No. 10 Dixie State began the final leg of its eight-game Pacific West Conference Hawaiian road swing with a Tuesday sweep of a doubleheader at Hawai'i Hilo at Wong Stadium. The Trailblazers (33-10-1/22-7-1 PacWest) rolled to a 17-4 win in game one before rallying for a 9-5 triumph in the nightcap.

Dixie State opened the scoring in game one with three runs in the third inning, highlighted by a two-run Tyler Baker (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS) double, who came around to score one batter later on a Trey Kamachi (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Kapolei HS) RBI-single. The Vulcans (8-26/8-24 PacWest) would answer in the home half of the frame with a pair run-scoring doubles of their own to plate three runs and knot the score at 3-3.

The score remained tied until the sixth when the Trailblazers rapped out three hits and took advantage of a Vulcan error to score four times and bolt to a 7-3 advantage. Jake Davison (Taylorsville, Utah/Taylorsville HS) picked up an RBI on a base hit, while he and Miles Bice (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS) both scored on a wild pitch and error sequence, which followed by a Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) run-scoring fly out.

That frame opened the floodgates for Dixie State as the Trailblazers wound up scoring 14 unanswered runs over the final four innings overall to cruise to the victory. DSU plated four runs in the seventh on a Jerome Hill II (Pittsburg, Calif./Pittsburg HS) RBI-single and a three-run home run from Davison. Then DSU tallied five more runs for good measure in the eighth, which was kick-started by a Kamachi solo homer, while Bice, Davison, McLaughlin and Baker each collected RBI in the rally as the Trailblazers sent 10 batters to the plate in the stanza.

All nine starters in the Trailblazer line-up had at least one base hit in the opener as Dixie State finished with 21 hits for the game. McLaughlin led the way a season-high tying four hits and two RBI, while Kamachi, Hill II and Bice each collected three hits apiece. Meanwhile, Davison finished with a career-high five RBI, which marked the fourth time this season that a Trailblazer hitter managed to drive in at least five runs.

Four DSU hurlers combined to limit the Vulcans to four runs (three earned) and seven hits with a combined 11 strikeouts. Junior Tanner Howell (Boulder City, Nev./Boulder City HS) fanned six and allowed four hits and three runs in his first start of the year, while senior Sean Hardman (Pleasant Grove, Utah/American Fork HS) (W, 2-0) fired two innings of spotless relief with one strikeout to earn the win out of the DSU bullpen.

It was a case of role reversal in the nightcap as Hilo shot out to a quick 3-0 lead after one full inning of play. Dixie State chipped away at the deficit, scoring a two-out run on a passed ball in the third inning before pulling even at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the fourth on consecutive one-out RBI-hits from Bice and Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS). The Trailblazers then took their first lead of the game one inning later after Baker led off the frame with single, advanced around to third on a wild pitch and ground out, and scored two batters later on a Logan Porter (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS) sacrifice flyout.

Then after UHH tied the game at 4-4 in the home fifth, Dixie State strung together two hits and took advantage of a pair of two-out Vulcan miscues to plate three runs in the sixth to bolt to a 7-4 advantage. Following back-to-back hits from Lucero and Trey Reineke (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill HS), UHH committed an error on the infield that allowed Lucero to score the go-ahead run. Reineke, who advanced to third on the play, would come home on a wild pitch, while Baker drove in another run with a single to cap the rally.

Hawai'i Hilo mounted a threat in its half of the sixth as the Vulcans loaded the bases on three hits and a Trailblazer error, but DSU managed to hold UHH to only one run to escape the jam with the lead.

Dixie State would get that run back and more in the seventh thanks to a Bice two-run single to centerfield that extended the DSU lead to 9-5. Senior reliever Walker Williams (Grand Junction, Colo./Fruita Monument HS) (S, 2) then came on and pitched three hitless innings to close out the sweep.

DSU pounded out 12 safeties in the game, led by Bice who went 2-for-5 with three RBI, while McLaughlin, Baker, Lucero and Reineke each finished with two hits. Sophomore starter Preston Hannay (Murray, Utah/Murray HS) lasted 4.1 innings and allowed four runs and eight hits, while senior reliever Tyler Burdett (Las Vegas, Nev./Sierra Vista HS) (W, 2-2) worked 1.2 innings of one-run, five-hit relief to earn his second victory of the year.

DSU and UHH will conclude their four-game series with another doubleheader Wednesday afternoon beginning at 4 p.m. (MT), at Wong Stadium.