Senior shortstop Tanner Morache (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Surrey HS) hit a walk-off grand slam home run in the bottom of the 10^th inning to lift No. 12/18 Dixie State to a dramatic 9-6 victory over Saint Martin's Sunday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field. The victory capped a perfect 10-0 season-opening homestand for the Storm, which extended DSU's best overall start in the program's NCAA Division II era.

Saint Martin's (3-3) opened the scoring in the fourth inning as Saints plated a pair of runs on a Shayne Kurihara single off of Storm starter Aaron Pope (Chubbuck, Idaho/Highland HS) (ND). DSU came back with a run in the home half of the frame thanks to a Jake Davison (Taylorsville, Utah/Taylorsville HS) sacrifice fly and took the lead at 3-2 in the fifth on a Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) two-run home run to left center. It was the third home run of the season for the senior second baseman and reigning Pacific West Conference Player of the Week.

Senior hurler Chance Abrath (Salt Lake City, Utah/West HS) (ND) then came on in the sixth and retired eight of 11 batters he faced through his first three innings of relief, while DSU pushed across an insurance in the bottom of the eighth as Davison brought home sophomore 3B Hayes Hall (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS) on a one-out suicide squeeze to extend the lead to 4-2.

However the Saints would rally in the ninth as SMU catcher Zach Raczok drove an Abrath pitch over the left field wall with a runner and one out to knot the score at 4-4. After a scoreless bottom of the ninth, SMU led off the 10^th frame with consecutive base hits to give the Saints runners at second and third with no outs.

Storm reliever Spencer Greer (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville HS) struck out the next batter he faced and after an intentional walk to load the bases, the Storm just missed turning a double play to get out of the jam. However DSU did record an out at the plate to preserve the tie. DSU then went to the bullpen again and Kolton Brost (Mona, Utah/Payson HS) got the ground ball the Storm needed, but Saint pinch hitter Cameron Mosier chopped the pitch just over the senior reliever's outstretched glove to drive home the go-ahead run. Following another Storm pitching change, Saint Martin's would plate a second run on a balk to push the lead to 6-4. Senior closer Jeremy Alderman (Cheney, Wash./Cheney HS) (W, 1-0) then struck out Raczok to end the inning.

In the Dixie State 10^th, sophomore DH Cam Gust (Riverton, Utah/Riverton HS) led off the frame with a first home run of the year, a solo blast right field off of Saint closer Patrick Hoeper to cut the deficit to 6-5. Then with one out, junior OF Miles Bice (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS) laced a single to center and junior Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) drilled a pinch-hit double to left field to put the tying and winning runs in scoring position.

Then after an intentional walk to junior OF Jerome Hill II (Pittsburg, Calif./Pittsburg HS) brought up Morache, the senior all-PacWest and all-West Region selection turned on the first pitch he saw from Hoeper and hit a towering shot over the wall in right field to end the game.

Morache finished with a game-high three hits, including his first homer of the year, while Bice collected two safeties as DSU outhit Saint Martin's 12-11. The three DSU home runs on the day were a season-high as five of the Storm's 12 hits overall went for extra bases.

Dixie State hits the road for the first time this season next weekend as the Storm travels to Grand Junction for a four-game series vs. nationally-ranked Colorado Mesa. The Storm and Mavericks will play a single game on Friday, Feb. 26, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 27, and the series finale on Sunday, Feb. 28.