Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | NNU | CSULA
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PROBABLE STARTERS (*2018 stats):
Thursday (G1) – RHP Jayden Murray (1-0, 0/00 ERA) vs. RHP Blake McFadden (*3-2, 5.00 ERA)
Friday (G2) – RHP Preston Hannay (2019 DSU debut) vs. RHP Cooper Webster (*3-4, 5.94 ERA)
Friday (G3) – LHP Jack Gonzales (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Saxon Andross (*4-3, 7.11 ERA)
Saturday (G4) – RHP Kaivon Kealoha (0-0, 3.38 ERA) vs. RHP Angel Lerma (*2-6, 7.35 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: Dixie State (3-1/0-0 RMAC) will "officially" open its 2019 home slate this weekend with four games against two different opponents at Bruce Hurst Field. The Trailblazers get things under way Thursday afternoon against Northwest Nazarene (0-0) at 4 p.m., followed by a split doubleheader against both NNU (11:30 a.m.) and Cal State LA (3 p.m.) on Friday. DSU will then close the weekend with a single game vs. CSULA (0-0) at 3 p.m.
    In addition to the DSU games, NNU will play Colorado Mesa on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday at 11:30 a.m., while CSULA and CMU will square off Saturday night at 6:30 p.m., and at 12 noon on Sunday.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Dixie State is 5-1 all-time vs. Northwest Nazarene, though the two teams have not met on the diamond since the 2016 when DSU swept a two-game set. Five of the six games between the two sides have been played in St. George, including three of those four occasions coming during the 2007 campaign.
    The Trailblazers also own a 9-3 series lead over CSULA and have won five-straight and eight of their last nine overall vs. the Golden Eagles. The last time the two teams squared off on the diamond, DSU swept a three-game set at Bruce Hurst Field during the 2014 season. 

LAST TIME OUT: Despite having to dodge the raindrops and make an earlier than expected trip home, Dixie State won three of its first four games to open the 2019 season last weekend. Pitching ruled the day during the Blazers' Opening Day split doubleheader as DSU pitchers combined for 30 strikeouts, while the offense outscored its two opponents 15-1, en route to a pair of easy victories.
    Dixie State posted the first Opening Day shutout win in the program's NCAA era, while DSU pitchers fanned 12 Coyote batters, in an 11-0 blanking of Cal State San Bernardino last Friday. DSU pitchers then combined for a school-record 18 more strikeouts and came within four outs of a no-hitter in a 4-1 triumph over Saint Martin's.
    Mother Nature then took over and forced DSU's final two games vs. SMU to be played at Bruce Hurst Field on Sunday afternoon. SMU broke through for a 5-3 win in game one of Sunday's "soft home opener," while the Trailblazers used a big five-run eighth inning to race to a 10-5 victory to close the weekend.

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 207-107-1 (.658) overall record at DSU, and a 256-165-1 (.608) 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: For the first time in a long time, Dixie State did not open the season ranked in any of the national preseason polls, nor did the Trailblazers receive any votes. However the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its 2019 NCAA Division II South Central Region preseason poll last week, and the Trailblazers are ranked seventh in their debut in that regional poll.  
    The NCBWA also named sophomore 2B Tyler Hollow to its preseason all-region second team.

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.

IT'S OPENING DAY: Dixie State collected its fourth-straight "Opening Day" victory in last Friday's season-opener at CSUSB. The Trailblazers improved to 8-5 all-time on "Opening Day" during the program's Division II era and have now won eight of its last 10 season debuts overall.
    In addition, DSU is 7-6 all-time in road openers, though the Blazers are 4-2 in season-opening road games overall. On the flipside, Dixie State owns an 8-5 overall record in home openers, which includes Sunday's loss to SMU, though the Trailblazers were technically supposed to "officially" open at home Thursday vs. NNU.

WHAT THE BLANK: Dixie State made a little history in its season-opening win at Cal State San Bernardino 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 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 overall.

HOME SWEET HOME: Dixie State has played to a 242-92 (.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 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, including 39 wins in 2017 and a four-year program record 40 victories (40-14) in 2016, which included a record-breaking 10-0 start to begin the season, its best overall start in the program's NCAA-era.
    DSU is 388-222-1 (.636) through now 12-plus years of NCAA Division II competition (611 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.

MURRAY EARNS DSU'S FIRST RMAC AWARD: Senior RHP Jayden Murray was named RMAC Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday for his performance in last Friday's win at CSUSB. Murray struck out a career-high tying eight and fired 5.0 innings of one-hit shutout baseball in DSU's 11-0 season-opening blanking of the Coyotes. Murray allowed only three total base runners and needed just 72 pitches to get through his five-inning season debut.
    Coincidentally, Murray first struck out eight batters and surrendered just one run and two hits in 4.0 IP in his DSU debut last season against....Cal State San Bernardino (2/9/18).

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 last Friday afternoon. 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 last weekend, 44 (11.0 kpg) of them were on strikes, including 12 total Ks at CSUSB, and seven strikeouts in both games of last Sunday's doubleheader vs. SMU.

NEAR NO-NO: Dixie State came within four outs of its first nine-inning no-hitter in program history in its 4-1 win over Saint Martin's last Friday. 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 off the arm of former hurler John Conquy in a 1-0, seven-inning win at Fresno Pacific on April 3, 2015.

TEAM NOTES
* - Sophomore 2B Tyler Hollow batted a team-high .533 over the weekend (8-for-15) with two doubles, one RBI, five runs scored and one SB ... Hollow hit safely in all four game, including a pair of three-hit games, and dating back to late last season he has hit in a career-best eight-straight overall.  
* - Senior OF Brody Clifford started in all four games and batted .375 (6-for-16) with a double, four RBI and five runs scored ... Clifford collected two hits and two RBI at CSUSB and had three more hits and two runs scored in the finale vs. SMU.
* - Senior 3B Bryce Feist hit .357 (5-for-14) in four starts and tallied two RBI, two runs and went a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen bases.
* - Junior catcher Braden Stutzman rapped a pair of two-run doubles in the finale vs. SMU, including a clutch two-bagger in DSU's five-run eighth inning ... Stutzman finished with three doubles on the weekend in eight ABs over three games.
* - Junior 1B Jake Engel connected for Dixie State's first (and only) home run of the season last weekend, which came with one out in the sixth inning of Friday's win vs. SMU ... it was Engel's third career HR (two in 2018) ... junior OF Lane Pritchard (.231/2 R) drew a team-high seven walks and went 3-for-3 in stolen bases last weekend.
* - Through four games this season, DSU is averaging 7.0 runs and 9.5 hits per game with a .284 team batting average ... DSU also went 12-for-13 in the stolen base department.
* - Meanwhile the Trailblazer pitching staff surrendered just seven ER (11 total runs) and posted a minute 1.75 team ERA with a .169 opponent BA ... DSU's four starters combined for two of the staff's four wins and surrendered just 11 hits and five runs (four earned - 1.89 ERA) with 22 Ks in 19.0 IP.
* - Junior LHP Tevita Gerber started G3 vs. SMU and scattered four hits and two earned runs (three total) with four strikeouts in 4.2 IP in his DSU debut ... junior RHP Kaivon Kealoha also made his Trailblazer debut on Sunday with a start in the finale vs. SMU and limited the Saints to six hits and two runs with three Ks in 5.1 IP, but did not figure in the decision despite leaving with the lead.

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State will enjoy a week off before welcoming Montana State Billings to Bruce Hurst Field for a four-game series Feb. 22-24.