Game Times (Mountain):
Thursday, February 8
Dixie State vs. Montana State Billings, 6 p.m.
 
Friday, February 9
Montana State Billings vs. Cal State San Bernardino, 11:30 a.m.
Dixie State vs. Montana State Billings, 3 p.m.
Dixie State vs. Cal State San Bernardino, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, February 10
Dixie State vs. Montana State Billings, 11:30 a.m.
Dixie State vs. Cal State San Bernardino, 3 p.m.

Sunday, February 11
Dixie State vs. Cal State San Bernardino, 12 noon

Game Notes: (DIXIE STATE - PDF / MSUB / CSUSB)
Audio/Video: None
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/dixie/baseball
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | @Dixie_Base | #BlazeForward | #PacWestBASE | #d2bsb
 
FIRST PITCH: No. 15/19 Dixie State (0-0/0-0 PacWest) kicks off the 2018 regular season this weekend as the Trailblazers host a marathon six-game homestand against Montana State Billings and Cal State San Bernardino at Bruce Hurst Field. DSU's "Opening Night" begins with MSUB on Thursday night at 6 p.m., followed by split doubleheader vs. MSUB (3 p.m.) and CSUSB (6:30 p.m.) on Friday. Then on Saturday, the Trailblazers will again play a split twin bill vs. MSUB (11:30 a.m.) and CSUMB (3 p.m.), before wrapping up the weekend with the finale vs. CSUSB Sunday at 12 noon.
    In addition, CSUSB and MSUB will play each other Friday morning at 11:30 a.m.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DSU is 21-3 all-time in its series with MSUB and has won nine-straight and 16 of the last 17 overall, including a three-game sweep of the Yellowjackets last season in St. George.
    Dixie State is 11-4 all-time vs. CSUSB on the diamond and has also won nine-straight and 10 of the last 11 meetings overall, including a four-game sweep of the Coyotes in a season-opening series last year in San Bernardino, and a four-game sweep the last time the two sides met at Bruce Hurst Field to begin the 2016 campaign.

QUICK 2017 RECAP: Dixie State finished the 2017 season with a 39-14-1 overall record, which included a second-place finish in both the PacWest Conference (26-9-1) and in the NCAA West Regionals. The 39 victories are the second-most in the program's NCAA Division II era behind the record-setting 40-win campaign of 2016.
    The Trailblazers finished the year ranked 16th-nationally in both the final National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper rankings. 

COACHING STAFF: Two-time Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year Chris Pfatenhauer begins his sixth season as head coach of the Dixie State Baseball program. Pfatenhauer led DSU to consecutive PacWest titles (2014 and 2015) and to five-straight trips (six-straight overall) to the NCAA West Regionals, including serving as the host institution in 2013. Pfatenhauer, who picked up his 200th-career coaching victory last season vs. Saint Martin's (2/19/17) owns a 179-81-1 (.688) overall record at DSU, including a 125-46-1 (.727) record in PacWest play, and a 231-140-1 (.622) career mark.
    Joining Pfatenhauer (UNLV, 2000) in the Trailblazer dugout this season is first-year pitching coach Matt Wilson (Sacramento State, 2006), along with fourth-year assistant coaches Matt Hill (Dixie State 2015), and Bobby Rinard (Arizona, 2014), and third-year assistant coach Patrick Perry (Northern Colorado, 2013).

DSU IN THE POLLS: The preseason prognostications are out and Dixie State has earned plenty of regional and national preseason attention. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its 2018 NCAA Division II West Region preseason poll late last month, and ranked the Trailblazers third-overall behind defending NCAA West Regional champion UC San Diego (No. 1) and defending PacWest champ Azusa Pacific (No. 2). In all, four PacWest teams are ranked in the regional top-10 poll, including conference rival California Baptist (No. 5) and Point Loma (No. 8).
    In addition, Dixie State begins the 2018 campaign ranked in the top-20 in two national preseason polls, including No. 15 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll, and No. 19 in the NCBWA poll.

TRAILBLAZERS VOTED THIRD IN PACWEST PRESEASON POLL: Dixie State was picked to finish third in the 2018 Pacific West Conference preseason coaches' poll released on Jan. 25. California Baptist received seven first place votes and 116 total points to edge defending PacWest champion Azusa Pacific, which collected four first place nods and 111 points to finish second in the poll. DSU garnered 100 points, followed by Point Loma (84 pts) in fourth, Concordia-Irvine (79 pts) in fifth, and Fresno Pacific (66 pts) in sixth to round out the top half of the poll.
    Dixie State senior first baseman Logan Porter (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS) and junior third baseman Bryce Feist (Emmett, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS) were both voted to the PacWest preseason team. APU's Pablo O'Connor was voted the conference preseason Player of the Year, while CBU's Dylan Stowell was tabbed as the league's preseason Pitcher of the Year.

REGIONAL HONORS FOR PORTER AND FEIST: The NCBWA announced last month its 2018 preseason all-West Region honors list honorees and two Trailblazers made the cut as both Porter and Feist were named to the NCBWA West Region second team. 

2018 FAREWELL TOUR: Dixie State will wrap up its 10-year run in the Pacific West Conference this season before moving on to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) ahead of the 2019 baseball season.
    The Trailblazers have won four PacWest baseball titles (2009, 2011, 2014, 2015) over their nine seasons of conference membership and has posted a dominant 206-93-1 overall record (.687) in an even 300 league games.

IT'S OPENING DAY: Dixie State is 6-5 all-time on "Opening Day" during the program's Division II era and has won two-straight and six of its last eight season debuts overall after dropping its first three season openers. In addition, DSU owns a 7-4 overall record in home openers.

HOME SWEET HOME: Dixie State has played to a 224-82 (.807) overall record inside the friendly confines of Bruce Hurst Field since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, and has posted a winning record at home in all 11 seasons of NCAA play.
    Dixie State has won 20 or more games in seven of those 11 seasons, including 21-5 (.807) record last season, and a 24-6 mark (.800) in 2016, which was the second-best home record in terms of wins in the program's NCAA Division II era (26-7 in 2009). The 24 wins that year were also the most home wins under Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer, while last season's .807 winning percentage in 2017 was the best during the Pfatenhauer era.
    Since joining the PacWest for baseball in 2009, DSU is 113-37 (.753) all-time vs. conference foes at Bruce Hurst Field and has won 10 or more games in each of those nine seasons, including 14 league win in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Dixie State has also held its own away from home as the Trailblazers own a 127-104-1 overall road record (.549) through 11 years of D-II competition with seven-straight winning road marks, including a 16-7-1 road record last year. The 16 road wins were the most in program history since its move to NCAA play in 2007.
    In 2015, DSU went a program-best 15-5 on the road (.750), and DSU has won at least 10 road games in eight-straight seasons overall. When you also figure in neutral-site games (9-10 in 19 games), Dixie State is 136-114-1 (.544) all-time away from Bruce Hurst Field in NCAA play.
    In PacWest play, Dixie State is 93-55-1 (.627) in true road games and 0-1 in one neutral-site game vs. Hawai'i Hilo during the 2013 season, which was played in Riverside, Calif. (at California Baptist) as a make-up game due to a rain out on the Islands earlier that season.

JUST WIN BABY: Dixie State extended its streak of winning 30 or more games to nine-straight seasons with its 39-win campaign of 2017. In fact, DSU has won 35 of more games in four of those seasons, including three of the last four years under Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer. In addition, the 39 games won this season is the second-most in program history. In 2016, DSU won a four-year program record 40 victories (40-14), which included a record-breaking 10-0 start to begin the season, its best overall start in the program's NCAA-era.
    DSU is 360-196-1 (.647) overall record in 11 years of NCAA Division II competition (557 games). The Trailblazers won its 300th game as a four-year program in the second game of a doubleheader at Holy Names (3/18/16).

WE'RE GOING STREAKING: Not only does Dixie State begin the 2018 season looking to win its third PacWest crown in five seasons in its final year of conference membership, the Trailblazers are also hoping to keep its NCAA postseason streak alive as well. DSU has made six-straight NCAA regional appearances, which is currently the longest active streak in the West Region.

2018 SEASON PREVIEW: Dixie State returns three regular starting position players, two starting pitchers, and 14 total letter winners from last season's 39-14-1 team. The Trailblazers finished second overall in the PacWest standings with a 26-9-1 league record and earned their sixth-straight NCAA West Regional berth, where DSU went 2-2 in tournament play and advanced to the regional final before losing to eventual NCAA Division II national runner-up UC San Diego.

FROM POLE TO POLE: Dixie State lost all three starting outfielders from a season ago and returns just two players who saw time in the outfield last season. Sophomore Jake Engel (Tucson, Ariz./Ironwood HS) started in six of 12 games played in left field as a freshman and batted .200 with one double and eight RBI, while junior Kade Cloward (South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS) batted .286 in 10 games last year and could see time in center and right field.   
     Of the five newcomers to the Trailblazer outfield, three are junior college transfers in left fielder Kade Urban, center fielder Brody Clifford (Queen Creek, Ariz./Bradshaw Mountain HS) and right fielder Gabe Taylor (Pittsburg, Calif./Clayton Valley Charter School), who will also see time in the DSU starting pitching rotation. In addition, freshmen Jagun Leavitt (St. George, Utah/Pine View HS) and Drake Benner (Carlsbad, Calif./Carlsbad HS) will also figure into the outfield rotation as the season progresses.

AROUND THE HORN: Dixie State returns both corner infielders from last season in senior 1B Logan Porter (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS) and junior 3B Bryce Feist (Emmett, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS), both of whom were 2018 preseason all-PacWest and NCBWA West Region selections.
    Porter finished the 2017 season as one of 14 finalists for the Josh Willingham National MVP Award after he hit .376 with a PacWest-leading 18 doubles, 10 home runs and a Dixie State single-season record 72 RBI.
    Porter earned third team all-PacWest honors last season even though he finished in the top-seven in the conference in batting (6th), hits (4th), doubles, HRs (7th), RBI (2nd), slugging percentage (6th, .634), walks (3rd, 33) and on-base percentage (2nd, .485). He reached base safely in 51 of 54 games played, 43 of those occasions via base hit with 18 multi-hit games, and he drove in at least two runs in 20 games. He also posted a .989 fielding percentage with just five errors in 473 total chances.
    Feist started in 34 of 39 games played at the hot corner last season and posted a .376 batting average with six doubles, three homers, 25 RBI and 27 runs scored. Feist hit safely in 25 of those 39 games with 13 multi-hit outings, including a pair of four-hit games against St. Martin's (2/19/17) and at Hawai'i Hilo (4/26/17). Feist also hit an even .500 (7-for-14) at the NCAA Regional with one home run, five RBI and three runs scored.
    In all, Dixie State welcomes back five infielders from the 2017 squad, including juniors Joe Raymond (Foresthill, Calif./Del Oro HS) and Wyatt Branch (Stansbury Park, Utah/Stansbury HS), and sophomore 1B Braxton Ipson (St. George, Utah/Dixie HS). Branch started in 11 of 18 games he played in last season and batted .342 with one double and five RBI, while Raymond saw reserve time in five games, and the duo could see time on the left side of the infield this season. Ipson came off the bench in six games a year ago and hit .200 with one RBI.
    Up the middle, senior Utah transfer Kyle Hoffman (Taylorsville, Utah/Taylorsville HS) is tabbed as the opening day shortstop, while freshman AJ Tebbs (Herriman, Utah/Riverton HS) will serve as his primary backup. Meanwhile, three other freshmen are listed on the depth chart at second base, including Alec Flemetakis (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) and Tyler Hollow (Boise, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS), both of whom will also see time out of the Trailblazer bullpen, in addition to Bryce Thelander (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge HS).

THE BACKSTOP: DSU will carry three catchers this season with senior Jake Davison (Taylorsville, Utah/Taylorsville HS) returning to anchor the battery after an all-conference season a year ago. Davison earned Third Team all-PacWest honors in 2017 after hitting .331 with seven doubles, four home runs, 28 RBI and 25 runs scored in 41 games (34 starts). Behind the plate, Davison posted a .979 fielding percentage and threw out seven of 22 potential base stealers.  
    Davison will be backed up by two freshmen in Utah prep product Jake Foster (Bountiful, Utah/Woods Cross HS) and Ben Petty-Hull (San Diego, Calif./La Jolla Country Day HS) from the San Diego area.

THE ROTATION: Dixie State welcomes back two starting pitchers from last year's squad, but only one will see time on the bump this season. Senior lefthander Matt Mosca (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS) returns after he finished third on the team in wins (6-2) and strikeouts (55) to go with a 4.07 ERA in 66.1 IP. However DSU will be without the services of junior RHP Preston Hannay (Murray, Utah/Murray HS), who will redshirt this season.    
    However DSU will have junior southpaw Aaron Pope (Chubbuck, Idaho/Highland HS) return to the rotation after he missed the 2017 season due to injury. Pope appeared in nine games with eight starts in 2016 and posted a 3-2 record with a 3.98 ERA and 27 strikeouts.
    Also joining the rotation are junior righthanders Nick Bonniksen (Camino, Calif./El Dorado HS) and Jayden Murray (Vernal, Utah/Uintah HS), with sophomore returnee Brayden Bonner (Murray, Utah/Cottonwood HS) and Taylor providing depth to the rotation. Bonniksen went 6-1 with a 3.52 ERA and 57 strikeouts last year at Mesa CC, while Murray went 11-3 with two saves and posted a 3.12 ERA with 108 strikeouts in 98 IP at Arizona Western in 2017. Bonner appeared in seven games out of the Trailblazer bullpen as a freshman last season and struck out 10 in 9.0 innings of work, and Taylor served as a dual threat at Los Medanos CC, where he went 9-5 with 70 strikeouts to go with a .378 average and 33 RBI last year.

CALL TO THE PEN: DSU returns three relievers and two redshirts from last season, including two hurlers who will play a major factor late in ball games. Senior RHP Tanner Howell (Boulder City, Nev./Boulder City HS) is slated to get the call in the ninth, earning the closer role after a solid junior campaign that saw him post a 3-2 record with two saves and a 3.32 ERA in 16 appearances. Howell finished with 23 strikeouts in 21.1 IP and held opposing batters to a .208 average.
    Redshirt freshman Brecken Lewis (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS) and junior college transfer Tyler Rosas (Twin Falls, Idaho/Canyon Ridge HS) will serve as the primary set-up/short relievers, while six other hurlers will figure into the mix in short and long relief. Senior LHP Brad Danzeisen (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS) made 10 appearances out of the DSU bullpen last season, while a pair of right-handed Division-I transfers in Chandler Greenfield (Twin Falls, Idaho/Twin Falls HS) (Washington State) and Josh Bravin (2017 DSU redshirt; Eastern Michigan) will look to add veteran depth and experience.
    Dixie State will also have three freshman battling for playing time as well, including righthanders Jimmy Borzone (Vancouver, Wash./Union HS) and Jake Reed (Flagstaff, Ariz./Coconino HS), along with lefthander Jack Gonzales (Oceanside, Calif./El Camino HS).

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State will pack the bags for the first time this season next weekend as the Trailblazers open an eight-game road swing with a four-game set at nationally-ranked Colorado Mesa Feb. 16-18, in Grand Junction.