Dixie State won its 10^th-straight game and completed a perfect 8-0 homestand with a 9-4 triumph over Fresno Pacific in Pacific West Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field. The win clinched a four-game series sweep over the Sunbirds as the Storm improved to 28-6 overall (16-4 PacWest), which is the program's best start after 34 games in its NCAA Division II era.

DSU jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first thanks to a bases-loaded walk to Cam Gust (Riverton, Utah/Riverton HS), followed by an RBI-single from Jerome Hill II (Pittsburg, Calif./Pittsburg HS) and a Miles Bice (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS) sacrifice fly. The Storm kept the offensive pressure on FPU with two more runs in the second as Tanner Morache (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Surrey HS) legged out a one-out triple and scored on a Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) infield hit. McLaughlin would score the second run later in the frame after an errant throw by FPU catcher Bryan Bucher sailed into left field.

Dixie State then pushed the lead to 7-0 an inning later on RBI-singles from Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) and Morache. Meanwhile, DSU starter Dylan File (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (ND) retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced as the sophomore worked around a second-inning walk and third-inning error to keep the Sunbirds hitless through his first three innings.

FPU mounted a rally over the next two innings, plating a run in the fourth and three more in the fifth to cut the deficit to 7-4. The Sunbirds pounded out six hits in that fifth stanza off of File, who could not escape the inning as Fresno Pacific threatened to tie or take the lead with the bases loaded and two outs. However, junior hurler Mason Hilty (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) came on the strike out FPU infielder McKay France on three pitches to get DSU out of the jam.

Hilty (W, 7-0) shut down the Sunbirds from there as he fanned five and limited FPU to just five hits over the final four innings to earn his team-leading seventh win of the season. With the win, Hilty also became the first DSU pitcher in the program's four-year era to win his first seven decisions.

DSU tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the late innings on a Lucero ground out in the seventh and a Samuel Hall (Ogden, Utah/Bonneville HS) RBI-single in the eighth.

Dixie State outhit FPU 16-14 as eight of the Storm's nine starters collected at least one hit. Morache fell a homer short of the cycle as he went 4-for-5 with a double and two singles to go with his triple, while Bice went 3-for-3, and Hill II, Hall and Lucero finished with two hits apiece. File lasted 4.2 innings and surrendered nine hits and four runs (three earned) with a pair of strikeouts.

DSU will now hit the road for a four-game PacWest series at Point Loma next weekend in San Diego.

NOTES: DSU improved to 19-3 at home on the year, while the series sweep of FPU also clinched DSU's 10-straight winning season in its near 10 years of NCAA Division II competition … DSU is now 309-174 (.640) all-time as a four-year program … DSU outscored FPU 43-14 in the four-game series … overall Dixie State scored 82 total runs during its eight-game homestand while only giving up 28 … DSU's current 10-game winning streak matches its season-high, which was set after the Storm's 10-0 start (all at home) to begin the campaign … Hilty's seven-straight decision wins to open the season broke the previous record of six set by former DSU pitcher Tyson Bailey, who won his first six decisions in 2009 … Hilty is now one decision win shy of tying the school-record of eight-straight, which was done in 2014 by current senior RHP Chance Abrath (Salt Lake City, Utah/West HS) and former Storm hurler John Conquy (Las Vegas, NV/Durango), who both achieved the feat after each started that season 0-1. … DSU has reached double figures in hits in 23 games and has scored at least one run in all 34 games this season.