No. 20 Dixie State opened its final home series of the 2016 regular season in style as the Trailblazers swept both ends of a Friday doubleheader vs. Hawai'i Pacific, 4-3 and 11-4, at Bruce Hurst Field. DSU has now won four-straight to move to 34-10 overall, 22-8 in PacWest play.

After a scoreless first inning in game one, DSU scored single runs in each of the next four innings to lead 4-2 after five complete. The Trailblazers opened the scoring in the second on a Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) RBI-single, then after the Sharks (27-17/17-15 PacWest) pulled even with a run in the third, DSU came back with a run in the home half of the frame on a Samuel Hall (Ogden, Utah/Bonneville HS) RBI- groundout.

DSU extended the lead to 3-1 in the fourth thanks to some heads-up base-running from Jerome Hill II (Pittsburg, Calif./Pittsburg HS), who led off the frame with a infield single. Miles Bice (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS) came on to bunt Hill II to second base, but the Sharks defense did not cover third and Hill II took the extra base and scored on an errant throw on the infield. HPU cut the lead in half with another run in the fifth, but again Dixie State answered with a Hall sacrifice fly to push the lead back to two runs at 4-2.

Meanwhile sophomore righthander Dylan File (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (W, 5-1) limited the Sharks to just two runs and six hits over his first six innings of work, but HPU struck for a run in the seventh on a two-out RBI-double from Steven Camberos to trim the deficit to 4-3 and chase File from the game. However DSU got out of further trouble as senior reliever Chance Abrath (Salt Lake City, Utah/West HS) got the final out of the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth inning.

HPU mounted one last charge in the ninth as the Sharks had runners on first and second with two outs against Trailblazer closer Spencer Greer (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville HS) (S, 7). Camberos would single through the right side, but DSU right fielder Trey Kamachi (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Kapolei HS) threw a perfect strike to Lucero at home plate to cut down the potential tying run and end the game.

DSU won despite getting outhit 12-7, with Hill II and Tanner Morache (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Surrey HS) leading the way with two hits apiece. File struck out two in 6.2 innings to pick up his fifth win of the season.

HPU manufactured a first-inning run in the nightcap to take its only lead of the night at 1-0 through a half-inning. The Trailblazers wasted little time erasing the early deficit as DSU's career hits leader Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) recorded his 200^th-career base hit with a solo home run to left center to tie the score at 1-1. Dixie State then took the lead three batters later when Ryan Rodriguez (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago HS) doubled home Kamachi to give DSU a 2-1 advantage after one inning.

Dixie State tacked on two more runs in the second on a wild pitch and McLaughlin RBI-double before erupting for four runs in the third to jump out to a commanding 8-1 lead. Hill II drove in the first run on a single, then Jake Davison (Taylorsville, Utah/Taylorsville HS) plated Hill II with a base hit of his own to push the lead to 6-1. Bryce Feist (Emmett, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS) would follow with a run-scoring hit and McLaughlin picked up an RBI on a fly-out as DSU sent nine batters to the plate in the rally.

The Trailblazers added two more runs in the fifth with three-straight two-out base hits from the top three in the DSU order. Morache started the rally with his school-record breaking 21^st double of the season. McLaughlin then doubled Morache home for his fourth RBI of the night and would come home on a Kamachi RBI-single.

The run support was more than enough for junior starter Mason Hilty (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) (W, 9-0), who fanned six and scattered one run and eight hits in six innings to break DSU's single-season record for wins with his ninth overall. With the win, Hilty also became the just the second pitcher in DSU's NCAA Division II era to win nine-straight decisions overall, while he is the first to do it in a single season. Former DSU hurler Jon Conquy won a school-record 12-straight decision over a span of two seasons in 2014-15.

DSU pounded out 13 hits in the finale, with McLaughlin finishing with three hits and two runs scored to go with his four RBI, while Hill II and Davison (two RBI) each had with two hits.

Dixie State will close out its 2016 home regular season schedule with a second twin bill Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. DSU will also honor its seven seniors, including Morache, Hall, Abrath, Greer, Jeremy Alderman (Cheney, Wash./Cheney HS), Kolton Brost (Mona, Utah/Payson HS) and Mark Marinch (Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde HS) after the final game.

NOTES: Former DSU 1B Kevin Kline (Las Vegas, NV/Rancho) set the previous DSU single-season record for doubles with 20 in 2014 … McLaughlin went 4-for-5 in the two games to move into second place on DSU's single-season hits list with 76 base hits, two behind Morache, the current record holder, who went 3-for-6 combined in the two games … Morache has hit safely in 14-straight and in 41 of 44 games this season to bump up his current DSU school-record season batting average three points to .429 … meanwhile McLaughlin pushed his hitting streak to 11 games and is now batting .418, which is currently ranked fourth-overall on the single-season list … File moved his career record to 11-2 in nearly two full seasons as a DSU starter … DSU's drew 474 fans for the doubleheader, its second-biggest home crowd of the 2016 season.