No. 17 Dixie State Red Storm (27-13, 20-4 PacWest)
at Azusa Pacific Cougars (27-15, 17-11 PacWest)
April 23-25, 2015
Cougar Baseball Field – Azusa, Calif.
Â
Game Times (Mountain):
Thursday - 4 p.m.
Friday (DH) – 3 p.m., 6 p.m.
Saturday - 1 p.m.
Video/Live Stats:Â APU Game Central
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | #DixieBase
Â
The Dixie State baseball team tries to extend its advantage in the race for a Pacific West Conference championship travelling to Southern California for a four-game series at Azusa Pacific. First pitch for game one of the series on Thursday is set for 3 p.m. Pacific (4 p.m. Mountain). The Red Storm (27-13, 20-4) stayed at the top of the PacWest despite splitting a non-conference set at Saint Martin's last weekend. Azusa Pacific (27-15, 17-11) earned a split at California Baptist last weekend. The Cougars are 12-3 at home this year.
DIXIE STATE PROJECTED STARTERS:
Thursday – Dylan File (St. George, UT/Desert Hills); 5-1, 2.65 ERA
Friday (G1) – Aaron Pope (Chubbuck, ID/Highland); 3-2, 2.68 ERA
Friday (G2) – John Conquy (Las Vegas, NV/Durango); 4-1, 5.52 ERA
Saturday – Porter Clayton (Idaho Falls, ID/Bonneville); 4-3, 5.26 ERA
BALLPARK AND PARKING INFO
Cougar Baseball Field is located on the north side of Alosta Avenue, between Citrus and Barranca Avenues. Parking is available in Lot D, adjacent to the field.
CAMPUS MAP
Â
FOLLOW LIVE
This weekend's set from APU will have video and live stats available here.
Â
DSU vs. APU – BY THE NUMBERS
Dixie State is fourth in the PacWest in team batting average (.297), fourth in ERA (3.80) and first in fielding percentage (.974). Azusa Pacific is third in the PacWest in hitting (.304), sixth in ERA (4.23) and fifth in fielding (.958).
Â
STORM RANKINGS
NCAA: 6th in the West
NCBWA: 2nd in the West, 17th nationally
D2BaseballNews.com: 4th in the West, not ranked nationall
PerfectGame.org: Not ranked
College Baseball Not ranked
Â
DOUBLE DIGIT WIN STREAKS
This season, DSU baseball has used two double-digit win streaks to accounts for its 25 wins. After starting the season with seven losses, the Storm began a 12-game string with a home win over Colorado Mesa on Feb. 15. Dixie State followed with sweeps of Montana State Billings, Minot State and Hawaii Hilo before dropping the final game of a four-game series at Hawaii Pacific on March 15. Following the HPU loss, 13 consecutive wins followed beginning with sweeps of Holy Names, Academy of Art and Fresno Pacific.
Â
PFATE CLOSING IN ON 100 WINS IN YEAR THREE
Head coach Chris Pfatenhauer is closing in on his 100th coaching victory as the DSU skipper. Entering this weekend, Pfatenhauer has 95 coaching wins and needs just five more victories to reach triple figures. He was named the 2014 Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year in just his second season at Dixie State by guiding the Red Storm to its third consecutive postseason appearance. Pfatenhauer has led DSU to a 68-34 overall record over the past two seasons, including a 49-19 mark in PacWest competition.
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 won the league in 2014 and finished third in 2013 with a 23-13 PacWest record. Prior to that, former coach Mike Littlewood (now at BYU) led Dixie State to conference titles in 2009 and 2011.
Â
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
Dixie State's 34-man roster features 11 seniors, 10 juniors, four sophomores and nine freshmen. The Storm is a geographically diverse team with eight U.S. states and two foreign countries (Canada, Japan) represented. Twelve players hail from Utah and 10 others from Nevada. A pair of players each comes from Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii and Idaho while single players hail from California and Washington.
Â
UP NEXTÂ
Dixie State closes out the regular season hosting Point Loma at Hurst beginning May 1.
Â
Â
Â
Â
