 
McLaughlin finished the game 3-for-4 with a run scored and three runs drive in while Yuto Kata (Chiba, Japan/Juan Diego (Utah)) also went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.
 
Tanner Howell (Boulder City, NV/Boulder City) earned the win in relief after retiring all 10 batters he faced in order to improve to 2-1 on the season. Howell threw 35 pitches over the final 3.1 innings.
 
In the series finale, a grand slam by Sam Hall (Ogden, UT/Bonneville) in the third inning broke up a 3-3 tie in a game that ended up with a four-run margin of victory for the Storm. DSU had 10 hits, two for extra bases, against Knights' pitching.
 
Hall added a sacrifice fly to end the game with five runs batted in. Four players had two hits for Dixie State – McLaughlin, Cam Gust (Riverton, UT/Riverton), Kata and Miles Bice (Henderson, NV/Coronado).
 
John Conquy (Las Vegas, NV/Durango) scattered three runs in five hits to earn his third win of the season. ART U sparked a three-run rally in the sixth, but Kolton Brost (Monsa, UT/Payson) shut down the spark and Evan Parker (Ogden, UT/Bonneville) induced three fly balls to wrap up the Storm's second consecutive series sweep.
 
The Red Storm will travel to central California next week, beginning Thursday, for a four-game series with the Sunbirds of Fresno Pacific.