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Utah Tech University Athletics

Kade Cloward
Stan Plewe/Utah Tech Athletics
6
Azusa Pacific APU 20-18, 15-9 PACWEST
7
Winner Dixie State DX-BASE 32-10, 20-8 PACWEST
Azusa Pacific APU
20-18, 15-9 PACWEST
6
Final
7
Dixie State DX-BASE
32-10, 20-8 PACWEST
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Azusa Pacific APU 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 13 3
Dixie State DX-BASE 0 0 0 1 2 0 3 0 0 1 7 16 1

W: Abrath, Chance (3-3) L: Sanford, Billy (0-2)

Game Recap: Baseball | | by DSU Athletic Media Relations

No. 13 Baseball Rallies to Walk Off with Saturday Win Over APU

Tanner Morache breaks DSU single-season hits record as Trailblazers salvage series split


On a day when another school record was broken, No. 13 Dixie State rallied from an early six-run deficit to walk-off with a dramatic come-from-behind 7-6 PacWest Conference victory over Azusa Pacific in 10 innings Saturday at Bruce Hurst Field. The win helped salvage a series split with APU as the Trailblazers improved to 32-10 overall, 20-8 in PacWest play.

The Cougars (20-18/15-9 PacWest) pounced on DSU and starter Jeremy Alderman (Cheney, Wash./Cheney HS) (ND) for four first-inning runs, including a two-run home run off the bat of Michael Staudinger, followed by single runs in each of the next two frames en route to a 6-0 lead. Meanwhile, APU hurler Michael Fairchild (ND) needed only 21 pitches to get through the first three innings of his start despite DSU getting the lead-off hitter on base in two of its first three offensive stanzas.

Dixie State began to chip away at the deficit in the fourth with a two-out rally, which was started when Fairchild, who threw 19 pitches in the frame, hit DSU outfielder Ryan Rodriguez (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago HS) with a pitch. Junior outfielder Miles Bice (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS) then reached on a Cougar error to bring up junior catcher Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS), who doubled home Rodriguez with DSU's first run of the game.

The Trailblazers kept the momentum going in the fifth inning, pushing across two more runs thanks to RBI-singles from Tanner Morache (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Surrey HS) and Rodriguez to trim the APU lead to 6-3. DSU then erupted for three more runs in the seventh to tie the score at 6-6.

Morache led off the inning with a sharp single to centerfield, his third hit on the day and 75th hit of the season, which broke DSU's single-season record for hits in the program's NCAA Division II era. Junior second baseman Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) and senior first baseman Samuel Hall (Ogden, Utah/Bonneville HS) followed suit with base hits to chase Fairchild from the game, with Morache coming home on the Hall safety to pull the Trailblazers to within two runs at 6-4. McLaughlin then scored on a Rodriguez ground out and Bice tied the score with a single to right center to plate Hall.

After working out of two-out trouble in the eighth, followed by a clean ninth frame, DSU had a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth. McLaughlin reached on a one-out error and Rodriguez singled one batter later, but Cougar reliever Billy Sanford got APU out of the jam to force extra innings.

Azusa Pacific loaded the bases with one out in the 10th on a hit batter, a base hit and an intentional walk, which brought up the heart of the Cougar order. However senior reliever Chance Abrath (Salt Lake City, Utah/West HS) (W, 3-3) was up to the task as he induced a Pablo O'Connor inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to preserve the tie.

Lucero led off the DSU 10th with a base hit, then after freshman DH Tanner Harper (Paul, Idaho/Minico HS) was hit by a pitch and a pair of groundouts, Sanford (L, 0-2) intentionally walked Morache to load the bases to face McLaughlin, and DSU's newly-minted career hits leader delivered as he drilled an 0-1 pitch back up the middle and through the infield to drive home pinch runner Kade Cloward (South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS) with the winning run.

Dixie State's bullpen was the story of the game as seven Trailblazer relievers combined to limit APU to just one run and seven hits in 8.1 innings of work. DSU's offense pounded out 16 hits, with 14 of those safeties coming from the fourth inning on, with six Trailblazer hitters collecting at least two hits. Morache and Rodriguez led the way with three hits apiece, while McLaughlin, Hall, Lucero and Jerome Hill II (Pittsburg, Calif./Pittsburg HS) each had two hits.

Dixie State closes out its 2016 home regular season schedule with a four-game series vs. Hawai'i Pacific next weekend at Bruce Hurst Field. The series will be played in two doubleheaders, the first coming on Friday, April 22 at 4 p.m., followed by the final twin bill Saturday, April 23 at 2 p.m.

RECORDS WATCH: Morache (9-for-19, .473) finished the APU series with nine hits to vault from T-6 to become DSU's single-season leader ... last season Morache came up one hit short of the record, finishing that campaign with 73 base hits ... former DSU infielder Jimmy Dever set the record with 74 hits in 2009 ... Morache now has 147 career hits, which is currently good for ninth on DSU's career hits list and he needs five more safeties to move up to seventh on the list ... Morache's .426 batting average this season is currently tops on DSU's single-season list, three points ahead of former DSU OF Brett Adams (.423 in 2010) ... Morache (19 2B) is also two doubles shy of breaking that single-season mark ... former DSU 1B Kevin Kline (Las Vegas, NV/Rancho) had a record 20 doubles in 2014 ... McLaughlin (9-for-19, .473), who became DSU's career hits leader in game two vs. APU Friday, also had nine hits in the series (198 total) and needs just two more hits to reach the 200-hit plateau ... McLaughlin also has 72 base hits on the season, which is good for t-fourth now on the single-season list ... McLaughlin's .407 batting average this season ranks him fifth on the single-season list.
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