Game Times (Mountain):
Friday - 4 p.m.
Saturday - 12 noon (DH)
Sunday - 12 noon
Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | MSUB
Audio/Video: None
Live Stats: vs. MSUB
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | @Dixie_Base | #DixieBlazers | #RMACbase | #d2Baseball
 
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday (G1) – RHP Jayden Murray (2-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. RHP Jarrod Molnaa (0-0, 1.80 ERA)
Saturday (G2) – LHP Jack Gonzales (1-0, 5.14 ERA) vs. RHP Steen Fredrickson (0-0, 4.76 ERA)
Saturday (G3) – RHP Preston Hannay (0-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. LHP Kevan Mackintosh (0-1, 5.40 ERA)
Sunday (G4) – RHP Kaivon Kealoha (0-0, 9.00 ERA) vs. RHP Dylan Barkley (0-0, 5.40 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: After enjoying an early 12-day break, Dixie State (6-2/0-0 RMAC) returns to action this weekend as the Trailblazers continue their 12-game homestand with a four-game set against Montana State Billings (0-4) at Bruce Hurst Field. The series gets underway Friday afternoon with a single game at 4 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 noon, and the series finale will take place on Sunday at 12 noon.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DSU is 22-5 all-time in its series with MSUB and has won 10 of its last 12 against the Yellowjackets overall, though MSUB did take two of three from DSU in its last visit to St. George last season.

LAST TIME OUT: The Trailblazers claimed three of four games played against two different opponents this past Feb. 7-9, during their "official" home-opening weekend at Bruce Hurst Field. Dixie State split a two-game set vs. Northwest Nazarene to open the weekend, claiming the first game by a 3-2 count (2/7) before dropping a 6-5 decision in game two of the brief series (2/8). DSU then swept both ends of a two-game series vs. Cal State LA by 10-6 (2/8) and 17-15 (2/9) decisions.

COACHING STAFF: Two-time Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year Chris Pfatenhauer is in his seventh season as head coach of the Dixie State Baseball program. Since his arrival in summer of 2012, Pfatenhauer has never had a losing season at Dixie State, and in the process, led the Trailblazers to consecutive PacWest titles in 2014 and 2015, and to five-straight trips to the NCAA West Regionals from 2013-17, including serving as the host institution in 2013.
    Pfatenhauer, who picked up his 200th victory as DSU skipper in the series opener at Concordia-Irvine (8-1; 4/26/18) last season, owns a 210-108-1 (.660) overall record at DSU, and a 262-167-1 (.610) career mark.     
    Joining Pfatenhauer (UNLV, 2000) in the Trailblazer dugout this season is first-year pitching coach Joe Haumacher (Old Dominion, 2011), along with fifth-year assistant coaches Matt Hill (Dixie State 2015), and Bobby Rinard (Arizona, 2014), and first-year assistant coaches Trevor Amicone (Weber State, 2012) and former DSU infielder Tyler Mildenberg (Dixie State, 2018). 

DSU IN THE POLLS: Dixie State's 6-2 start to the 2019 campaign has been noticed by the writers as the Trailblazers are ranked No. 20 in this week's NCBWA Division II national poll. In addition, DSU has moved up to four spots to No. 3 in the latest NCBWA South Central Regional poll.

HI, MY NAME IS ....: After 11 years as a member of the Pacific West Conference, Dixie State embarks on its first season as full members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 2019.
    The Trailblazers won four PacWest baseball titles (2009, 2011, 2014, 2015) over their conference membership and posted a 227-112-1 overall record (.669) in 340 league games. Dixie State also made six-straight NCAA West Regional appearances (2012-17) during its run in the PacWest.

TRAILBLAZERS VOTED THIRD IN RMAC PRESEASON POLL: Dixie State was picked to finish third in the 2019 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference baseball preseason coaches' poll released back on Jan. 24. Despite being picked third in the poll, DSU did not land any players on the preseason all-RMAC team.
    Defending RMAC regular season and tournament champion Colorado Mesa collected eight of a possible 10 first place votes to claim the top spot in the poll with 80 points, while 2018 conference runner-up Colorado School of Mines tallied 69 points to finish second. Dixie State picked up the other two first place votes and 64 total points to secure the third spot, and Colorado State-Pueblo and MSU Denver each finished with 49 points to tie for fourth to round out the top-half of the 10-team poll.

AGAINST THE RMAC: Prior to its official RMAC debut at Adams State this upcoming March 8-10, Dixie State has squared off against four of the 10 baseball-playing RMAC member schools in non-conference action and played to a 19-27 (.412) overall record in 46 combined games. Out of those four schools, the Trailblazers have faced Colorado Mesa (39 times) the most of any other RMAC school and have posted a 14-25 mark against the Mavericks overall. DSU is also 4-0 vs. Colorado Christian, 1-1 vs. Colorado School of Mines and 0-1 vs. Regis.

WHAT THE BLANK: Dixie State made a little history in its season-opening win at Cal State San Bernardino (2/1) as the Trailblazers posted their first-ever "Opening Day" shutout in the 11-0 triumph.
     In fact, if you figure in the near no-no against Saint Martin's (W, 4-1) later in the day, the Trailblazer pitching staff opened the 2019 season with 16.2 innings of shutout baseball and surrendered just four total hits and one run in the two games.

HOME SWEET HOME: Dixie State has played to a 245-93 (.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 included a 17-9 home mark last season.
    Dixie State has won 20 or more games in seven of those 12 seasons, including 21-5 (.807) record in 2017, 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 home wins that year were the most under Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer, while the .807 winning percentage in 2017 was the best during the Pfatenhauer era.
    In PacWest play, DSU was 126-44 (.741) all-time at Bruce Hurst Field and won 10 or more games in each of those 10 seasons, including 13 league wins last year and 14 victories in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Despite finishing with an 8-16 road record in 2018, Dixie State has held its own away from home as the Trailblazers own a 136-120-1 overall road record (.531) through 12-plus years of D-II competition, which includes a winning road record in seven of their last eight seasons overall, highlighted by a 16-7-1 road mark in 2017. 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 of it last nine seasons overall. When you also figure in neutral-site games (10-10 in 20 games), Dixie State is 146-130-1 (.529) all-time away from Bruce Hurst Field in NCAA play.
    In PacWest play, Dixie State was 99-65-1 (.603) 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's 25-25 record last season marked the end of an impressive streak that saw DSU win 30 or more games in nine-straight seasons. In fact, DSU had won 35 of more games in four of those campaigns, including three of the last four years under Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer, highlighted by 39 wins in 2017 and a four-year program record 40 victories (40-14) in 2016, The 2016 campaign also included a record-breaking 10-0 start to begin the season, which was the best overall start in the program's NCAA-era.
    DSU is 391-223-1 (.636) through 12-plus years of NCAA Division II competition (615 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 a school-record eight walk-off wins last season, including three last-inning triumphs over California Baptist to close the 2018 campaign in the final PacWest series for both teams.  

FREE BASEBALL: Dixie State played in four extra inning games last season and posted a 3-1 record. Dating back to the 2016 season, the Trailblazers have won five of their last six extra inning games overall, and are 31-14 (.682) in 45 total extra-inning games in the program's four-year era.

IN THE "K" ZONE: Dixie State pitchers set an NCAA-era school record with 18 strikeouts in the 4-1 win over Saint Martin's back on Feb. 1. Sophomore lefthander Jack Gonzales set the tone from the get-go as he recorded a career-high seven Ks over 4.0 hitless innings in his first collegiate start, while junior RHP Colton Harris followed suit with seven strikeouts of his own over 2.2 innings of relief in his DSU debut.
    In all, four of the five DSU hurlers in the game had at least one strikeout, including junior closer Brayden Bonner striking out the side in the ninth to earn his first collegiate save.
    DSU eclipsed the previous school record of 16 set at Academy of Art (2/26/11) in a game highlighted by former DSU pitcher Mike Dedrick, who set a single-game player record with 15 punch outs over 8.0 IP.  
    Of the 108 total outs Dixie State recorded during the Blazers' opening weekend, 44 (11.0 kpg) of them were on strikes, including 12 total Ks at CSUSB, and seven strikeouts in both ends of the SMU of doubleheader (2/3).

NEAR NO-NO: Dixie State also came within four outs of its first nine-inning no-hitter in program history in that 4-1 win over Saint Martin's (2/1). Four DSU pitchers had combined to surrender just four walks and one HBP through seven-complete before SMU broke through with a clean infield single with two outs in the home eighth.
    DSU has had only one no-hitter in the program's four-year era, which came off the arm of former hurler John Conquy in a 1-0, seven-inning win at Fresno Pacific on April 3, 2015.

TEAM NOTES
* - Senior RHP Jayden Murray posted his second-straight quality start of the young season after he threw 7.0 innings of three-hit, two-run baseball with five strikeouts in the 3-2 series-opening win over NNU (2/7) ... Murray was named RMAC Pitcher of the Week earlier that week after he fanned a career-high tying eight and surrendered just one hit in five shutout innings in DSU's 11-0 win over CSUSB (2/1) ... Murray, who will start the opener vs. MSUB, has struck out 13 in 12.0 IP and owns a 1.50 ERA.
* - Junior closer Brayden Bonner has bolted out of the gate with three saves and one win in four appearances out of the Blazer bullpen ... the righthander has struck out eight and given up just four hits and one unearned run in 5.0 IP overall ... Bonner's three saves already ranks him t-ninth on DSU's NCAA-era career saves list.
* - After missing the entire 2018 season due to injury, junior RHP Preston Hannay enjoyed his finest outing of his two-plus year DSU career in game two vs. NNU (2/8) ... Hannay, who did not figure in the decision, started and fired five innings of one-hit ball with four strikeouts, and he retired 13-straight Nighthawk batters after giving up a first-inning run.
* - Junior C Cade Spurlin had quite the weekend as he batted .833 (5-of-6) in three starts behind the plate with a double, HR and four RBI ... after going hitless in his only AB in G2 vs. NNU, Spurlin combined to go 5-for-5 in two starts vs. CSULA, including a 3-for-3 effort in G1 vs. the Golden Eagles with his HR and three RBI ... Spurlin enters this weekend's series vs. MSBU as DSU's leading hitter at .714.
* - Junior 1B Jake Engel continued to swing a hot bat as he homered twice and drove in six RBI over the four games vs. NNU and CSULA ... he hit .438 in four starts and accounted for four of DSU's 10 XHB on the weekend, including a double and one of the Blazers' two triples ... Engel, who came into the 2019 season with two career HRs, has already hit three of DSU's six homers through eight games this year, and he currently leads the team with 11 total hits (along with sophomore Tyler Hollow - 11H) and eight RBI to go with a .407 average (11-for-27).
* - Sophomore CF Jagun Leavitt started in all four games vs. NNU/CSULA and hit .417 (5-for-12) with three RBI and four runs scored ... freshman 3B Tyson Fisher started in three games at the hot corner and responded by hitting an even .600 (6-for-10) with one RBI and four runs scored, including a combined 5-for-6 with five runs in two games vs. CSULA ... Fisher went 3-for-4 in the CSULA opener with three runs scored.
* - Junior RF Lane Pritchard hit safely in all four starts (5-for-16, .313) vs. NNU/CSULA with an RBI and three runs scored.  
* - Through eight games this season, DSU is averaging 7.8 runs and 10.1 hits per game with a .301 team batting average ... DSU hit a combined .319 against both NNU/CSULA with 10 XBH, including four doubles, four HRs and two triples ... DSU enters this week 14-for-19 in the stolen base department.
* - Meanwhile the Trailblazer pitching staff saw its team ERA jump two full runs to 3.75 heading into this weekend's series vs. MSUB ... much of that damage to the ERA came in the 17-15 come-from-behind win in the finale vs. CSULA (2/9), during which DSU pitchers combined to issue 14 walks ... DSU pitchers have held opposing hitters to a .197 average and have combined for 76 strikeouts in 72.0 IP.

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State wraps up its 12-game homestand with a two-game non-conference series against current No. 12/8 Colorado Mesa on March 1-2.