Game Times (Mountain):
Saturday (DH) - 2 p.m.
Sunday - 2 p.m.
Monday - 6 p.m.
Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | HPU
Audio/Video: DSU YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/dixie/baseball
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | @Dixie_Base | #BlazeForward | #PacWestBASE | #d2bsb
 
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Saturday (G1) – RHP Jayden Murray (Vernal, Utah/Uintah HS) (2-3, 3.23 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Van Stone (2-3, 6.23 ERA)
Saturday (G2) – LHP Matt Mosca (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS) (2-3, 5.53 ERA) vs. RHP William Clemens (2-2, 2.14 ERA)
Sunday (G3) – TBA vs. LHP Marc Sauceda (2-1, 2.47 ERA)
Monday (G4) – RHP Gabe Taylor (Pittsburg, Calif./Clayton Valley Charter School) (0-4, 6.04 ERA) vs. RHP Charlie Brooks (1-2, 3.76 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: Dixie State (9-17/5-11 PacWest) kicks off the second half of its 2018 season with a 12-game Pacific West Conference homestand this weekend, beginning with a four-game series against Hawai'i Pacific (11-9/5-7 PacWest at Bruce Hurst Field. The series will open with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 24 at 2 p.m., followed by single games on Sunday, March 25 at 2 p.m., and the series finale on Monday night, March 26, at 6 p.m.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Dixie State is 36-26-1 all-time against Hawai'i Pacific (21-9 at home) and has won 12 of the last 16 meetings vs. the Sharks overall. Last season on the Islands, the Trailblazers took two of the four games from HPU, though in the process, recorded the first tie in the program's NCAA era with an 8-8 result in the series finale (4/23/17 - travel curfew).

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State won three of its eight games during last week's Bay Area road trip. The Trailblazers bounced back from suffering their first-ever PacWest four-game series sweep at Academy of Art (3/10-12) by taking three of four at Holy Names (3/15-17) to close the trip.

COACHING STAFF: Two-time Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year Chris Pfatenhauer is in 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 188-98-1 (.656) overall record at DSU, including a 130-57-1 (.694) record in PacWest play, and a 240-157-1 (.604) 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). 

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 in January 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 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 211-104-1 overall record (.669) in 316 league games. 

WE'RE GOING STREAKING: Not only does Dixie State enter 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.

HOME SWEET HOME: Dixie State has played to a 229-87 (.724) 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 114-40 (.740) 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: Despite the results over its first three road trips of 2018, Dixie State has also held its own away from home as the Trailblazers own a 131-116-1 overall road record (.530) through 11-plus 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 140-126-1 (.526) all-time away from Bruce Hurst Field in NCAA play.
    In PacWest play, Dixie State is 97-63-1 (.605) 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 365-205-1 (.640) overall record in 11-plus years of NCAA Division II competition (571 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).

WALK IT OFF: The Trailblazers recorded another "first" as they opened their 12th-season of NCAA competition with three-straight walk-off victories. Prior to this season, DSU only had two seasons that saw it record at least total three walk-off wins, including the 2008 campaign (3) and the 2012 season that featured a school-record five walk-off wins.
    Two of the three walk-off wins last week came against Cal State San Bernardino, the last of which featured a two-out, two-run home run off the bat of senior 1B Logan Porter (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS). Porter's walk-off homer is the third in program history and the first since former DSU shortstop Tanner Morache connected for a 10th-inning grand slam (the first walk-off GS in school history) in a 9-6 DSU win over Saint Martin's (2/21/16), while former OF Brett Adams hit the first walk-off homer, which came in a 9-8 home win over PacWest rival California Baptist (3/31/10).
    DSU also posted another win in its final at-bat in game three at PLNU, a game the Trailblazers won by a 12-9 count in 10 innings.

FREE BASEBALL: Dixie State has played in three extra inning games (2-1) through 26 dates this season, this after only playing in a total of three extra-inning games in 54 dates last season.
    DSU suffered its first extra-innings loss of the season in last Saturday's finale at Holy Names after the Hawks walked off with the win with two outs in the home half of the 13th inning. That game turned out to be the second-longest game in terms of innings played in Dixie State's four-year era. In 2015, DSU played a full 13 innings in a 7-5 road win at Fresno Pacific (4/13/15).
    Dating back to last season, the Trailblazers have won four of their last five extra inning games overall, and are 29-14 (.674) in 43 total extra-inning games in the program's four-year era.

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 79-27 (.745) overall record in the month of March over the past five seasons, including a 14-5 mark last year, and a 19-2 record in March of 2014.

TEAM NOTES: Sophomore OF Jake Engel (Tucson, Ariz./Ironwood HS) (.345/2HR/14RBI) connected for DSU's lone home run on the Bay Area trip, a fourth-inning, three-run home run in the HNU opener that erased a two-run deficit and put the Trailblazers up for good ... Engel, who leads the team with a .345 average, hit safely in all four games in the HNU series and batted .278 overall (5-for-18) with one double and five total RBI.
    Senior 1B Logan Porter (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS) (.341/3HR/17RBI) enter this weekend's HPU series needing just two RBI to move into top-10 on DSU's career RBI list ... Porter leads the team in doubles (8), HR, RBI, SLG% (.548), OB% (.500) and walks (23), including eight total free passes in the HNU series ... Porter has hit safely in 16 of 26 games this season with nine multi-hit outings.
    Junior INF Joe Raymond (Foresthill, Calif./Del Oro HS) (.273/4RBI) started in three of the four games at HNU and collected a team-high five runs scored and batted .300 (3-for-10) with a double and RBI ... Freshman INF Alec Flemetakis (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) (.220/2HR/11RBI) tied a career-high with three RBI in the G3 win at HNU.
    Junior OF/RHP Gabe Taylor (Pittsburg, Calif./Clayton Valley Charter School) (.329/8RBI) enjoyed an overall solid series at HNU, both at the plate and on the mound ... Taylor hit safely in three of the four games and batted .333 (5-for-15), including a 3-for-5 effort with two runs scored in G2 ... he also got the start in the finale and retired 12 of the first 13 Hawks he faced, including nine-straight to open the game ... Taylor did not figure in the decision, though he did work seven solid innings, allowing one run  and four hits with five strikeouts.
    Junior RHP Jayden Murray (Vernal, Utah/Uintah HS) (2-3/3.23ERA/25K) picked up his second win of the year after he hurled seven shutout innings in G2 at HNU ... Murray limited HNU to six hits and fanned five, and also induced three of DSU's six total double-plays in the series.
    Senior LHP Matt Mosca (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS) (2-3/5.53ERA/25K) tied a career-high with seven strikeouts and scattered three runs (two earned) and three hits over five innings to earn his second victory of the season in G3 at HNU.
    Junior RHP Chandler Greenfield (Twin Falls, Idaho/Twin Falls HS) helped set the early tone for the DSU pitching staff in the HNU series as he fired 5.2 innings of no-hit relief with a career-best seven strikeouts to earn his first win out of the DSU bullpen in the series opener.
    Senior RHP Tanner Howell (Boulder City, Nev./Boulder City HS) (2-1/1SV/1.69ERA/21K) collected DSU's first save of the season in G3 at HNU as he pitched a hitless ninth with a rare four strikeouts (K on two-out WP) ... Howell finished with nine strikeouts in two appearances in the series, including five more punch outs in three innings of relief in the series finale ... Howell collected DSU's lone win of the PLNU series with an "Iron Man" performance in G3 (2/24), during which he scattered five hits and two runs with three strikeouts in 4.1 innings of relief to close out the win and move to 2-0 on the season ... Howell's 4.1 IP were the most since his freshman year when he started in six of 12 total appearances.
    DSU enjoyed one of its better offensive performances in the APU series (3/1-3) as the Trailblazers combined to hit .354 with nine XBH (6 2B/3 HR) and five stolen bases.
    Meanwhile, DSU's pitching staff put together its best overall series of the season at Holy Names last weekend, during which the Trailblazers limited the Hawks to an opponent season lows in batting average (.182) and ERA (1.67) ... DSU surrendered just seven total earned runs in the series (10 overall) over the 37.2 IP overall.
    Through 26 games this season, DSU is averaging 5.7 runs and 8.8 hits per game with a .268 team batting average ... DSU has also employed 26 different batting order combinations ... DSU's pitching staff enters this weekend's series with a 6.04 ERA, while Trailblazer hurlers have combined for 181 strikeouts in 217.2 IP.

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State continues its homestand next week as the Trailblazers welcome in Hawai'i Hilo for a four-game Easter Weekend series March 29-31.