Game Times (Mountain):
Thursday - 4 p.m.
Friday (DH) - 1 p.m.
Saturday - 2 p.m.
Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | BIOLA
Audio/Video: portal.stretchinternet.com/biola
Live Stats: portal.stretchinternet.com/biola
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | @Dixie_Base | #BlazeForward | #PacWestBASE | #d2bsb
 
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Thursday (G1) – LHP Matt Mosca (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS) (4-3, 4.71 ERA) vs. RHP Micah Beyer (6-1, 1.92 ERA)
Friday (G2) – RHP Jayden Murray (Vernal, Utah/Uintah HS) (3-3, 4.40 ERA) vs. LHP Troy Stainbrook (3-2, 4.50 ERA)
Friday (G3) – LHP Aaron Pope (Chubbuck, Idaho/Highland HS) (0-3, 7.04 ERA) vs. RHP Wyatt Haccou (4-3, 4.34 ERA)
Saturday (G4) – RHP Gabe Taylor (Pittsburg, Calif./Clayton Valley Charter School) (3-4, 5.05 ERA) vs. LHP Devin Sutorius (3-1, 4.50 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: Dixie State (18-20/14-14 PacWest) begins its final Pacific West Conference road swing this weekend as the Trailblazers head to La Mirada, Calif., a four-game series at conference newcomer Biola (25-13/17-11 PacWest).Thursday's series-opener will begin at 3 p.m. (PT), followed by a doubleheader on Friday at 12 noon (PT), and the series finale on Saturday at 1 p.m. (PT). 

ALL-TIME SERIES: This weekend's series at Biola will mark the first time that the Trailblazers and Eagles have met on the diamond since the 2007 season. In fact, Biola was Dixie State's first opponent in the progam's NCAA era, and the Eagles welcomed DSU to four-year competition with a three-game sweep at Bruce Hurst Field (2/1-3/07). Biola also claimed an 8-4 decision later that year in La Mirada (3/14/07).

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State notched its four-straight PacWest series win as the Trailblazers took three of four from Fresno Pacific to close out their season-long 12-game homestand this past April 5-7. DSU claimed the first two games of the series (13-3 and 6-5) before the Sunbirds broke through with a 12-3 win the second game of a Friday doubleheader. DSU then bounced back with a 7-5 series-clinching win in the finale. The Trailblazers finished the homestand with a 9-3 record and have won 12 of their last 16 games overall.

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 197-101-1 (.660) overall record at DSU, including a 139-60-1 (.697) record in PacWest play, and a 249-160-1 (.608) 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). 

PFATENHAUER GOES FOR MORE CAREER MILESTONES THIS WEEK: Coach Pfatenhauer has a chance to reach three more career milestones during this week's series at Biola. The Trailblazer skipper will coach in his 300th-career game at DSU in Thursday's series opener, while his next coaching victory will be the 250th of his eight-year collegiate head coaching career (including two seasons at College of the Ozarks).
    In addition, Coach Pfate enters this week three victories shy of 200 as DSU head coach. He already reached two milestones during the just completed homestand, including coaching in his 400th-career game in DSU's 9-5 win over Hawai'i Pacific (3/24), and in his 200th PacWest game in the Trailblazers' 7-5 series finale win over FPU (4/7).

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 220-107-1 overall record (.672) in 328 league games. 

WE'RE GOING STREAKING: Not only did 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 238-90 (.725) 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 12 seasons of NCAA play, which includes a 14-8 home mark this season with four more home games left on the slate (vs. California Baptist May 8-10).
    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 123-43 (.741) all-time vs. conference foes at Bruce Hurst Field and has won 10 or more games in each of those 10 seasons, including 14 league win in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Despite the results of 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 378-216-1 (.636) overall record in 11-plus years of NCAA Division II competition (595 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 posted their fifth walk-off win of the season in game two vs. Fresno Pacific (4/6), during which DSU rallied for four ninth-inning runs to post a 6-5 victory. That win tied the school record for walk-off wins, which was first set during the 2012 season.
    Dixie State opened its homestand with an 11-inning walk-off win in the series opener vs. HPU (5-4, 3/24), which was the first since DSU recorded three-straight walk-off victories to begin the 2018 campaign.
    Two of those three walk-off wins 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 (2/24), a game the Trailblazers won by a 12-9 count in 10 innings.

FREE BASEBALL: Dixie State has played in four extra inning games (3-1) through 38 dates this season, which included the HPU series opener (3/24), this after only playing in a total of three extra-inning games in 54 dates last season.
    DSU suffered its lone extra-inning loss of the season in the series finale at Holy Names (5-1, 3/17) 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 five of their last six extra inning games overall, and are 30-14 (.682) in 44 total extra-inning games in the program's four-year era.

LEAVITT EARNS DSU'S SECOND PACWEST HONOR: Freshman outfielder Jagun Leavitt (St. George, Utah/Pine View HS) was named PacWest Baseball Freshman of the Week on April 9 for his performances in the Trailblazers' series win over Fresno Pacific. The award marked the second-straight week a Trailblazer had won the award as infielder Tyler Hollow (Boise, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS) claimed DSU's first league honor of the season after the Hilo series.  
    Leavitt started in center field in all four games vs. FPU and combined to hit .364 (4-for-11) with one double, five walks, one RBI and five runs scored out of the lead-off spot. He reached base safely in three of those four starts, which included a 3-for-4 effort in DSU's 7-5 series-finale victory (4/7) with an RBI and a run scored. He also went 1-for-2 with three walks, four runs scored and two stolen bases DSU's 13-3 series opener (4/5).
    The freshman is batting an even .300 on the season to go with four doubles, 12 RBI and 23 runs scored. He has hit safely in seven of his last 10 starts and in 18 of 28 games this season overall, and is 8-for-10 in the stolen base attempts.

TEAM NOTES: Senior 1B Logan Porter (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS) (.311/4HR/25RBI) moved into a tie for seventh place on DSU's career HR list (14) with his fourth HR of the year in G2 vs. Hilo (3/30), and enters this weekend's road series at Biola needing three more RBI to become just the ninth player in DSU's NCAA-era to collect 100-plus career RBI ... Porter leads the team in doubles (9), HR, RBI, and walks with 33, which is tied for the third-most on DSU's single-season list ... Porter also moved into ninth place on DSU's career walks list, t-10th in career doubles (27), and has been hit by a pitch 24 times (13 this season - #2 on DSU single-season list), which is the third-most HBPs in program history ... Porter has hit safely in 21 of 38 games this season with 11 multi-hit outings.
    Junior INF Joe Raymond (Foresthill, Calif./Del Oro HS) (.359/1HR/16RBI/25RS) started in all 12 games during the homestand and batted .404 (17-for-42) with a combined 12 RBI and 17 runs scored, including a .435 clip (7-for-16) in the FPU series with six RBI and five runs scored ... Raymond, who is riding a five-game hitting streak, also clubbed his first collegiate HR, a two-run shot in the third inning of G1 vs. FPU (4/5), and drove in the game-winning run in DSU's 6-5 G2 (4/6) walk-off victory.
    Freshman INF Alec Flemetakis (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) (.299/3HR/17RBI) hit .405 (15-for-37) over the homestand, which included a .357 effort in the FPU series with his third HR of the year (G3, 4/6), four RBI and five runs scored.
    Freshman 2B Tyler Hollow (Boise, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS) (.359/11RBI) hit safely in the final three games of the FPU series and batted .357 (5-for-14) over the four games with two RBI and three runs scored ... Hollow played in 11 of the 12 games during homestand with 10 starts and batted a robust .472 (17-for-36) with six multi-hit outings, including a 4-for-4 day in G1 vs. Hilo (3/29) ... Hollow reached base safely in all 11 games played - nine of which on base hits.
    Junior OF Kaid Urban (Las Vegas, Nev./Arbor View HS) (.304/10RBI) enters plays this weekend with a career-long seven-game hitting streak, which was bolstered by a combined 4-for-8 effort (.500) in four games vs. FPU ... Urban collected a hit in each game, which was started by a pinch-hit RBI-triple in the opener (4/5), and he finished with four runs scored in the series ... senior SS Kyle Hoffman (Taylorsville, Utah/Taylorsville HS) (.317/18RBI) hit an even .500 (4-for-8) in the FPU series with three RBI ... Hoffman started in games two and three (4/6) and collected two hits in each outing.
    Junior OF/RHP Gabe Taylor (Pittsburg, Calif./Clayton Valley Charter School) (.355/18RBI) did his best "Shohei Ohtani" imitation during the homestand as he got the job done both at the plate and on the mound ... Taylor batted .418 (18-for-43) with 16 RBI in 12 offensive starts, including a .400 clip (6-for-15) with his first career home run (at any level) and six RBI in the FPU series ... Taylor helped his own cause in his pitching start in the FPU series finale (4/7) as he connected for that HR, a three-run shot to left field, that erased an early 2-0 deficit and gave DSU the lead for good.
    Taylor (3-4/5.05ERA/28K) won all three of his pitching starts during the homestand, including earning the decision in the FPU finale, during which he tossed 6.0 innings of six-hit, two-run baseball with three strikeouts ... Taylor combined to work 18.0 IP over those three starts and posted a 3.50 ERA with 10 strikeouts.
    Freshman RHP Brecken Lewis (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS) (1-0/7.31ERA) picked up his first collegiate win DSU's walk-off win vs. FPU (G2, 4/6) after he worked one inning of one-hit relief.
    Senior RHP Tanner Howell (Boulder City, Nev./Boulder City HS) (3-1/4SV/1.50ERA/26K) has had quite a homestand as he has picked up one win and three saves in five total appearances out of the Trailblazer bullpen, including a three-inning save in the finale vs. FPU (4/7) .... Howell worked a season-high 4.2 IP in the series opener vs. HPU (3/24) and allowed just three hits and one run with a pair of strikeouts to earn his third win of the year in DSU's 11-inning 5-4 triumph ... Howell also made three appearances in the Hilo series and pitched 4.0 innings of three-hit shutout baseball combined with three Ks and saves in games one and two ... Howell also threw 4.1 IP in a G3 win at PLNU (2/24), which was at the time his longest outing since his freshman year when he started in six of 12 total appearances.
    Senior LHP Matt Mosca (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS) (4-3/4.71ERA/32K) earned his 10th-career victory in G1 vs. FPU (4/5) after he limited the Sunbirds to two runs and three hits over 6.0 innings with three strikeouts ... Mosca, who is slated to start the opener at Biola on Thursday, is currently second all-time in strikeouts/9IP at 7.22, and is now ranked four all-time in fewest walks/9IP at 2.41 ... Mosca's start on Thursday will also be his 23rd-career DSU start, which will move him into solo 10th-place on DSU's career starts list, while the southpaw (84 career Ks) is tied for ninth place on DSU's career strikeouts list (87).
    Through 34 games this season, DSU is averaging 6.6 runs and 9.7 hits per game with a .295 team batting average ... the Trailblazers scored a season-high 17 runs in the HPU finale (W, 17-4; 3/26) and pounded out a season-best 20 hits in the G2 slug fest win over Hilo (14-12; 3/30) ... DSU has also employed 36 different batting order combinations in 38, with the first duplication of the year coming in games one and two vs. Hilo - both of which resulted in Trailblazer wins ... DSU also used the same batting order in a split of the final two games of the FPU series ... DSU's pitching staff enters this weekend's series with a 5.76 ERA, while Trailblazer hurlers have combined for 242 strikeouts in 321.2 IP.

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State continues its SoCal swing with its final road series as a member of the Pacific West Conference next weekend in a four-game set at Concordia-Irvine on April 26-28.