Dixie State rode a pair of solid pitching performances and a strong offensive showing in taking both ends of a Saturday doubleheader from Cal State San Bernardino at Bruce Hurst Field. The Storm took the opener by an 8-2 count, then rallied for 13 runs over their final three innings of play to claim the nightcap by a 14-2 margin.

In game one, the Coyotes struck for a first-inning run after opening the game with consecutive hits off of DSU starter Aaron Pope (Chubbuck, Idaho/Highland HS). The Storm countered with a run if their own in the home half of the second and took a 2-1 on a Ryan Rodriguez (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago HS) RBI-groundout in the third.

Dixie State plated two more runs in the fourth to extend the lead to 4-1, thanks to a Tanner Morache (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Surrey HS) two-run single. Then after CSUSB pulled to within 4-2 with a run in its half of the fifth, the Storm erupted with a four-run rally in the home half of the frame, with the big blow coming off the bat of senior 1B Sam Hall, who drilled his first home run of the season over the wall in right centerfield.

The run support was more than enough for Pope (W, 1-0), who struck out two and scattered two runs and five hits over six innings. Junior reliever Sean Hardman (Pleasant Grove, Utah/American Fork HS) (S, 1) then fired three innings of shutout relief with a pair of strikeouts to close out the game.

Hall went 4-for-4 from the plate with a double and two runs scored to go with his homer, while Morache finished with three hits and three RBI. Rodriguez, junior OF Jerome Hill II (Pittsburg, Calif./Pittsburg HS) and freshman Bryce Feist (Emmett, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS) each collected two hits in the opener as the Storm outhit the Coyotes 15-8.

Coyote outfielder Dillon Fahr led CS San Bernardino with three hits, while CSUSB starter Don Sullivan (L, 1-1) was touched up for eight runs on 12 hits in 4.2 innings of work.

In the nightcap the Storm jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second as junior outfielder Trey Kamachi (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Kapolei HS) drove home Rodriguez with the game's first run with a single up the middle. CSUSB came back in third with a pair of runs coming on a two-run homer from Fahr which gave the Coyotes a 2-1 advantage.

However that lead was short-lived as Dixie State rallied with two runs in the fourth on consecutive RBI-singles from junior catcher Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) and Hill II to reclaim the lead at 3-2. DSU then erupted for five runs on six hits in the fifth, including a three-run blast off the bat of Kamachi and a pinch hit single from reserve OF Trey Reineke (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill HS), which put the Storm ahead at 7-2. Dixie State then iced the game with six more runs in the sixth and never looked back.

DSU connected for a season-high 17 base hits, led by Kamachi and Rodriguez with three safeties apiece, while Kamachi finished with a season-high five RBI. Reineke, who doubled home two more runs in the sixth, finished with a career-high three RBI and two hits off the bench.

Junior righthander Mason Hilty (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) (W, 1-0) looked sharp in his DSU debut as he fanned three and limited the Coyotes to two runs on three hits over his five innings of work.

Dixie State will look to sweep the four-game weekend set as the Storm and Coyotes square off in the series finale Sunday at 12 noon at Bruce Hurst Field.