Junior Gabe Taylor (Pittsburg, Calif./Clayton Valley Charter School) homered and pitched six solid innings to help lead Dixie State to a 7-5 series-clinching win over Fresno Pacific Saturday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field. The Trailblazers went 9-3 on their 12-game homestand and have won 12 of their last 16 overall to move to 18-20 overall, 14-14 in Pacific West Conference play.

FPU (15-15/12-12 PacWest) took an early 2-0 lead on Taylor and the Trailblazers with single runs in the second and third frames. Dixie State got those runs back and more in the home third when Jagun Leavitt (St. George, Utah/Pine View HS) reached on a one-out single and Joe Raymond (Foresthill, Calif./Del Oro HS) was hit by a pitch ahead of Taylor, who helped his own cause by connecting for his first collegiate home run, a three-run blast to left field to give DSU a 3-2 advantage.

Taylor then settled in, retiring nine of the next 11 Sunbirds he faced, while the Trailblazers struck for three more runs over the next three innings to extend to a 6-2 lead after six complete. Tyler Hollow (Boise, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS) drove in a run with a single in the fifth, while DSU plated two more runs in the sixth on a Kyle Hoffman (Taylorsville, Utah/Taylorsville HS) run-scoring hit and a Raymond sacrifice fly.

Fresno Pacific did make it interesting late as the Sunbirds took advantage of a two-out DSU error in the seventh for one run, and managed to cut the deficit to 6-5 in the eighth with an Eddie Sievers two-run single.

However that would be as close as FPU would get as the Trailblazers picked up a big insurance run on a Leavitt two-out single in the bottom of the eighth, while senior closer Tanner Howell (Boulder City, Nev./Boulder City HS) (S, 4) retired the Sunbirds in order in the ninth to end the game.

Leavitt collected three hits out of the lead-off spot to pace the DSU offense, while Hollow and Hoffman finished with two hits apiece as the Trailblazers pounded out 10 hits in the game. Taylor (W, 3-4) fanned three and scattered six hits and two runs over his six innings of work to win for the third time in as many starts.

After a much-needed week off, Dixie State begins its final PacWest road swing with a four-game series at conference newcomer Biola on April 19-21.