Game Times (Mountain):
(G1) Friday - 3 p.m.
(G2) Saturday - 12 noon
(G3) Saturday - 3 p.m.
(G4) Sunday - 12 noon
Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | NMHU
Audio/Video: LIVE VIDEO HERE
Live Stats: at NMHU
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | @Dixie_Base | #DixieBlazers | #RMACbase | #D2Baseball
 
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday (G1) – LHP Tevita Gerber (1-0, 7.41 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Bedsole (2-3, 6.84 ERA)
Saturday (G2) – RHP Jayden Murray (5-1, 2.21 ERA) vs. LHP James Janco (1-3, 10.71 ERA)
Saturday (G3) – LHP Jack Gonzales (4-0, 3.57 ERA) vs. RHP Kaleb Whitlock (0-2, 10.62 ERA)
Sunday (G4) – RHP Preston Hannay (3-1, 5.47 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Winkler (1-3, 10.38 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: No. 29/16 Dixie State (18-4/8-0 RMAC) will take its eight-game RMAC winning streak on the road this weekend as the Trailblazers head to Las Vegas, N.M, for a four-game weekend series at New Mexico Highlands (7-13/0-8 RMAC). The series opener will be played on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m., followed by a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 12 noon, and Sunday's finale will take place at 12 noon, at Brandt Fields (1,500) on the NMHU campus.

ALL-TIME SERIES: This weekend's series at New Mexico Highlands will mark the first time that the Trailblazers and Cowboys have faced each other on the baseball diamond.

LAST TIME OUT: The Trailblazers posted their second-straight sweep to open RMAC play as DSU won all four games from Colorado-Colorado Springs last weekend at Bruce Hurst Field. Dixie State, which trailed in just two of the 32 innings played in the series, got a complete-game shutout performance from senior RHP Jayden Murray in a 6-1 win in the opener on Saturday, then needed to hold off a pair of late Mountain Lion rallies to take both ends of a Sunday doubleheader, 6-5 and 11-10. DSU then closed out the series with a convincing 11-3 win in Monday's finale.

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 222-110-1 (.668) overall record at DSU, and a 274-169-1 (.618) 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 UCCS last weekend was good enough for the Trailblazers to vault up six spots to No. 16 in this week's NCBWA Top-25 poll. The Blazers also moved up one spot to No. 3 in the latest NCBWA South Central Regional rankings, and remained at No. 29 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top-30 national 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.

HOME SWEET HOME: Dixie State has played to a 253-95 (.727) overall record inside the friendly confines of Bruce Hurst Field since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, including a 12-4 start this season. 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.

IT'S NOT HOW YOU START....: The Trailblazers' 18-4 start to the 2019 season is the best-overall start by a Dixie State baseball team in the program's NCAA era. The previous record-best start was 17-5 first set in 2016 season, which began with the program-record 10-game winning streak, and was matched one year later in 2017.

HERE'S TO THE NEXT 400: Dixie State picked up its 400th win in the program's NCAA era in last Saturday's series opener vs. UCCS. DSU is 403-223-1 (.641) all-time through 12-plus years of NCAA Division II competition (629 games).

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 finale 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.

ROCKIN' THE 'STACHE: Forget the "Fear The Beard" mantra, since Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer's arrival at Dixie State, his teams have created their own facial hair tradition - "Mustache March," and judging by past season results, it's been very effective. Thanks to the power of the mustache, Dixie State has played to a 93-31 (.750) overall record in the month of March over the past six-plus seasons, including an 8-2 mark this March, along with a 14-5 record in 2017 and a 19-2 record in March of 2014.

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 two weekends ago, 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.
    The Trailblazers followed that up with 16 more XBH last week vs. UCCS, including 10 doubles and six homers.
    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 ASU series, while junior 1B Braxton Ipson hit .357 with three doubles and two homers vs. ASU, then collected three more doubles in four starts vs. UCCS.

IT'S UP THERE, IT'S OUT THERE, IT'S GONE!!: We are only 22 games into the 2019 season and Dixie State has already eclipsed last season's home run total (24 in 50 games) with 29 long balls to this point of the year, with six of those homers coming last weekend vs. UCCS. Juniors Cade Spurlin and Jake Engel each homered twice vs. the Mountain Lions, including back-to-back blasts to lead off the sixth inning in Monday's finale.
    Prior to Spurlin and Engel going yard in the same inning, the last time DSU had batters homer in consecutive at-bats was the 2016 season when former catcher Jake Davison and current assistant coach Tyler Mildenberg achieved the feat vs. Hawai'i Pacific (4/23/16).
    The Trailblazers have hit 18 home runs in their last eight games overall, with 12 of those homers coming at Adams State two weeks ago. Eight different Trailblazers hit at least one HR in the series, highlighted by a school record four-homer game from senior OF Brody Clifford in the series finale (3/10), which included two solo HRs, a three-run shot and a grand slam en route to a school record-tying nine RBI.
    The first of Clifford's record four home runs 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 in that series finale, 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.  
    Of note, DSU's NCAA-era record for homers in a season is 68 set in 2009.

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 Adams State (3/10), including new team records for HR (7), 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 18 of his first 22 games on his way to a .387 average (29-of-75) with team-highs of eight home runs, three triples and 22 RBI ... Engel is hitting an even .400 in RMAC play with two triples, three HRs and 10 RBI ... Engel, who came into the 2019 season with two career HRs, has already collected a team-best 16 XBH through 22 games (5 2B/3 3B/8 HR).
* - Junior C Cade Spurlin (.442* team-high/5 HR/17 RBI) continued his outstanding play of late as he hit .583 (7-of-212) with two HR, three RBI and co-team high six runs scored in the UCCS series ... Spurlin hit safely in all four games and collected two hits (2B/HR), two RBI and two runs scored in game three Sunday, followed by a 3-for-4 effort with another HR with two more runs scored in the series finale Monday ... Spurlin has hit safely in 14 of his last 16 games and is batting .451 over that stretch with seven multi-hit games.
* - Senior SS/3B Bryce Feist (.315/1 HR/16 RBI) bounced back with a solid series vs. UCCS, against which he batted .400 with one homer and a team-high eight RBI ... Feist also stole a base (6-for-6 SB this season) and finished with three runs scored ... senior OF Kaid Urban also collected four RBI in four starts vs. UCCS to go with a .308 average (4-for-13) with a double and two runs scored.  
* - Junior RF Lane Pritchard (.353/5 RBI) has been a run-scoring machine for the Trailblazers as hit crossed home plate 15 times over his last 14 games, including six runs scored in the MSUB series and five more in four starts at ASU ... Pritchard is tied with Engel for the team lead in runs scored with 24 in 22 starts to go with a .329 average ... Pritchard hit .357 in four starts vs. UCCS (5-for-14) with a double and two RBI.
* - Junior closer Brayden Bonner (1-0/2.61 ERA/15 K) collected his team-high seventh save (7-for-7 in save opportunities) in G3 vs. UCCS ... Bonner's seven saves already ranks him t-ninth on DSU's NCAA-era single save list and eighth in career saves.  
* - Senior RHP Jayden Murray (5-1/2.21 ERA) won for the fifth time in six starts after posting a complete-game five-hitter in the series-opener vs. UCCS last Saturday ... Murray struck out eight and limited the potent UCCS offense to just one third inning run, then proceeded to retire 16-straight Mountain Lions and 20 of the final 22 UCCS hitters he faced en route to his first 9-inning CG in a DSU uniform ... Murray's 9IP complete game was the first by a DSU pitcher since former Blazer southpaw Matt Mosca went the distance on the road at Concordia-Irvine (W, 8-1, 4/26/18), and it was the first at home since former Blazer RHP Mason Hilty (11-0/4/7/17) posted a complete-game shutout vs. Academy of Art during the 2017 season.
* - Murray 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, who will start G2 at NMHU on Saturday, has now pitched enough innings to qualify to become DSU's current career-leader in K/9IP (7.549) and is currently third in fewest career BB/9IP (2.131) ... Murray enters this weekend currently second on the season K/9IP (9.57) list and third in fewest BB/9IP (1.22).
* - Sophomore LHP Jack Gonzales (4-0/3.57 ERA/19 K), who will start G3 at NMHU, picked up his fourth win of the season in G2 vs. UCCS, against which he struck out four and surrendered just two hits and two runs in 5.1 IP ... Gonzales leads all SPs with a .175 OBA ... junior RHP Preston Hannay (3-1/5.47 ERA/17 K) bounced back after a couple rough outings with 6.2 solid innings of work in the finale vs. UCCS, allowing two hits and two runs with four strikeouts.  
* - Junior reliever Colton Harris (2-0/0.79 ERA/16 K) collected his first save out of the DSU bullpen in G3 vs. UCCS, while senior RHP Tyler Rosas (1-1, 2.35 ERA/8 K) picked up his first winning decision of the year and the DSU bullpen's sixth win on the year overall.
* - Dixie State's series sweep of UCCS last weekend was the Trailblazers' third four-game sweep of the season and the second at home (also vs. MSUB - 2/22-24), while the ASU road sweep was the first since recording a 4-0 series win at Hawai'i Hilo during the 2017 season (4/25-26/17).
* - Through 22 games this season, DSU is averaging 8.9 runs and 10.8 hits per game with a .329 team batting average, though those numbers were bolstered in the Adams State series as the Blazers averaged 17.0 hits and 17.0 runs with a robust .433 batting average over those four games ... DSU enters this week 36-for-43 in the stolen base department, which includes an impressive 16-for-17 over its last eight games (13-of-13 at ASU).
* - Meanwhile the Trailblazer pitching staff owns a 4.50 team ERA heading into this weekend's series at NMHU ... DSU pitchers have held opposing hitters to a .250 average through 22 games this season overall, which includes a .225 clip vs. UCCS, and have combined for 179 strikeouts in 186.0 IP.

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State returns home for a four-game RMAC series vs. Colorado State-Pueblo on March 29-31.