Game Times (Mountain):
Thursday - 6 p.m.
Friday (DH) - 2 p.m.
Saturday (SENIOR DAY) - 12 noon
Game Notes: (DIXIE STATE - PDF) | AAU
Audio/Video: Games 1 and 4 - DSU YouTube Channel
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/dixie/baseball
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | @Dixie_Base | #DixieBlazers | #PacWestBASE | #d2bsb
 
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Thursday (G1) – RHP Dylan File (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (5-1, 3.57 ERA) vs. RHP Chris Petrosie (1-4, 5.88 ERA)
Friday (G2) – RHP Mason Hilty (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) (7-1, 3.67 ERA) vs. RHP Brett Bovee (1-4, 2.45 ERA)
Friday (G3) – TBA vs. RHP Luke Lacy (4-4, 4.73 ERA)
Saturday (G4) – Sean Hardman (Pleasant Grove, Utah/American Fork HS) (1-0, 3.54 ERA) vs. LHP Alex Fernandez (1-2, 4.24 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: No. 18 Dixie State (25-9/14-6 PacWest) closes out its 2017 home regular season schedule with a four-game weekend series vs. Academy of Art (13-21/9-11 PacWest) at Bruce Hurst Field. Thursday's series opener will begin at 6 p.m., followed by a doubleheader Friday at 2 p.m., and Saturday's finale will start at 12 noon. Saturday's finale will also serve as Senior Day as 14 Trailblazers will be in uniform for their final regular season home game.
    DSU enters play this week looking to bounce back from just its second series loss of the season as the Trailblazers dropped three of four last weekend at Fresno Pacific. Despite the series loss, DSU remains in second place in the PacWest standings behind No. 2 Azusa Pacific (26-4/13-3 PacWest), and one game ahead of third place No. 30 California Baptist (22-12/13-7 PacWest).

ALL-TIME SERIES: Dixie State owns a 40-4 all-time record against Academy of Art through the first eight years of the series. DSU has won 10-straight and 22 of its last 24 overall vs. the Urban Knights, and is 22-2 all-time vs. AAU at Bruce Hurst Field.

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State lost its second series of the season last weekend as the Trailblazers dropped three of four at PacWest foe Fresno Pacific in Fresno, Calif. DSU's lone win in the series came in game two, thanks in large part to senior righthander Mason Hilty (Richland, Wash./Richland HS), who fired a complete game three-hitter in a 5-1 Dixie State victory.

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 165-76 (.684) overall record at DSU, including a 113-43 (.724) record in PacWest play, and a 217-135 (.616) 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 sixth in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) NCAA Division II West Region poll, four spots below fellow PacWest member Azusa Pacific (No. 2) and one spot behind of California Baptist (No. 5). In all, four PacWest teams are ranked in the top-10 regionally, including Point Loma at No. 8.
    Despite the series loss last weekend at FPU, Dixie State remains ranked in the top-20 in three of the four national polls this week, including No. 8 in the latest Perfect Game D-II poll (4/5), No. 11 in the D2 Baseball News poll (4/4), and No. 18 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll (4/3). Meanwhile, the NCBWA dropped the Trailblazers completely out of its poll this week.

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.

HILTY EARNS SECOND PACWEST AND NCBWA WEEKLY HONOR: For the second time this season, senior righthander Mason Hilty (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) was named Pacific West Conference and NCBWA Pitcher of the Week this week for his performance DSU's road win at Fresno Pacific last Friday.
    Hilty, who also earned the PacWest weekly honor back on Feb. 27, fired a complete game three-hitter in the Trailblazers' 5-1 win over the Sunbirds. Hilty tied a career-high with nine strikeouts (with no walks) and retired the final 19 FPU hitters he faced after allowing a third-inning unearned run. The victory, Hilty's league-leading seventh of the season, moved Hilty to 7-1 on the year to go with a 3.67 ERA and 45 strikeouts through nine starts this season.

HOME SWEET HOME: Dixie State has played to a 220-82 (.728) overall record inside the friendly confines of Bruce Hurst Field since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, which includes the Trailblazers' 11-3 win in the 300th D-II home game last Friday vs. PLNU, and a 17-5 overall mark this year after the PLNU sweep.  
    Thanks to the Point Loma sweep (March 24-25), DSU has now posted a winning record at home in all 11 seasons of NCAA play. Dixie State has won 20 or more games in six of those 11 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.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Last weekend's result notwithstanding, Dixie State has also held its own away from home as the Trailblazers are 8-4 on the road this season, which includes the CBU series win and a four-game series sweep at Cal State San Bernardino (2/3-5) to open the campaign.
    DSU owns a 119-101 overall road record (.541) through its first 10-plus years of D-II competition with six-straight winning road marks, including a 14-7 road record last season. In 2015, DSU went a program-best 15-5 on the road (.750), and DSU 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 126-109 (.536) 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 28 home runs through its first 34 games of the 2017 season, including three homers last weekend at FPU and a season series-high six homers in the season-opening set at Cal State San Bernardino.
    The 28 home runs this season is four more than the 24 DSU hit through 34 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 earlier this season 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 effective. Thanks to the power of the mustache, Dixie State has played to a 75-19 (.798) overall record in the month of March over the past five seasons, including a 14-5 mark this past month and a 19-2 record in March of 2014.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK....: Dixie State posted the biggest comeback in the program's NCAA-era with its 14-12 victory in game two at California Baptist this past March 17. The Trailblazers entered the eighth inning trailing 12-3, only to rally for nine eighth-inning runs, followed by a two-run ninth to clinch the win. DSU sent 14 batters to the plate in that eighth frame, seven of which reached via base hit.
    Prior to that comeback win, the largest deficit Dixie State had overcome in its NCAA-era was a six-run deficit done twice, the first instance coming in a 13-12 win at NCAA Division I member Utah Valley (down 12-6) on April 21, 2007, and again at home last season in a 7-6 victory over Azusa Pacific (down 6-0; 4/16/16).

AND THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING: The Trailblazers tied a school record with 24 hits in their 23-5 victory over Holy Names (3/5). 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 RF Miles Bice (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS) (.287/1HR/15RBI) started in all four games at FPU but was held to just 1-for-13 at the plate with one run scored ... Bice is currently t-third in the PacWest and is t-sixth-nationally in sacrifice bunts (9) ... Senior CF Trey Kamachi (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Kapolei HS) (.437/2HR/27RBI) started in all four games last weekend at FPU and hit .429 with one double, one RBI and a team-high four runs scored ... Kamachi, who saw his season-high 17 game hitting streak halted in G3 at FPU, has hit safely in 31 of 34 games played with 16 two-hit games (including seven-straight at one point), and he currently leads the PacWest in batting (.437 - 35th-nationally), hits (55 - t-11th nationally) and runs (41- 20th nationally) ... Senior Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) (.376/1HR/15RBI) started game one in LF and the final three games at 2B at FPU and hit .133 (2-for-15) with three runs scored ... McLaughlin, who has hit safely in nine of his last 11 games overall, is DSU career hits leader (255) and he currently leads the PacWest and is ranked t-ninth-nationally in doubles (14) ... Senior OF Jerome Hill II (Pittsburg, Calif./Pittsburg HS) (.000, 0-3) made his 2017 debut last weekend at FPU as he played in two games off the bench as a PH/DH ... Hill II, who missed the first two months of the season due to injury, is expected to get more playing time this weekend ... Senior OF Trey Reineke (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill HS) (.244/3HR/8RBI) started in three games in left field and batted .286 (2-for-7) with two RBI and two runs scored ... both of Reineke's hits went for extra bases, including his first triple of the year in game two and his third HR of the year, a solo shot in game three.

AROUND THE HORN: Sophomore 3B Bryce Feist (Emmett, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS) (.364/1HR/16RBI) started in the opener at FPU and went 0-for-2 with a run scored ... DNP in the final three games of the series ... Senior SS Tyler Baker (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS) (.313/0HR/18RBI) started in all four games at FPU and batted .294 (5-for-17) with three doubles, two RBI and three runs scored ... Baker enters this weekend tied for 24th-nationally in runs scored (39) ... Senior Tyler Mildenberg (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina HS) (.404/5HR/32RBI) started all four games vs. Point Loma (1 at 2B/3 at 3B) and hit an even .300 (3-for-10) with one homer, three RBI and one run scored ... Mildenberg, who is tied with Bice in sacrifices, became the first DSU player in nearly eight seasons to collect five hits in a 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) (.424/7HR/54RBI) led DSU in batting at FPU with a .462 average (6-for-13) in four starts with two doubles, three RBI and one run scored ... Porter currently leads the PacWest and is ranked second-nationally in RBI (54) and is t-34th in the country in doubles (12) ... Porter has driven in 36 of his 54 RBI over his last 20 games, while his batting average has skyrocketed over 140 points from .281 to .424 over this current stretch ... Porter, who is riding a six-game hitting streak, has reached base safely in 31-straight games and in 33 of 34 games played this season overall.

THE BACKSTOPS: Senior catcher Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) (.241/3HR/16RBI) started behind the plate in game three at FPU and was the DH in the series opener ... was held hitless in five at-bats ... Sophomore Jake Davison (Taylorsville, Utah/Taylorsville HS) (.380/3HR/16 RBI) started behind the plate in games one, two and four, and was the starting DH in game three, at FPU and batted .357 (5-for-14) with one double, one home run, three RBI and two runs scored ... Davison is currently riding a career-best 12-game hitting streak and he has reached base safely in 16-straight games overall.

ROTATION NOTES: Junior RHP Dylan File (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (5-1/3.57 ERA/47K) suffered his first loss of the year in the opener at FPU ... File struck out seven, but did surrender eight runs and eight hits over his five-plus innings of work ... Despite the FPU hiccup, File has been solid over his last seven starts overall as he has pitched to a 5-1 record with a 2.05 ERA, while he has recorded 46 of his 54 strikeouts over this current stretch ... In PacWest play, File is 3-1 with a 2.62 ERA in five starts and has struck out 31 in 34.1 IP ... File is 12 Ks away from becoming DSU's career strikeout leader (172).
    Senior RHP Mason Hilty (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) (7-1/3.67 ERA/45K) tied a career-high with nine strikeouts in a 5-1 complete-game, three-hit gem in game 2 at FPU ... Hilty retired the final 19 Sunbirds he faced en route to his conference-leading seventh win of the year ... Hilty has surrendered just 10 hits and four runs (three earned) over his last 16.0 IP ... Hilty leads the PacWest and is currently ranked t-sixth-nationally in wins (7) ... Hilty is 10 Ks away from moving up to third on DSU's career strikeouts list (117) and he pulled even with File for second on DSU's career wins list (17).
    Junior LHP Matt Mosca (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS) (4-1/4.70 ERA/36K) started in game three at FPU and scattered two runs and eight hits over four innings with three strikeouts, but did not figure in the decision.
    Sophomore RHP Preston Hannay (Murray, Utah/Murray HS) (2-2/5.09 ERA/21K) started and was saddled with the loss in the finale at FPU and struck out three in four-plus innings, though he was touched up for five runs and seven hits.

CALL TO THE PEN: Six different relievers combined to throw 9.0 total innings of relief in three of the four games at FPU ... In all, the DSU bullpen surrendered just two earned runs (six total) and 11 hits while striking out a combined 13 with only three walks ... Sophomore righthander Trevor Sanders (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS) (0-0/5.09 ERA/7K) set the tone in the opener as he fired three scoreless innings of two-hit relief with a career-high four strikeouts, while senior reliever Sean Hardman (Pleasant Grove, Utah/American Fork HS) (1-0/3.54 ERA/16K) fanned a career-high six in three innings while allowing just one run and three hits in the finale ... junior southpaw Brad Danzeisen (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS) (0-0/8.59 ERA/4K) also got into the act as he punched out the only two batters he faced in the eighth inning of the FPU finale.

TEAM NOTES: DSU was held to a season series-low .265 batting average in the four games at FPU last weekend (31-for-117) with 11 extra bases (7 2B/1 3B/3 HR) ... DSU tied a season-low with only five base hits in game three (7 innings) at FPU, though the first instance happened in a rain-shortened five-inning win vs. Saint Martin's back on Feb. 18 (W, 4-2) ... DSU has outscored its opponents by a combined 217-125 over the last 26 games and by a 275-168 clip overall this season ... DSU is averaging 8.1 runs and 11.2 hits per game through 34 games this season ... Dixie State enters this weekend's series leading the nation in sacrifice flies (27) and is second in sacrifice bunts (44), t-seventh in batting (.341), 11th in hits (380), t-14th in doubles (74) and 19th-nationally in runs scored (275).
    DSU's defense did not turn a double play last weekend and still has 24 on the year, while DSU is ranked t-31st in the country in fielding percentage (.969) ... DSU has committed 29 errors over its last 20 games (four at FPU), this after just three total errors overall a six-game stretch to close February, including just one miscue in the MSUB series (.991 FLD%).
    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 ... DSU picked up its first extra-inning win of 2017 in the Point Loma finale, which moved DSU to 27-13 (.675) all-time in 40 total extra-inning games in the program's four-year era.

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: After a much needed week off, Dixie State will close the 2017 regular season with a 12-game road swing, beginning with an eight-game trip to the Hawaiian Islands later this month. DSU will open the trip with a four-game set at Hawai'i Pacific April 21-22, followed by a four-game series at Hawai'i Hilo April 25-26.