No. 9/12 Dixie State was doomed by a pair of big California Baptist innings as the Storm dropped their series finale to the No. 28 Lancers, 13-5, Saturday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field. DSU (13-5/1-3 PacWest) lost three of four to its fellow PacWest co-favorites to open up league play.

CBU (13-5/3-1 PacWest) broke open a scoreless game with a four-run third inning, which started with a one-out solo home run from Ryan Williams off Storm starter Chance Abrath (Salt Lake City, Utah/West HS) (L, 1-1). The Lancers then loaded the bases on a hit and a pair of walks, though Abrath looked as if he might escape the jam after inducing a shallow fly out for the second out of the stanza. However CBU cashed in the bases-loaded situation with consecutive run-scoring singles to chase Abrath and bolt out to a 4-0 lead.

Dixie State came back with a two-out rally in the fourth as the Storm themselves loaded the bases with a Samuel Hall (Ogden, Utah/Bonneville HS) base hit and walks issued to Jerome Hill II (Pittsburg, Calif./Pittsburg HS) and pinch hitter Cam Gust (Riverton, Utah/Riverton HS). DSU catcher Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) then picked up an RBI after being hit by a pitch and Miles Bice (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS) drove home two more runs on a bloop single to centerfield to cut the deficit to 4-3.

The Lancers answered with two more runs in the fifth, though DSU would get those runs back thanks to a Hall RBI-single in the fifth and solo home run to left field from DH Ryan Rodriguez (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago HS) in the seventh. It was Rodriguez's first homer of the season, which again pulled the Storm to within a run at 6-5.

However that would be as close as Dixie State would get as CBU exploded for six runs in the eighth to extend its lead to 12-5. The Lancers pounded out four hits in the rally and took advantage of a crucial Storm fielding error as CBU sent 10 men to the plate in the frame to put the game and series away.

DSU was outhit 16-10 in the contest, with Tanner Morache (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Surrey HS), Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS), Rodriguez, Hall and Bice each collecting two hits to lead the Storm offensively.

After a week off, Dixie State will embark on an eight-game PacWest Bay Area road trip March 13-19. DSU will open the trip with a four-game series at Academy of Art March 13-15, followed by a four-game set at Holy Names March 17-19.