No. 18 Dixie State wrapped up the home portion of its 2017 regular season schedule in style with a 6-2 Senior Day victory over Pacific West Conference foe Academy of Art Saturday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field. The Trailblazers' win clinched the four-game series sweep of AAU and moved DSU to 29-9 overall, 18-6 in PacWest play.

The two teams were locked in a tight pitcher's duel through the first three innings, though the Urban Knights (13-25/9-15 PacWest) had a chance to take their first lead of the series as they had two runners on with two outs in the third. However senior righthander Sean Hardman (Pleasant Grove, Utah/American Fork HS) (ND) escaped any further damage as senior infielder Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) made a diving snare on a hard-hit liner that was destined for centerfield to keep AAU off the scoreboard.

Dixie State finally broke through with a run in the fourth as a catcher's interference error extended the frame for senior outfielder Miles Bice (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS), who broke the scoreless draw with an RBI-single to stake DSU to a 1-0 lead. The Trailblazers maintained its slim edge until the seventh as DSU strung together four-straight two-out hits, including an RBI-single from senior Trey Kamachi (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Kapolei HS) and a two-run hit off the bat of senior Tyler Mildenberg (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina HS), which extended the Dixie State lead to 4-0.

Academy of Art, which had only scored three runs through the first three games of the series, finally solved the DSU pitching staff with two eighth-inning runs, which snapped the Urban Knights' 27-inning scoreless drought in the series, to cut the deficit in half at 4-2.

However the Trailblazers got those runs back in the home half of the frame as DSU struck for two more two-out runs to reclaim its four-run advantage. Dixie State rapped out three two-out hits in the rally, including a pinch hit single from senior Jerome Hill II (Pittsburg, Calif./Pittsburg HS) in his first home at-bat of the season, while McLaughlin extended the inning with a double to bring up senior Tyler Baker (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS), who lined a single back up the middle to drive in both baserunners. 

Meanwhile, four Trailblazer hurlers combined to limit AAU to just the two runs and five hits on the day. Hardman fanned five in three innings of work in his first start of the year, while sophomore righthander Preston Hannay (Murray, Utah/Murray HS) (W, 3-2) surrendered just one hit in four scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts to pick up his third win of the season.

McLaughlin and Baker each collected two hits as Dixie State pounded out 10 safeties in the game. In all, DSU outscored Academy of Art 34-5 in the series, which included a pair of complete-game shutouts in Friday's doubleheader.

Dixie State finished its regular season home slate with a 21-5 record (14-2 in PacWest play), which marked the seventh time in the program's 11-year NCAA era that DSU has won 20 or more home games in a season.

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.