(2019 RMAC TOURNAMENT ANNOUNCEMENT)
(2019 RMAC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKET - PDF)

Dixie State split the final two games of its regular-season ending series at No. 1/No. 5 Colorado Mesa Saturday afternoon at Suplizio Field. The Trailblazers managed to break through in the series with a 10-5 triumph the first of two seven-inning games, but came up just short of a series split as CMU clinched the series win in the nightcap by an 8-6 count.

DSU wrapped up the 2019 regular season with a 33-17 overall record, including a 23-13 mark and a third-place finish in its debut season in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

After spotting top-ranked CMU (41-9/29-7 RMAC) two runs in the opening stanza of game one, the Trailblazers struck for eight-unanswered runs over their next three offensive frames to race out to a commanding 8-2 lead. DSU got on the board with a pair of runs in the second on RBI-singles from Braxton Ipson and Bryce Feist, then took the lead for good in the third with a run-scoring triple from Tyson Fisher, who later scampered home on a Kaid Urban flyout.

Dixie State kept the momentum going into the fourth as Jagun Leavitt and Ipson both walked to lead off the frame, while Feist reached on a bunt single to load the bases. Leavitt would come home on a wild pitch, which was followed by a deep sacrifice flyout by Jake Engel to the wall in center field to plate both Ipson and Feist. Then with runners on the corners and two out, Fisher came through with an RBI-single to extend the Blazer lead to 8-2.

The Mavericks countered with two runs of their own in the home fourth, but Dixie State quickly got those runs back in the fifth with a Tyler Hollow two-run double that pushed the DSU advantage back to six runs at 10-4.

The run support was more than enough for sophomore southpaw Jack Gonzales (W, 6-2), who limited CMU to five runs and five hits with four strikeouts to earn the complete-game victory. Feist collected a team-high three hits as DSU outhit CMU 11-5, while Hollow, Engel and Fisher each finished with two RBI apiece.

In the nightcap, Dixie State trailed 6-2 after three innings complete after the Mavericks scored four third-inning runs to break a 2-2 tie. However the Trailblazers would counter punch with three runs in the fourth and plated another in the fifth pull even at 6-6.

DSU got those three fifth-inning runs off the bat of Hollow, who cashed in an Ipson lead-off single and a Jagun Leavitt walk with his third home run the season. Engel then tied the game an inning later with a clutch two-out single to center field.

CMU did not take long to reclaim the lead as the Mavericks used RBI-doubles from Hunter Douglas and Jordan Stubbings in the home half of the fifth to extend to their eventual winning margin. The CMU bullpen then took over from there as three relievers combined to retire six of the final seven Trailblazer hitters of the day to close out the series.

Hollow led the Trailblazers with two hits and three RBI, while Feist and Ipson collected a pair of safeties as DSU finished with 11 hits in the game.

Dixie State will return to Grand Junction as the No. 3-seed at the 2019 RMAC Baseball Championship Tournament, which will be held next week, May 8-11, at Suplizio Field with CMU serving as the host school. The Trailblazers will open tourney play against No. 4-seed Colorado-Colorado Springs on Wednesday, May 8, at 11 a.m.