Junior righthander Dylan File (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) struck out eight in 6.2 innings of work to help lead No. 20 Dixie State to a 6-1 series opening win at Pacific West Conference rival California Baptist Thursday night at Totman Stadium.

The Trailblazers (18-5/7-2 PacWest) opened the scoring in the second inning as Trey Kamachi (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Kapolei HS) led off the frame with a solo home run over the left field wall. DSU then erupted for four more runs in the fourth, highlighted by a two-run double from Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS), who would come around to score one pitch later on a Tyler Baker (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS) triple driven into the left centerfield gap. Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS), who made his return to the DSU starting lineup after missing most of the last two weeks, then capped the rally with a run-scoring fly out to plate Baker.

The run support was more than enough for File (W, 4-0), who limited the Lancers (16-7/7-2 PacWest) to just four hits and one unearned to earn his fourth win in his last five starts overall. Meanwhile, senior relievers Walker Williams (Grand Junction, Colo./Fruita Monument HS) and Tyler Burdett (Las Vegas, Nev./Sierra Vista HS) combined to fan three and limit CBU to just one base runner over the final 2.1 innings to close out the game.

Dixie State outhit CBU 11-4, including three hits for Logan Porter (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS), while Baker and Bryce Feist (Emmett, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS) collected two hits apiece. In all, seven of DSU's 11 hits went for extra bases, including five doubles to go with Baker's triple and Kamachi's homer.

DSU and CBU will continue their series with a doubleheader Friday afternoon beginning at 4 p.m (PT), at Totman Stadium.