Dixie State Trailblazers (37-10, 31-9 RMAC) at:
2019 RMAC Tournament 
May 2-4, 2019 - Grand Junction, Colo.
 

Game Times (Mountain): 
THURSDAY
(Game 1) No. 3 Dixie State vs. No. 6 UCCS - 8:30 a.m.
(Game 2) No. 2 Colorado Christian vs. No. 7 Regis - 10:45 a.m.
(Game 3) No. 4 Colorado School of Mines vs. No. 5 MSU Denver - 1 p.m.
(Game 4) No. 1 Colorado Mesa vs. No. 8 CSU-Pueblo - 3:15 p.m.
(Game 5) Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 - 5:30 p.m.
(Game 6) Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 - 7:45 p.m.

FRIDAY/SATURDAY: Click HERE for full bracket.

Live Video: Colorado Mesa Live Video 
Live Stats: Colorado Mesa Live Stats 
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | #DixieBlazers


Dixie State softball opens the 2019 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament on Thursday, taking on UC-Colorado Springs in a first-round matchup at 8:30 a.m. on the campus of Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction, Colorado.
 
The Trailblazers (37-10, 31-9 RMAC) received the No. 3 seed, while first-round opponent UCCS was tabbed as the No. 6 seed. Colorado Christian enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed and will match up against No. 7 Regis in the other first round game on DSU's side of the bracket.
 
The winners of those games will eventually take on either No. 1 Colorado Mesa, No. 8 CSU-Pueblo, No. 4 Colorado School of Mines, or No. 5 MSU Denver in the RMAC tournament semifinal on Friday evening. The losers of the first-round matchups will try to play their way back to the tournament championship through the one-loss bracket.
 
Live stats and live video will be provided by Colorado Mesa at the tournament. Links for both can be found at DixieStateAthletics.com.
 
ALL-TIME VS. UCCS: Thursday's tournament-opening game marks the ninth meeting between Dixie State and UCCS. DSU won the inaugural matchup, 20-6, on Feb. 12, 2010, at the Las Vegas Stinger tournament. The Trailblazers and Mountain Lions met up two more times at the Las Vegas Stinger (2013, 2014), with DSU winning both games. The Trailblazers earned an 8-1 victory at the 2017 DSU Easton Classic, before sweeping the Mountain Lions in a four-game series earlier this season to take an 8-0 lead in the series.
 
KNOW YOUR FOE: UCCS enters the tournament with a 27-24 record. The Mountain Lions posted a 23-16 mark in RMAC play, and have won five of their last six games, including a 7-6 win over No. 12 Colorado Mesa. The Mountain Lions placed four players on the All-RMAC teams, including senior Taylor Reidhead (4.32 ERA/13-10/132 SO; .333/8 HR/7 2B/40 RBI), junior Alex Cook (.359/12 2B/5 HR/2 3B/38 RBI), freshman Peyton Reisman (.394/17 2B/4 HR/28 RBI), and senior Rayle Glover (.408/12 HR/9 2B/4 3B/44 RBI).
 
ALL-TIME IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS: The 2019 RMAC Tournament marks the first-ever conference tournament for Dixie State. However, the Trailblazers hold a 34-20 (.630) record in postseason double-elimination tournaments, including a 22-10 mark (.687) at the NCAA Division II regional level.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State closed the 2019 regular season with a four-game sweep at Fort Lewis.
 
MAKING HISTORY: Sophomore pitcher Cambrie Hazel broke the DSU single-season strikeout record on Friday in the series opener at Fort Lewis, notching 13 strikeouts to pass Aryn Feickert (178; 2016) atop the list. Hazel added six more strikeouts on Saturday to push her current single-season total to 192 strikeouts.
 
500-WIN CLUB: The Trailblazers earned their 500th NCAA Division II victory on April 6 with their 3-1 defeat of Black Hills State. With 13 more victories since then, DSU holds an all-time NCAA Division II record of 513-170 (.751).
 
 IN THE RANKINGS: Dixie State moved up to No. 9 in the final set of NCAA Division II South Central Region rankings.
 
NEW SEASON, NEW CONFERENCE: After 11 seasons as a member of the Pacific West Conference, the Trailblazers played their first official RMAC contest on February 24 against Adams State. Dixie State logged a 263-67 record as a member of the PacWest Conference and won four PacWest titles (2011, 2013, 2014, 2015).
 
ON THE ROAD: Since Randy Simkins began his NCAA Division II-era tenure as head coach at DSU in 2010, the Trailblazers have posted a 142-49 (.743) record in true road games and have logged a winning record on the road in each season. Additionally, Dixie State has recorded a 57-36 (.613) record in neutral-site games.
 
THE SIMKINS FILE:  Randy Simkins is in his 11th year as the Dixie State head softball coach in 2019, after a stint as head coach at DSU while competing in the junior college ranks. In 10-plus seasons, Simkins has accumulated 459 victories to just 128 losses for a winning percentage of .782. He led Dixie State to a program-best 49-6 record in 2004 while the school competed as an NJCAA program. In 2015, the Trailblazers recorded the most wins as a Division II program with 52 victories. Simkins has led DSU to four PacWest championships, two West Region championships, two trips to the College World Series, and a national runner-up finish in 2015.
 
2019 ROSTER: Dixie State returns nine starters from the 2018 squad, led by All-American Cambrie Hazel and All-Region honorees Bailey Gaffin and Jessica Gonzalez.
 
Hazel garnered third team NFCA All-America honors in 2018 and became just the second DSU freshman (Janessa Bassett, 2015) to attain All-America status. Hazel was dominant in her debut collegiate season, earning six different PacWest weekly awards to go with one national weekly award. Hazel was named PacWest Pitcher of the Week four times, while landing two Freshman of the Week honors. She was also named NFCA National Pitcher of the Week on April 11. Hazel tossed a DSU record five no-hitters and just the second perfect game (vs. NDNU; 3/3/18) in DSU history in 2018. She closed the season with a 20-4 record, a 1.79 ERA, and 142 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .162 batting average. Additionally, Hazel became the first freshman (and the third overall) DSU pitcher to win 20 or more games in a single season.
 
Gaffin earned first team All-West Region honors in 2018, hitting .342 with 53 hits, 45 RBI, 12 doubles, three home runs, and one triple. She also recorded 14 multi-hit and 13 multi-RBI games. Defensively, Gaffin has logged a .943 fielding percentage with 78 putouts and 88 assists in 176 chances. She also helped turn six double plays.
 
Gonzalez garnered second team All-West Region honors, hitting .319 with 43 hits, 41 RBI, seven home runs, and six doubles. She also recorded 11 multi-hit games to go with 11 multi-RBI games. Gonzalez belted two grand slams in 2018, including the game-winning blast over Concordia-Irvine to clinch the West 2 Regional title. Defensively, Gonzalez posted a .988 fielding percentage with 225 putouts and 23 assists on 251 chances. She also mowed down seven stolen base attempts.
 
The Trailblazers also return preseason All-RMAC honoree Brenna Cornwall and third team All-PacWest honoree Kori Gahn.
 
Cornwall helped anchor a talented DSU outfield in 2018, hitting .364 with 44 hits, 25 RBI, nine doubles, two home runs, and two triples. Additionally, she posted 10 multi-hit games and logged a team-high .506 on-base percentage. She also stole 16 bases on 18 attempts. Defensively, Cornwall recorded a .971 fielding percentage with 64 putouts and two assists in 68 total chances. Brenna also earned All-PacWest Academic honors with a 3.64 GPA.
 
Gahn landed her first All-PacWest honor after hitting .278 with 40 hits, 28 RBI, eight doubles, and three home runs. She also finished the regular season with eight multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games. Defensively, Gahn logged a .985 fielding percentage with 264 putouts and seven assists in 275 chances.
 
DSU returns four other starters from the 2018 squad, including Riley Tyteca (.300/24 RBI/5 HR/5 2B), Kaitlyn Delange, (.292/19 RBI/9 2B), Dani Bartholf (.283/27 RBI/6 2B/3 HR), and Alexandria Melendez (10-4, 4.44 ERA/51 SO).
 
Five new players join the 2019 squad, including Division I transfer Mikaela Thomson and freshmen Lindsay Altfillisch, Carissa Burgess, Kasey Crawford, and Ashley Jones.

UP NEXT: Pending the outcome of this weekend's RMAC tournament, Dixie State will wait to see if it receives an at-large bid to next week's NCAA Division II regionals. The selection show will air on Monday at 8 a.m. Mountain Time.