No. 20 Dixie State wrapped up 2016 regular season home slate with a split of the final two games of a four-game Pacific West Conference series with Hawai'i Pacific Saturday at Bruce Hurst Field. The Trailblazers (35-11/23-9 PacWest) used a pair of big innings to rally and defeat the Sharks in the opener, 10-2, but could not complete the sweep as HPU (28-18/18-16 PacWest) held off another DSU rally to claim the finale by a 6-4 count in seven innings.

The Sharks took a 2-0 lead in the second inning of game one as HPU strung together four-straight two-out base hits off of DSU starter Preston Hannay (Murray, Utah/Murray HS) (ND) and had a chance for more with the bases loaded, but the freshman righthander managed to induce an inning-ending groundout the limit the damage.

DSU put together a little two-out rally of its own an inning later when Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) singled up the middle to bring home Jerome Hill II (Pittsburg, Calif./Pittsburg HS) with the Trailblazers first run to cut the deficit in half at 2-1. Ryan Rodriguez (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago HS) then gave DSU the lead for good two batters later with a two-run single to center field.

The Trailblazer offense struck again in the fourth, this time for five runs on five hits to extend the advantage to 8-2. Tyler Mildenberg (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina HS) drove home a run with a double down the right field, then a second run came home and Mildenberg advanced to third on the same play after an error in the HPU outfield. Tanner Morache (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Surrey HS) followed with a single to bring home Mildenberg and Samuel Hall (Ogden, Utah/Bonneville HS) laced a two-run double to the gap in left center to cap the rally.

From there, Hannay and three DSU relievers put the clamps on the HPU offense as the Sharks managed just four hits from the third inning on. Junior southpaw Walker Williams (Grand Junction, Colo./Fruita Monument HS) (W, 2-0) fired three innings of scoreless relief to pick up his second win of the season, while seniors Chance Abrath (Salt Lake City, Utah/West HS) and Mark Marinch (Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde HS) combined to pitch the final 1.2 innings in their final home appearances.

DSU outhit HPU 12-10 in the opener, with the top four in the Trailblazer lineup combining to go 9-for-16 with five RBI. McLaughlin led the way with three hits, while Morache, Hall and Rodriguez each finished with two hits apiece.

As was the case in the opener, Hawai'i Pacific struck first in the nightcap, this time plating three runs in the opening stanza to race out to a 3-0 lead before DSU's first at-bat. Hall got one of the runs back in the home half of the first when he connected on his team-leading sixth home run of the season, an opposite field blast to left center, to trim the deficit to 3-1.

After the Sharks got a run in the third, DSU used the long ball again in the fourth as Jake Davison (Taylorsville, Utah/Taylorsville HS) and Mildenberg hit back-to-back home runs to pull the Trailblazers even at 4-4. Davison drilled his first collegiate homer on a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall with a runner on, while Mildenberg followed suit with a solo shot to right field on the very next pitch from Shark starter Kyle Detwiler.

Hawai'i Pacific would take the lead back an inning later with a two-out hit and would plate crucial unearned insurance run after a pair of DSU errors in the sixth. Dixie State had a chance later that inning to tie or take the lead off of HPU closer Brandon Bonilla as the Trailblazers got two runners on after consecutive walks brought up the top of the DSU order. However Bonilla quelled any chance of a DSU comeback as he struck out Morache and McLaughlin to end the sixth, then struck out the side in order in the seventh to earn his 11^th save of the season.

DSU finished with seven hits in the finale as Hall doubled to go with his homer in the senior's final regular season home start. Sophomore lefthander Aaron Pope (Chubbuck, Idaho/Highland HS) (ND) lasted 2.1 innings in his first start in nearly two months, though he did surrender four runs (three earned) on five hits with one strikeout.

Dixie State will close out the 2016 regular season schedule on the road next weekend with a four-game series at PacWest newcomer Concordia in Irvine, Calif.

NOTES: Dixie State finished its 2016 home season with a 24-6 overall record, its second-best home mark in the program's NCAA Division II Era (26-7 in 2009), and the best home record in four seasons under Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer … DSU has posted a winning record in all 10 seasons of NCAA play at home as has won 20 or more games in six of those 10 seasons … DSU is now 203-77 (.725) overall at Bruce Hurst Field since 2007 (first NCAA season) … Morache extended his hitting streak to 16 games with hits in both ends of Saturday's twin bill … Morache has now hit safely in 43 of 46 games this season and is now batting .426 (81-for-190), while he the first DSU player in the four-year era to reach the 80-hit plateau … McLaughlin saw his hitting streak halted at 12 games after going 0-for-4 in the finale … McLaughin is now #2 on the single season hits list with 79 (two behind Morache) and is batting .416 on the year … Prior to Davison and Mildenberg home runs in the finale, the last time DSU had players hit back-to-back home runs in an inning was nearly two years ago to the day, April 25, 2014, when former DSU players Tyler Blair and Kris Kaplan accomplished the feat at Point Loma … Saturday's twin bill served as the final home game for seven DSU seniors, including Morache, Hall, Abrath, Marinch, Kolton Brost (Mona, Utah/Payson HS), Jeremy Alderman (Cheney, Wash./Cheney HS) and Spencer Greer (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville HS) … DSU's drew 1,058 fans for both of this weekend's doubleheaders vs. HPU, while the 584 in attendance Saturday was the second-largest crowd of the season.