(Saturday's Postgame Press Conference)

No. 10 Dixie State advanced to the final round of the 2017 NCAA Division II Baseball West Regional tournament on the strength of a convincing 14-5 victory over Pacific West Conference rival No. 15 California Baptist Saturday afternoon at Azusa Pacific University's Cougar Baseball Complex. Dixie State moves on to face No. 14 UC San Diego, which defeated tourney host No. 9 APU 11-3 Saturday night to also advance to the final round.

DSU and UCSD will meet Monday at 11 a.m. (PT), with the Trailblazers needing to win that game to force a winner-take-all regional finale between the two teams later that day for a berth to the 2017 NCAA Division II College World Series. UCSD defeated DSU by a 5-2 count in the regional opener last Thursday night.

The Trailblazers broke open a scoreless game with a six-run third inning, with the first three runs coming home without benefit of a base hit. The rally started with a Trey Reineke (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill HS) walk and a Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) single on a hit-and-run play that advanced Reineke to third. Tyler Baker (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS) then drove in Reineke with a groundout to second base to give DSU a 1-0 lead. After Trey Kamachi (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Kapolei HS) and Logan Porter (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS) reached on a pair of one-out walks to load the bases, CBU starter Logan Rinehart (L, 4-5) balked home McLaughlin, while Kamachi scored on a passed ball.

Later in the fram with two on and two out, the Trailblazers finally got the hit they were looking for as Bryce Feist (Emmett, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS) drilled a 2-2 Matt Amrhein pitch over the left field wall for a three-run home run, his third of the season, to stake DSU to a 6-0 lead.

CBU cut the DSU lead in half with three runs in the top of the fourth, but the Trailblazers would get those runs back in their next two offensive frames to push the lead back to six runs at 9-3. DSU plated two runs thanks to a two-out Lancer throwing error in the fourth, then Baker collected his second RBI of the game on a two-out infield single in the fifth.

After California Baptist trimmed the deficit to 9-5 on a Brian Ruhm two-run homer in the sixth, Dixie State put the game on ice with a four-run seventh inning. Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) led off the frame with a single, then after walks to Reineke and Baker loaded the bases, Logan Porter (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS) stepped up with two outs and launched a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall to clear the bases and extend the DSU lead to 13-5.

Porter's grand slam, his 10^th homer of the year overall, also vaulted him into sole possession of first place on DSU's single-season RBI list (72). DSU would tack on another run for good measure in the eighth as Baker picked up another RBI with a single to center field. DSU reliever Tyler Burdett (Las Vegas, Nev./Sierra Vista HS) then pitched a spotless ninth to close out the game.

Baker and Feist each collected three hits and three RBI to pace the DSU offense, which outhit CBU 12-7. The Trailblazers were also the recipient of 12 CBU walks, which tied for the fourth-most in a game in the program's D-II era, including a single game school-record tying four walks drawn by Reineke, who scored three runs on those four free passes.

Senior hurler Sean Hardman (Pleasant Grove, Utah/American Fork HS) (W, 4-0) picked up the win in relief for DSU after he limited CBU to two hits and two runs with a pair of strikeouts in four innings of work. Junior lefthander Matt Mosca (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS) (ND) got the start and pitched three scoreless innings with three strikeouts to open the game, but CBU touched him up for three runs in the fourth, which prematurely ended his outing.

In Saturday's other regional game, APU eliminated Cal Poly Pomona in the first game of the day, 10-1.

GAME NOTES: Dixie State's 39 wins is the second-most in program history behind last season's record-breaking 40-win campaign ... DSU has advanced to the NCAA West Regional championship round for the second time in six total tournament appearances ... DSU also reached the final round in its first trip in 2012, which resulted in a 7-3 loss to Chico State in the title game ... former DSU catcher Drew Oldfield held the previous single-season RBI record of 68 set in 2009 ... Porter's grand slam was DSU's first of the season and was the first since former DSU 1B Sam Hall hit one against Fresno Pacific last season (4/1/16) ... Reineke's four walks tied Ammon Zitting (2011) and Cedric Johnson (2012) DSU's single game list.