Trey Kamachi (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Kapolei HS) drove in three runs, including two on a clutch double in the top of the ninth inning, to help lead No. 9 Dixie State to a 6-4 come-from-behind Pacific West Conference victory at No. 8 Azusa Pacific Monday afternoon at the Cougar Baseball Complex. With the win, the Trailblazers (36-10-1/25-7-1 PacWest) moved percentage points ahead of the Cougars (38-9/25-8 PacWest) in the conference standings with three games left in the 2017 regular season.

After escaping trouble in each of the first two innings, Dixie State plated the game's first run as the Trailblazers strung together three two-out hits, capped by a Kamachi RBI-single that plated Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) to take a 1-0 lead.

However APU would break through with three runs in the home half of the frame to bolt to a 3-1 advantage. Pablo O'Connor reached on an error to lead off the frame, then after a Justin Gomez hit, Adrian Tovalin cleared the bases with a three-run home run off of DSU starter Dylan File (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (ND) to give his side a two-run cushion.

APU threatened to extend its lead in the bottom of the fifth as the Cougars got two base runners on with one out, but File managed to induce a ground ball to first baseman Logan Porter (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS), who threw a strike to Tyler Baker (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS) at short for the first out, then retreated back to the bag to complete the inning-ending 3-6-3 double play to end the frame.

Dixie State worked some more two-out magic in sixth to tie the score at 3-3. Miles Bice (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS) doubled home Jerome Hill II (Pittsburg, Calif./Pittsburg HS) for the first run, then after a Jake Davison (Taylorsville, Utah/Taylorsville HS) hit, Bryce Feist (Emmett, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS) singled in Bice to draw DSU even.

The Cougars wasted little time taking the lead back, doing so in the home sixth when lead-off hitter Cam Bennett connected for a two-out solo homer to left field to spot APU a 4-3 advantage.

After Dixie State escaped another bases loaded jam in the seventh, the Trailblazers threatened in the eighth with runners on the corners and one out. However this time it would be the Cougars who would turn the clutch double play, a 4-6-3 twin-killing, that kept DSU off the scoreboard.

In the DSU ninth, McLaughlin and Baker both reached on a pair of one-out walks ahead of Kamachi, who laced a 3-2 pitch from APU reliever Layne Henderson (L, 3-1) to the gap in right center to give the Trailblazers the lead again at 5-4. Kamachi then stole third and scored a key insurance one batter later on a Porter RBI-double to left center. Senior reliever Sean Hardman (Pleasant Grove, Utah/American Fork HS) (W, 3-0), who came on in the seventh, would work around a two-out hit in the ninth to close out the win.

All nine Trailblazers in the lineup reached base safely, eight of which via base hit, led by Kamachi and McLaughlin, who each collected two base hits as DSU outhit APU 10-9. File (ND) labored through six hard-fought innings, surrendering four runs (three earned) on six hits with one strikeout, while Hardman tossed 2.2 innings of one-hit relief to pick up his third win of the season.

The two teams will continue their four-game series with a doubleheader Tuesday beginning at 2 p.m. (PT), at the Cougar Baseball Complex.