Game Times (Mountain):
Friday - 6 p.m.
Saturday (DH) - 4 p.m.
Sunday - 12 noon
Game Notes: (DIXIE STATE - PDF) | CUI
Audio/Video: NONE
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/dixie/baseball
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | @Dixie_Base | #DixieBlazers | #PacWestBASE | #d2bsb
 
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday (G1) – RHP Dylan File (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (3-0. 4.11 ERA) vs. LHP Neil Lang (1-2, 4.40 ERA)
Saturday (G2) – RHP Mason Hilty (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) (4-1, 2.45 ERA) vs. RHP Mike Killeen (2-1, 3.38 ERA)
Saturday (G3) – LHP Matt Mosca (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS) (3-01, 5.31 ERA) vs. LHP Alex Zalasky (1-2, 4.50 ERA)
Sunday (G4) – RHP Preston Hannay (Murray, Utah/Murray HS) (12-0, 4.79 ERA) vs. RHP Morgan Brannock (0-3, 7.71 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: No. 22/26 Dixie State (14-4/3-1 PacWest) closes its season-long 18-game homestand this weekend as the Trailblazers welcome in Concordia-Irvine for a four-game Pacific West Conference series at Bruce Hurst Field. Friday's series opener will begin at 6 p.m., followed by a doubleheader Saturday at 4 p.m., and Sunday's finale will start at 12 noon.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Dixie State is 3-1 in its brief series vs. Concordia-Irvine, which began last season with the Trailblazers taking three of four in the first-ever meeting between the two sides in Irvine.

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State opened PacWest last weekend by winning three of four vs. Holy Names at Bruce Hurst Field. The Trailblazers and Hawks split a Saturday doubleheader, with DSU claiming a 9-2 win in the opener before dropping a 12-9 decision in game two. Dixie State brought the lumber in Sunday's second twin bill as the Trailblazers tied a school record with 24 hits to take game three, 23-5, and clinched the series win with a 7-3 triumph in the finale.

COACHING STAFF: Two-time Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year Chris Pfatenhauer is in his fifth season as head coach of the Dixie State Baseball program. Pfatenhauer led DSU to consecutive PacWest titles (2014 and 2015) and to four-straight trips (five-straight overall) to the NCAA West Regionals, including serving as the host institution in 2013. Pfatenhauer, who picked up his 200th-career coaching victory vs. Saint Martin's this past Feb. 19, owns a 154-71 (.684) overall record at DSU, including a 102-38 (.728) record in PacWest play, and a 206-130 (.613) career mark.
    Joining Pfatenhauer (UNLV, 2000) in the Trailblazer dugout this season is second-year pitching coach Michael Gargano (Walden University, 2013), along with third-year assistant coaches Matt Hill (Dixie State 2015), and Bobby Rinard (Arizona, 2014), and second-year assistant coach Patrick Perry (Northern Colorado, 2013).

TRAILBLAZERS VOTED SECOND IN PACWEST PRESEASON POLL: Dixie State was picked to finish second in the 2017 Pacific West Conference preseason coaches' poll released on January 26. Defending PacWest champion California Baptist received five first place votes and 91 total points to edge DSU in being tabbed as the PacWest preseason favorite, while the Trailblazers collected three first-place votes and finished with 90 points. Azusa Pacific (one first-place vote) was picked to finish third with 78 points, followed by Point Loma (one first-place vote, 66 points) in fourth and Fresno Pacific (54 points) in fifth to round out the top-half of the poll.
    Dixie State senior second baseman Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) was voted as PacWest Preseason Player of the Year and junior righthander Dylan File (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) was named PacWest Preseason Co-Pitcher of the Year. In all, the Trailblazers landed a league-high four players on the PacWest preseason team, which includes senior outfielder Trey Kamachi (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Kapolei HS) and senior 1B/DH Ryan Rodriguez (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago HS).

DSU IN THE POLLS: Dixie State is currently ranked fourth in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) NCAA Division II West Region poll, which is down one slot from last week and now three spots below fellow PacWest member Azusa Pacific, which has won 13 of its first 14 games to open the year and earn the No. 1 overall spot. Two more PacWest teams are listed in the top 10 regionally, including CBU at No. 5 and Point Loma at No. 6.
    Dixie State is also ranked in the top-30 in four national polls this week, including No. 5 in the latest Perfect Game D-II poll (3/8), No. 8 in the D2 Baseball News poll (3/6), No. 22 in the NCBWA poll (3/7), and No. 26 in the most recent Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll (3/6).

REGIONAL/NATIONAL HONORS FOR MCLAUGHLIN, HILTY AND LUCERO: The NCBWA announced in January its 2017 preseason all-West Region and All-America honorees and three Trailblazers made the cut. McLaughlin, senior RHP Mason Hilty (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) and senior catcher Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) were all voted to the West Region first team, while McLaughlin garnered third team All-America honors, and Hilty earned honorable mention All-America honors.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING: Not only did Dixie State begin the 2017 season looking to win its third PacWest crown in four seasons, the Trailblazers are also hoping to keep its NCAA postseason streak alive as well. DSU has made five-straight NCAA regional appearances, which is currently the longest active streak in the West Region.

PORTER EARNS PACWEST AND NCBWA WEEKLY HONORS: Junior first baseman Logan Porter (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS) was Pacific West Conference Baseball co-Player and NCBWA Player of the Week for his performance in the Trailblazers' league-opening series win vs. Holy Names last weekend.
    Porter hit .750 (9-for-12) with five extra-base hits, 12 RBI and five runs scored in the series. After an 0-for-2 start in the opener, he went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and a career-high five RBI in game two Saturday. Porter then went a combined 6-for-6 with two more doubles, six RBI and three runs scored in a Sunday doubleheader sweep. He has driven in at least one run in eight-straight games and has collected 21 of his PacWest-leading 30 RBI over this current stretch, which also ranks him fourth-nationally.

HOME SWEET HOME: Dixie State three home victories last weekend pushed the Trailblazers' record to 213-81 (.724) inside the friendly confines of Bruce Hurst Field since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, which includes a 10-4 mark this year.
    DSU has posted a winning record at home in all 10 seasons of NCAA play and has won 20 or more games in six of those 10 seasons, including a 24-6 overall record (.800) last season, which was the second-best home mark in the program's NCAA Division II era (26-7 in 2009), and was the best home record in four seasons under Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer. In addition, DSU will play its 300th NCAA home game in the second game of a Friday twin bill vs. Point Loma this upcoming March 24.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Dixie State has also held its own away from home as the Trailblazers opened the year 4-0 on the road with its sweep at Cal State San Bernardino, this after playing to a 14-7 road record in the 2016 regular season.
    DSU owns a 115-97 overall road record (.542) through its first 10-plus years of D-II competition with six-straight winning road marks. In 2015, DSU went a program-best 15-5 on the road (.750) and has won at least 10 road games in seven-straight seasons overall.
    When you also figure in neutral-site games (7-8 in 15 games), Dixie State is 122-105 (.537) all-time away from Bruce Hurst Field in NCAA play.

JUST WIN BABY: Dixie State set a new four-year program record for victories with 40 wins (38 regular season games) in the 2016 campaign. DSU's record-breaking season was bolstered by a 10-0 start to begin the season, its best overall start in the program's 10-year NCAA-era.
    DSU has won 30 games or more in each of the last eight seasons, including 35 in 2012 (35-20), en route to a 321-182 (.638) overall record in 10 years of NCAA Division II competition (503 games). The Trailblazers won its 300th game as a four-year program in the second game of a doubleheader at Holy Names on March 18, 2016. In addition, DSU recorded its 30th win of the 2016 season in game No. 38 (at PLNU - 4/8), which was the fastest the program had won 30 games in a season in DSU's four-year era.    

IT'S DEEP AND I DON'T THINK IT'S PLAYABLE: Dixie State has pounded out 19 home runs through its first 18 games of the 2017 season, including four home runs last weekend vs. Holy Names and a season series-high six homers in the season-opening series at Cal State San Bernardino.
    The 19 home runs this season is eight more than the 11 DSU hit through 18 games last season. In addition, three Trailblazers have posted two homer games this season, the last being senior catcher Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS), who homered in consecutive ABs in game two vs. MSUB (2/25). In fact, Lucero is the second player to accomplish that feat this season as senior infielder Tyler Mildenberg (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina HS) went deep twice in back-to-back at-bats in game three at CSUSB (2/4). Prior to Mildenberg and Lucero, former DSU outfielder Donald Glover was the last to accomplish the feat, doing so in a home loss vs. Fresno Pacific on May 3, 2014.
    Senior OF/DH Ryan Rodriguez (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago HS) also homered twice in a game earlier this season, doing so as part of a four-hit, five-RBI night in DSU's 17-0 win over Concordia (OR) this past Feb. 16, which helped earn him PacWest player of the week honors.

ROCKIN' THE 'STACHE: Forget the "Fear The Beard" mantra, since Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer's arrival at Dixie State, his teams have created a "Mustache March" tradition, and by all accounts, it's pretty powerful. Thanks to the power of the mustache, Dixie State has played to a 64-15 (.810) overall record in the month of March over the past four-plus seasons, including a 3-1 mark this month and a 19-2 record in March of 2014.

AND THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING: The Trailblazers tied a school record with 24 hits in their 23-5 victory over Holy Names last Sunday. All nine DSU starters in the lineup had at least one hit, eight of which had two or more safeties overall.  
    The 24 hits tied the program's NCAA-era record which was set at Cal State Los Angeles (2/10) in the 2013 season. Meanwhile, the 23 runs scored vs. HNU were the most in a single game under Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer and tied for the third-highest run total in the program's four-year era. The 23 runs were also the most runs scored in a game in nearly 10 years as DSU last scored 23 runs in a win vs. Grand Canyon (23-8) back on April 30, 2008.

FROM POLE TO POLE: Senior Miles Bice (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS) (.346/1HR/10RBI) started in right field in all four games last weekend and hit .250 (3-for-12) with one double, one RBI and two runs scored ... Bice currently leads the PacWest and is SECOND-NATIONALLY in sacrifice bunts (8) ... Senior Trey Kamachi (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Kapolei HS) (.438/1HR/15RBI) started in all four games vs. HNU and hit .417 (5-for-12) with two doubles, three RBI and six runs scored ... Kamachi saw his 13 game hitting streak stopped in the opener, but came back with five hits over the next three games with two two-hit outings ... Kamachi has 11 two-hit games (including seven-straight at one point) and has hit safely in 16 of 18 games overall ... Senior Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) (.426/1HR/11RBI) started in left field in the opener vs. HNU, but sat out the final three games of the series as a precaution (injury), but should return to the lineup this weekend ... McLaughlin went 3-for-4 with two doubles, one RBI and two runs scored in his lone start ... McLaughlin, who had started in 112-straight games over a span of two-plus seasons prior to last weekend, had missed only four total games in his three-plus year DSU career overall ... McLaughlin, who is DSU's career hits leader (240), has hit safely in 12 of his first 15 games this year ... senior OF Trey Reineke (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill HS) (.200/0HR/1RBI) played in all four games with two starts (G2 and G4) vs. HNU and hit .286 (2-for-7) with one RBI and two runs scored ... freshman OF Jake Engel (Tucson, Ariz./Ironwood HS) (.133/0HR/4RBI) collected his first two collegiate hits, the first being a double, and drove in three runs in a game three start.

AROUND THE HORN: Sophomore 3B Bryce Feist (Emmett, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS) (.386/1HR/11RBI) started in all four games vs. HNU and hit .357 (5-for-14) with two doubles, one homer and four RBI ... Feist is batting .468 (15-for-32) over his last 11 games overall ... Feist had two hits in G1 and G3 three vs. HNU and connected for his first HR of the year in the finale ... Senior SS Tyler Baker (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS) (.297/0HR/10RBI) hit .235 (4-for-17) in four starts vs. HNU with one double, three RBI and six runs scored ... Senior Tyler Mildenberg (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina HS) (.473/3HR/18RBI) started at 2B in all four games last week vs. HNU and hit .643 (9-for-14) with one home run, six RBI and a team-high eight runs scored ... Mildenberg went 4-for-4 with a HR in the opener, then for good measure went 5-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored in game three ... Mildenberg, who leads the team in batting at .473, became the first DSU player in nearly eight seasons to collect five hits in one game, the last being former DSU infielder Quinn Boyer, who had five hits in a win over Hawai'i Pacific on April 10, 2010 ... Junior 1B Logan Porter (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS) (.371/5HR/30RBI) batted .750 in the HNU series with five XBH (4 2B/1HR) and a team-high 12 RBI ... Porter's week raised his average 91 points to .371, while his 30 RBI leads the PacWest and is ranked fourth-nationally.

THE BACKSTOPS: Senior catcher Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) (.220/3HR/11RBI) started in two games (one at DH) vs. HNU and batted .100 (1-for-10) with one RBI and one run scored ... Sophomore Jake Davison (Taylorsville, Utah/Taylorsville HS) (.355/2HR/9RBI) started played in all four games with three starts vs. HNU and hit .417 (5-for-12) with one homer, five RBI and five runs scored ... he homered as part of a 2-for-3 day with three runs scored in the opener and also had a two-hit effort in game three.

ROTATION NOTES: Junior RHP Dylan File (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (3-0/4.11 ERA/32K) won for the third time in as many starts as he limited HNU to one run and three hits over seven strong innings with nine strikeouts in the series opener ... File retired 13-straight batters from the fourth inning on, seven on strikes, including striking out the side in the fifth inning ... File's ERA has dropped over seven runs over that stretch, while he has recorded 24 of his 32 strikeouts on the year in his last three appearances ... File enters this week second all-time in career wins (15) and strikeouts (150) and is t-second in IP (182.2).
    Junior LHP Matt Mosca (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS) (3-1/5.31ERA/17K) suffered his first loss of the season (in five starts) as he was the pitcher of record in the G2 loss to HNU ... Mosca fanned four but was touched up for nine hits and five runs (four earned) in 4.2 IP.  
    Senior RHP Mason Hilty (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) (4-1/2.45ERA/24K) won for the fourth time in five starts this season as he scattered four hits and three runs (two earned) with seven strikeouts in game three vs. HNU ... Hilty settled in after a first-inning hiccup as he limited the Hawks to just one unearned run and two hits over his final five innings of work ... Hilty retired 10 of the final 11 HNU hitters he faced ... Hilty also picked up his 14th-career win, which moved into solo third place on DSU career wins list, while his seven Ks vaulted him to t-fifth (96) on DSU's career strikeouts list ... Hilty currently stands as DSU's career leader in strikeouts/9 innings (7.80) and second all-time in career ERA (3.25) and fewest walks/9 innings (2.11).  
    Sophomore RHP Preston Hannay (Murray, Utah/Murray HS) (2-0/4.79ERA/14K) started the finale vs. HNU and surrendered two runs and two hits with five strikeouts over five innings of work to pick up his second win of the season ... Hannay rebounded after a rough first inning as he retired 12-straight Hawk hitters after giving up a lead-off walk in the second inning.

CALL TO THE PEN: DSU bullpen worked a combined 11.1 innings in the HNU series, allowing 16 hits and seven earned runs (11 total) with nine strikeouts overall ... senior closer Tyler Burdett (Las Vegas, Nev./Sierra Vista HS) earned his third save of the season in the finale vs. HNU as he threw 1.2 innings of two-hit relief with a strikeout ... freshman Brayden Bonner (Murray, Utah/Cottonwood HS) struck out a career-high three in two innings of shutout relief in game three.

TEAM NOTES: DSU hit .366 in the four games last weekend (49-for-134) with 17 extra bases (13 2B/4 HR) ... DSU has outscored its opponents by a combined 102-35 over the last 10 games, including a 48-22 clip in the HNU series ... DSU is averaging 8.9 runs and 11.3 hits per game through its first 18 games ... Dixie State enters this weekend's series LEADING THE NATION in sacrifice flies (17) and is second in sacrifice bunts (27), 12th in runs scored (160), 17th in hits (203) and 18th in batting (.346).   
    After going nearly three years without a nine-inning complete game shutout, File and Hilty hurled two dominant masterpieces in less than 48 hours in the MSUB series ... Prior to the File and Hilty outings, the last time a DSU pitcher threw a nine-inning complete-game shutout was former Dixie State pitcher Jon Conquy in a 7-0 home win Cal State Los Angeles 7-0 (4/18/14).
    In all, Dixie State's pitching staff combined to post a 4.24 ERA vs. HNU and held the Hawks to a .258 batting average (16-for-96) ... DSU pitchers struck out 34 HNU batters in 34.0 IP ... DSU's staff ERA now stands at 3.95 heading into this weekend's CUI series ... In the last six games, DSU pitchers have held opposing hitters to a .217 average (67-for-308) and have struck out 78 in 84 IP over that stretch.
    After just three total errors overa a six-game stretch to close February, including just one miscue in the MSUB series (.991 FLD%), DSU's defense committed eight errors in the HNU series and posted a .949 FLD%.
    DSU's defense did turn three double plays last weekend, this after the Trailblazers did not turn one in the MSUB series ... DSU is now ranked 11th-nationally with 17 double plays and is ranked 23rd in the country in fielding percentage (.972).
    Cal State San Bernardino recorded the first triple play turned on DSU in the Trailblazers' NCAA-era as DSU lined into a 6-3 triple play game four on Feb. 5.
    Dixie State's 12-inning series opener vs. Colorado Mesa (2/10) was the longest game in terms of innings played since April 23, 2015, when DSU and Azusa Pacific needed 12 innings to decide an 8-7 Trailblazer victory ... DSU played in an NCAA era program-record eight extra-inning games last season and posted a 6-2 overall record in those games ... despite the extra-inning loss to CMU, DSU is 26-13 (.667) all-time in 39 total extra-inning games in the program's four-year era.

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: After five-straight weeks at home, Dixie State heads out on the road for a crucial four-game weekend series at PacWest rival California Baptist March 16-18, in Riverside.