No. 9 Dixie State Red Storm (24-8, 19-1 PacWest)
vs. California Baptist Lancers (20-14, 12-4 PacWest)
April 9-11, 2015
Bruce Hurst Field - St. George, Utah
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Game Times (Mountain):
Thursday - 6 p.m.
Friday (DH) - 4 p.m., 7 p.m.
Saturday - 11 a.m.
Video:Â SouthernUtahLive.com
Live Stats:Â Dixie State Live Stats
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | #DixieBase
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The Dixie State baseball team begins a four-game home stand this week beginning Thursday night, April 9, hosting California Baptist in a critical Pacific West Conference series. First pitch for game one of the series is set for 6 p.m. The Red Storm (24-8, 19-1 PacWest) is atop the league standings with a three game lead in the loss column over both the Lancers (20-14, 12-4 PacWest) and Point Loma (16-4 PacWest). CBU, winners of their last six games, are looking for their second consecutive West Regional appearance and third PacWest title in the last four seasons.
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DIXIE STATE PROJECTED STARTERS:
Thursday – Dylan File (St. George, UT/Desert Hills); 4-1, 2.27 ERA
Friday (G1) – Porter Clayton (Idaho Falls, ID/Bonneville); 4-2, 5.24 ERA
Friday (G2) – John Conquy (Las Vegas, NV/Durango); 4-0, 3.04 ERA
Saturday – Aaron Pope (Chubbuck, ID/Highland); 3-1, 2.52 ERA
TICKET PRICES AND BALLPARK RULES
General admission tickets to all regular-season home games at Bruce Hurst Field are $7. Senior fans over the age of 65 are admitted in general admission for $4, youth aged 13-17 are $1 and children aged 12 or younger are free. Dixie State faculty and staff may purchase general admission for up to two people per ID card for $2 each. Students are admitted FREE with valid identification. Dixie State Athletics does accept he Dixie Direct Card 2-for-1 general admission. Dogs and other pets are no longer allowed at Bruce Hurst Field, nor are coolers. No outside food or beverage will be admitted. DSU Dining Services will have a concession stand open with a selection of grilled food items, snacks and beverages. Bruce Hurst Field and the campus of DSU are alcohol and tobacco free zones.
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PARKING INFO
Parking is free in the lot to the north of the main gate. We advise fans not to park in the lot adjacent to the first base side seats due to a high risk of foul ball damage, in which the school and athletic department are not liable.
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FOLLOW LIVE
All DSU home games at Bruce Hurst Field feature a live online video stream and live stats. The broadcasts are courtesy of SouthernUtahLive.com, featuring a multi-camera setup and replays. The video feed is $7.95. Some road contests will also have video and/or audio. All have live stats. Fans can access live coverage for home and away dates from the Dixie State schedule page. Starting lineups, live between-inning updates and other game day news and notes can be found by following Dixie State Athletics on Twitter (@DixieAthletics).
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DSU vs. CBU – BY THE NUMBERS
Dixie State is third in the PacWest in team batting average (.300), fourth in ERA (3.61) and first in fielding percentage (.975). California Baptist is second in the PacWest in hitting (.310), third in ERA (3.32) and fifth in fielding (.959).
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STORM RANKINGS
NCBWA: 1st in the West, 9th nationallyPerfectGame.org: 19th nationallyD2Baseball.com: 3rd in the West, 22nd nationally
College Baseball Newspaper: 24th nationally
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WEEKEND IN REVIEW
Dixie State continued to roll with a 4-0 sweep at Fresno Pacific last weekend. The Storm scored seven runs over the final four innings to pull away in the opener Thursday night, 8-2. Friday's doubleheader saw Kevin Kline (Las Vegas, NV/Rancho) tie game one with a ninth-inning RBI and win it in the 13th inning with a two-run home run for a 7-5 victory. John Conquy (Las Vegas, NV/Durango) then made DSU history by throwing the first no-hitter in Division II program history to win 1-0 in seven innings. DSU finished the sweep on Saturday, 3-1, behind a quality start from Aaron Pope (Chubbuck, ID/Highland). Dixie State has gone 15 straight PacWest sets without a series defeat dating back to April 2013.
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CONQUY CONQUERS ALL
With 81 pitches thrown, senior RHP John Conquy (Las Vegas, NV/Durango) cemented his legacy in the history of Dixie State baseball. His no-hitter on April 3 at Fresno Pacific was the first for Dixie State in its NCAA tenure (since 2006) and the last since 2005. For his efforts, Conquy was honored as the Pacific West Conference Pitcher of the Week. Additionally, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) awarded him as the West Region and Division II National Pitcher of the Week.
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SACRIFICING FOR THE TEAM
Dixie State leads the nation with 48 team sacrifice bunts and infielder Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, AZ/Desert Mountain) tops all of Division II with 15 sac bunts.
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DOUBLE DOZEN WIN STREAKS
DSU Baseball has won 12 consecutive games entering play this week. The current streak matches the Storm's best string when they won 12 games from Feb. 15 – March 15. During this 12-game set, success has come with timely hitting and quality pitching. The Storm has hit .335 collectively in the last dozen games with 26 doubles, five triple, five home runs and 181 runs batted in. DSU's pitchers have a combined 2.80 ERA compared to a 5.88 ERA from opponents.
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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 92 coaching wins and needs just eight 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.
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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.
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LOOKING AT THE LANCERS
California Baptist comes into league play this week with a six-game win streak, aided by a home sweep of Hawai'i Hilo last weekend. The Lancers picked up a 5-3 win in the series finale behind a complete game from Jeremy McDonald. CBU sits in third in the PacWest percentage standings at .750, but are even with PLNU in the loss column. They were picked to place first in the league's preseason poll, just ahead of Dixie State. The Lancers are solid at home (15-6), but have struggled away from Totman Stadium (5-8). McDonald, Adam Hofacket and Tyson Miller all have four wins from the starting rotation. Cal Baptist is hitting .310 with 27 home runs, led by junior Antonio Chavarria with five. A.J. David paces the Lancers with a .389 batting average. Nathan Antoun has been on an extra-base hit tear lately, including a three home day against HPU on March 23. Gary Adcock coaches CBU, in his 12th season.
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SERIES HISTORY
Dixie State leads the all-time series, 12-10, including taking three of four games last year in Riverside. CBU earned revenge for Dixie's regular season series win by knocking the Storm out the West Regional (5-2) last May in La Jolla. Thursday will mark the beginning of the seventh series between the two teams, with four previous sets playing on the field at Hurst. Dixie State is 8-5 all-time against CBU at Hurst. The teams have split the previous 16 games played in the PacWest.
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UP NEXTÂ
Dixie State takes a quick break from PacWest play, travelling to Lacey, Wash. for a four-game series at Saint Martin's. The set begins Friday, April 17 with a single game at 3 p.m. A doubleheader follows Saturday, April 18, at 2 p.m. with the series finale at noon on Sunday, April 19.
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