Game Times (Mountain):
(G1) Saturday - 4 p.m.
(G2) Sunday - 2 p.m.
(G3) Sunday - 5 p.m.
(G4) Monday - 11 a.m.
Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | UCCS
Audio/Video: LIVE VIDEO HERE
Live Stats: vs. UCCS
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | @Dixie_Base | #DixieBlazers | #RMACbase | #D2Baseball
 
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Saturday (G1) – RHP Jayden Murray (4-1, 2.60 ERA) vs. RHP Jonathan Cowles (1-4, 6.41 ERA)
Sunday (G2) – LHP Jack Gonzales (3-0, 3.63 ERA) vs. RHP Colin Cicere (1-0, 6.33 ERA)
Sunday (G3) – DSU TBA vs. RHP Joe Slocum (1-1, 6.38 ERA)
Monday (G4) – RHP Preston Hannay (2-1, 6.50 ERA) vs. RHP Daniel Silva (3-0, 2.90 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: No. 29/22 Dixie State (14-4/4-0 RMAC) will play its first home RMAC games this weekend as the Trailblazers welcome Colorado-Colorado Springs (12-6/4-0 RMAC) to Bruce Hurst Field for a four-game weekend set. The series opener will be played Saturday at 4 p.m., followed by a doubleheader Sunday beginning at 2 p.m., and Monday's finale will take place at 11 a.m.  

ALL-TIME SERIES: This weekend's series vs. Colorado-Colorado Springs will mark the first time that the Trailblazers and Mountain Lions have squared off on the diamond.

LAST TIME OUT: The Trailblazers announced their RMAC presence with authority as Dixie State posted a four-game series sweep at Adams State last weekend in Alamosa. DSU outscored the Grizzlies 68-28 in the four games, which included a school-record tying 28 runs (W, 28-9) in Sunday's series finale, as the Blazer offense hit on all cylinders in its RMAC debut.

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 218-110-1 (.664) overall record at DSU, and a 270-169-1 (.614) 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 series sweep at Adams State last weekend was good enough for the Trailblazers to return to the NCBWA top-25 poll this week as DSU checks in at No. 22. The Blazers also moved up one spot to No. 4 in the latest NCBWA South Central Regional rankings, and made their 2019 debut in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top-30 national poll at No. 29.

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 makings its official RMAC debut at Adams State last weekend, Dixie State had 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 (41 times) the most of any other RMAC school and have posted a 14-27 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.

HOME SWEET HOME: Dixie State has played to a 249-95 (.724) overall record inside the friendly confines of Bruce Hurst Field since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07. In addition, DSU 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 140-120-1 overall road record (.538) through 12-plus years of D-II competition, which includes a 5-0 start this season, and 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 150-130-1 (.535) all-time away from Bruce Hurst Field in the program's NCAA era.
    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.

NEXT W EQUALS 400: Dixie State enters this weekend's series vs. UCCS just one win shy of 400 NCAA era victories. DSU is 399-223-1 (.639) through 12-plus years of NCAA Division II competition (625 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).

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.

WALK IT OFF: The Trailblazers collected their first walk-off win of the year in the series vs. Montana State Billings (2/24). Last season, Dixie State posted a school-record eight walk-off wins, including three last at-bat triumphs over California Baptist to close the 2018 campaign in the final PacWest series for both teams, the last of which also came on a walk-off home run.

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.

CLIFFORD'S RECORD DAY LEADS TO WEEKLY HONORS: Senior OF Brody Clifford was named RMAC and NCBWA South Central Regional Baseball Player of the Week on Tuesday after his record-breaking weekend in the Trailblazers' road sweep at Adams State.  
    Clifford played in all four games at ASU with one start and batted .545 (6-for-11) with four home runs, 10 RBI and nine runs scored. He came off the bench in the series opener last Friday and went 1-for-2 with two walks, an RBI and two runs scored in DSU's 15-6 win.
    Then after pinch-hit appearances in games two and three on Saturday, Clifford enjoyed an all-time career day in Sunday's series finale, going 5-for-7 with a DSU school record four home runs and a school record-tying nine RBI in DSU's 28-9 win. He led off the game with a homer, then connected for a three-run shot in the fourth inning before belting a grand slam in the fifth. Clifford just missed the "home run cycle," though he did hit another solo homer to lead off the seventh.
    In all, the senior outfielder broke or tied six DSU individual single-game school records on the day, including stand-alone records for homers (4), total bases (17) and runs scored (6), and tied three more records for RBI (9), base hits (5) and at-bats (7).

THE X(BH)-MEN: Dixie State pounded out 39 extra base hits (out of the 68 total base hits) in the series sweep at Adams State, which included school records for doubles (9), home runs (7), XHB (17), along with total hits (28), in the series finale. DSU wound up with 22 doubles and five triples, and posted an .866 SLG%, in the four game set.
    Freshman 3B Tyson Fisher collected a team-high six XBH with three doubles, two triples and one HR as he hit an even .500 in the series, while junior 1B Braxton Ipson hit .357 with three doubles and two homers.

IT'S UP THERE, IT'S OUT THERE, IT'S GONE!!: Dixie State more than doubled its season home run total for the season last weekend at ASU, finishing with 12 home runs in the four games, this after entering the series with 11 HRs through its first 14 games. Eight different Trailblazers hit at least one HR in the series.
    DSU's (23 HR in 18 games in 2019) next home run will tie the team's season total from last season (24 in 50 games), while the program's NCAA-era record for homers in a season is 68 set in 2009.
    The first of Clifford's record four home runs Sunday was a lead-off shot on the second pitch of the game, which marked first time since the 2016 season that a Trailblazer led off a game with a HR (Tanner Morache at Point Loma; 4/8/16).
    In addition, Jake Brown, Clifford and Ipson all homered in the fifth inning Sunday, which marked just the third time in the program's NCAA era that DSU had three players homer in one inning. In 2007, Jesse Stone, Kyle Pratt and Jordan Daley all homered in the first inning in a win over Northwest Nazarene (3/20/07), while Jordan Hanley, Jimmy Dever and Alex Rosenhan achieved the feat in the ninth inning vs. Lewis-Clark State (5/2/09) two seasons later. 

ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS: In all, the Trailblazers combined to break or tie a total of 16 single-game records in the finale at ASU, including new team records for RBI (27), at-bats (52) and total bases (60). In addition, DSU's 28 runs scored and its 19-run margin of victory tied the single game records for both set, coincidentally, in another 28-9 victory nearly 10 full seasons ago at home vs. Hawai'i Hilo (3/28/09). Meanwhile, the 37 combined runs scored were tied for second-most in the program's NCAA era.
    DSU also combined to score 68 total runs in the four-game set, which eclipsed the previous record of 52 set nearly 10 years ago to the weekend in a four-game sweep of Academy of Art (3/16-17/09). Clifford and Fisher led the Blazers with nine runs scored apiece, while seven DSU base runners collected at least five runs scored overall in the series.

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
* - Junior 1B Jake Engel has opened the 2019 season on a tear as he has hit safely in 15 of his first 18 games on his way to a .391 average (25-of-64) with team-highs of six home runs, three triples, 19 RBI and an .844 SLG% ... Engel hit safely in all four games at ASU as he batted .429 with a pair of triples, one double, one HR and seven RBI ... Engel, who came into the 2019 season with two career HRs, has already collected a team-best 14 XBH through 18 games (5 2B/3 3B/6 HR).
* - Junior C Cade Spurlin (.400/3 HR/14 RBI) enjoyed a solid weekend at ASU as he hit .385 (5-for-13) for the second-straight series with two doubles, one triple, one HR, seven RBI and eight runs scored ... Spurlin has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games and is batting .421 over that stretch with five multi-hit games.
* - Sophomore 2B Tyler Hollow (.353/7 2B/1 HR/16 RBI) pushed his career-best hitting streak to eight-straight with a perfect 4-for-4 effort in the opener at ASU, which included his first collegiate HR in the fifth inning ... the four hits also tied a career-high ... Hollow saw the hit streak end in G2, but he came back with three hits combined over his next two starts, and finished the series batting .467 (7-for-15) with six RBI and two doubles, which help pad his team-lead with seven two-baggers overall.
* - Junior RF Lane Pritchard (.323/3 RBI) has been a run-scoring machine for the Trailblazers as hit crossed home plate 12 times over his last 10 games, including six runs scored in the MSUB series and five more in four starts at ASU ... Pritchard has tallied a team-high 21 runs scored in 18 starts to go with a .323 average ... Pritchard hit .467 in four games at ASU (7-for-15), with three of those starts coming in the lead-off spot, highlighted by a 3-for-6 day with two runs scored in the opener.
* - Junior closer Brayden Bonner (1-0/0.00 ERA) has bolted out of the gate, going 6-for-6 in save opportunities with one win in eight appearances out of the Blazer bullpen, including a save in G3 at ASU ... the righthander has struck out 13 and given up just nine hits and one unearned run in 8.2 IP overall ... Bonner's six saves already ranks him t-10th on DSU's NCAA-era single save list and t-eighth in career saves.  
* - Senior RHP Jayden Murray (4-1) got back on track as he struck out a career-high 10 and surrendered two earned runs (four total) and seven hits in 5.0 IP to earn the decision in G2 at ASU ... Murray collected eight (which was his previous career-high) of his 10 Ks over his first three innings of work, while the 10 strikeouts were the most by a DSU pitcher since former DSU hurler and current Milwaukee Brewer farmhand Dylan File struck out 11 in a complete-game three-hit shutout win over MSUB (2/24/17) during the 2017 season ... Murray won his third-straight start to begin the year in the opener vs. MSUB (2/22) ... After surrendering four unearned runs in the second inning, Murray limited MSUB to one run and four hits over his final four innings of work ... Murray wound up with six strikeouts and allowed five runs (one earned) and seven hits over six complete .. Murray was named RMAC Pitcher of the Week (2/4) after he fanned eight and gave up just one hit in five shutout innings in DSU's 11-0 win over CSUSB (2/1) ... Murray, who will start the opener vs. UCCS, has struck out a team-high 31 in 27.2 IP and owns a 2.60 ERA.
* - Sophomore LHP Jack Gonzales (3-0/3.63 ERA/15 K), who will start G2 at vs. UCCS, picked up his third win of the season in G3 at ASU, against which he struck out five and scattered two runs (one earned) and five hits in 4.2 IP ... Gonzales leads all SPs with a .190 OBA.
* - Junior reliever Colton Harris (2-0/0.96 ERA/15 K) collected his second win of the season out of the DSU bullpen in the finale vs. MSUB (2/24) after he pitched 1.1 innings of spotless relief with three strikeouts ... Harris also hurled two innings of one-hit relief with three punch outs in the MSUB series opener (2/22) ... In addition, Harris worked 1.1 innings of one-hit relief and surrendered one unearned run in G3 at ASU.
* - Dixie State's series sweep at ASU last weekend was the Trailblazers' second four-game sweep of the season and was the first road sweep since recording a road sweep of Hawai'i Hilo during the 2017 season (4/25-26/17).
* - Through 18 games this season, DSU is averaging 9.0 runs and 11.1 hits per game with a .329 team batting average, though those numbers were bolstered last weekend as the Blazers averaged 17.0 hits and 17.0 runs with a robust .433 batting average over the four games at ASU ... DSU enters this week 33-for-39 in the stolen base department, which includes an impressive 13-for-13 performance at ASU.
* - Meanwhile the Trailblazer pitching staff owns a 4.44 team ERA heading into this weekend's series vs. UCCS ... DSU pitchers have held opposing hitters to a .255 average through 18 games this season overall and have combined for 150 strikeouts in 154.0 IP.

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State heads back out on the road for a four-game RMAC series at New Mexico Highlands on March 22-24.