Game Times (Mountain):
Thursday - 6 p.m.
Friday (DH) - 12 noon
Saturday - 12 noon
Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | APU
Audio/Video: NONE
Live Stats: vs. APU
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | @Dixie_Baseball | #DixieBlazers | #RMACbase | #D2Baseball
 
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Thursday (G1) – RHP Justin Dunham (1-0, 1.12 ERA) vs. LHP A.J. Woodall (1-1, 2.53 ERA)
Friday (G2) – LHP Jack Gonzales (1-0, 2.00 ERA) vs. RHP Joe Wills (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Friday (G3) – RHP Haiden Hendricks (1-0, 2.57 ERA) vs. RHP Isaac Mendez (0-1, 3.18 ERA)
Saturday (G3) – LHP Tevita Gerber (2-0, 0.82 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Estrella (1-0, 2.57 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: Dixie State (7-0/0-0 RMAC) will open its 2020 home schedule with an 11-game homestand, which starts this weekend with a four-game series against former Pacific West Conference rival Azusa Pacific (3-5) at Bruce Hurst Field.
    Thursday's series opener will begin at 6 p.m., followed by a doubleheader Friday at 12 noon, and Saturday's finale will start at 12 noon.  

ALL-TIME SERIES: Dixie State trails 15-19 in its 10-year series vs. Azusa Pacific, though the two sides have not played since the 2018 season, which was DSU's last season in the PacWest. In 2018, APU came to St. George as the No. 1 ranked team in Division II (NCBWA poll) and won three of four in the series. However the Trailblazers were able to hand the Cougars their first loss of the year with a 14-3 DSU victory in game three (3/2/18), which snapped APU's 16-game season-opening win streak.  
    The Blazers are 12-10 vs. APU over their last 22 games played against the Cougars, which includes a 3-5 mark in the last two series played at Bruce Hurst Field.

LAST TIME OUT: The Trailblazers wrapped up their seven-game season opening road swing with four more victories last weekend in southern California. Dixie State opened the trip with a pair of lopsided wins over Northwest Nazarene (10-4, 2/7; 13-4, 2/8), which was followed by a two-game sweep of host Cal State LA (9-3, 2/8; 15-2, 2/9).
    In all, DSU pounded out 62 total hits and outscored both NNU and CSULA by a combined 47-13 count in the four games to finish the road swing with a perfect 7-0 record.

COACHING STAFF: Two-time Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year Chris Pfatenhauer is his eighth 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), owns a 246-125-1 (.662) overall record at DSU, and a 298-184-1 (.618) career mark.
    Joining Pfatenhauer (UNLV, 2000) in the Trailblazer dugout this season is first-year pitching coach Zach Wilkins (Nevada, 2016), along with sixth-year assistant coaches Matt Hill (Dixie State 2015), and Bobby Rinard (Arizona, 2014).

PFATENHAUER CLOSES IN ON TWO CAREER MILESTONES: Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer enters this weekend's series vs. APU with a chance to reach two career milestones. Coach Pfate needs two more victories to reach the 300-win plateau in his stellar career, and stands four wins shy of notching his 250th victory in the Trailblazer dugout.

DSU IN THE POLLS: Dixie State opened the new season ranked 17th in the Perfect Game 2020 Division II preseason top-25 poll, while the Blazers received votes in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper top-40 preseason rankings, but did not garner any votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) national preseason poll.
    The NCBWA also released its 2020 NCAA Division II South Central Region preseason poll Jan. 28, in which the Trailblazers are ranked fifth heading into the opening weekend.  
     DSU also landed four players on the NCBWA preseason all-region teams, highlighted a preseason first team All-America designation for senior 1B/OF/DH Jake Engel. Engel, along with senior closer Brayden Bonner, also earned first team all-region honors, while junior 2B Tyler Hollow (second-straight year) and sophomore 3B Tyson Fisher were named to the second team.

TRAILBLAZERS VOTED SECOND IN RMAC PRESEASON POLL: Dixie State was picked to finish second in the 2020 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference baseball preseason coaches' poll released on Jan. 29.
    Defending RMAC regular season and tournament champion, and 2019 D-II national runner-up Colorado Mesa collected nine of a possible 10 first place votes to claim the top spot in the poll with 81 points, while DSU received one first place nod and 68 points. Colorado School of Mines tallied 63 points to finish third in the poll, followed by UCCS (55 pts) in fourth and MSU Denver (53 pts) in fifth to round out the top-half of the 10-team poll.

LAST SEASON IN THE RMAC: After joining the RMAC in 2018, the 2020 season will mark the second and final season the Trailblazers will be a competing member of the conference. In the upcoming 2020-21 season, Dixie State will begin its transition to NCAA Division I status and will become a new member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). 

OPENING DAY: With its 14-7 season-opening win at Cal State San Marcos (1/31), Dixie State improved to 9-5 all-time on "Opening Day" during the program's Division II era. The Blazers have now won five-straight and nine of their last 11 season debuts overall.
    In addition, DSU is 8-6 all-time in road openers, and the Blazers are 5-2 in season-opening road games overall. Meanwhile, Dixie State owns an 8-5 overall record in home openers.

HOW SWEEP IT IS: Dixie State's sweep at Cal State San Marcos two weeks ago was the program's third season-opening series sweep in the last five years, and was the fifth season-opening sweep in the program's NCAA era overall.
    Three of the five sweeps have come on the road, including the last instance, a four-game sweep at Cal State San Bernardino in 2017, and a four-game sweep at Academy of Art to open the 2012 campaign. DSU also posted a four-game sweep of San Bernardino at Bruce Hurst Field in 2016, and recorded a two-game home sweep of Colorado Mesa in a rain-shortened series (scheduled for four games) in 2010.

IT'S NOT HOW YOU START....: For the second time in the program's NCAA era, Dixie State has opened a season with at least seven-straight victories, while it is the first time in program history that the Trailblazers have begun the season with seven-straight wins AWAY FROM HOME.
    In 2016, Dixie State began that season with 10-straight wins, all of which came inside the friendly confines of Bruce Hurst Field, on its way to a school record 40 victories overall.

HOME SWEET HOME: Dixie State closed its 2019 home slate by winning seven of its final eight games to clinch its 13-straight home winning record since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2007. The Trailblazers have played to a 262-98 (.728) overall record in 360 games played inside the friendly confines of Bruce Hurst Field in the program's NCAA era, including a 21-7 mark (.750) this season.
    Dixie State has won 20 or more games in eight of 13 seasons at home, 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 W% 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 in 2018 and 14 victories in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The Trailblazers continued that trend in their RMAC debut as they played to a 13-3 home record (.812) in league games.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Dixie State has held its own away from home as the Trailblazers own a 151-131-1 overall road record (.535) through 13-plus years of D-II competition, which includes a 7-0 start this season, and an 11-11 mark last season. DSU has posted a winning road record in seven of their last nine seasons overall, highlighted by a 16-7-1 road mark in 2017. The 16 road wins were the most in program history since beginning 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 (14-11 in 25 games), Dixie State is 165-142-1 (.537) all-time away from Bruce Hurst Field in the program's NCAA era.

JUST WIN BABY: The Trailblazers have reached the 30-win plateau 10 times in the last 11 seasons overall, which included nine-straight seasons (2009-17), however that streak was halted in 2018 when the Blazers posted an even 25-25 mark.
    In fact, DSU has won 35 of more games in four of the last six campaigns 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.

HERE'S TO THE NEXT 400: Dixie State picked up its 400th win in the program's NCAA era in the series opener vs. UCCS (6-1) on March 16, 2019. DSU is 427-240-1 (.640) all-time through 13-plus years of NCAA Division II competition (668 games).

A DECADE OF DOMINANCE: Dixie State closed out the 2010-19 decade as one of the most all-around successful programs in the NCAA Division II ranks. DSU posted a 337-179-1 (.653) overall record and captured three Pacific West Conference championships (2011/2014/2015) over that 10-year span.
    In addition, the program earned six-straight NCAA Tournament regional berths from 2012-17, and recorded 30 or more wins in nine of 10 seasons overall, including five 35-plus win campaigns.  
    Dixie State was just as tough in conference play as the program finished the decade with a .666 overall winning percentage against league opponents, which included a 227-112-1 mark in PacWest play (.669), and a 23-13 (.639) RMAC record in 2019.

FREE BASEBALL: The Trailblazers played in one extra inning games last season, which resulted in an 8-5 loss in eight innings to Regis (4/19/19). Dating back to the 2016 season, the Trailblazers have won five of their last seven extra inning games overall, and are 31-15 (.674) in 46 total extra-inning games in the program's four-year era.

FROM POLE TO POLE: Senior 1B/OF/DH Jake Engel (.448/1 HR/9 RBI) extended his hitting streak to a career-best 12-straight (dating back to the final five games of 2019) after batting an even .500 (9-for-18) with a pair of doubles five RBI and seven runs scored on the weekend ... Engel rapped out at least two hits in all four games on the trip, which culminated with a 3-for-5 day with a double and two RBI in the finale vs. CSULA on Sunday ... Engel's HR in G3 at CS San Marcos (2/2) moved him into solo seventh on DSU's career HR list (17).
    Senior RF Lane Pritchard (.481/2 HR/6 RBI) led the Blazers with 10 hits and a .625 average (10-for-16) in four starts over the weekend ... three of his 10 safeties went for extra bases, including a pair of home runs in both games of Saturday's split DH, highlighted by a lead-off homer in the finale at CSULA ... Pritchard's lead-off HR came nine months to the day of DSU's last lead-off homer, which was launched off the bat of Tyler Hollow in the RMAC tourney first round game vs. UCCS (5/8/19).
    Senior CF Braden Stutzman (.375/1 HR/5 RBI) also hit .500 (8-for-16) in four starts in LA, which included a pair of three-hit games vs. NNU ... Stutzman homered and drove in two runs out of the lead-off spot in the opener, then reached on three singles and drove in another run in G2 ... he also doubled as part of a two-hit day in G1 at CSULA.
     Sophomore OF Drake Benner played in three of four games with one start and collected one hit, but that hit was his first collegiate home run, which came in the ninth inning in G1 vs. NNU ... sophomore OF Ben Petty-Hull picked up his first hit of the year as a pinch hitter in G2 vs. NNU.   

AROUND THE HORN: Sophomore 3B Tyson Fisher (.519/2 HR/8 RBI) continued to stay hot to begin the 2020 season as he hit .438 (7-for-16) last weekend with a double, homer and three RBI ... Fisher hit safely in all four games, which included a combined five hits in the Saturday split DH ... Fisher, who is the team's leading hitter (.519) was named RMAC Offensive Player of the Week after batting .636 (7-for-11) with four extra base hits, five RBI and three runs scored in the Cal State San Marcos series.
    Junior 2B Tyler Hollow (.423/0 HR/8 RBI) was one of four Trailblazers who drove in at least five runs last weekend in Los Angeles ... Hollow, who has hit safely in five-straight games, batted .389 (7-for-18) in four starts with a double and three runs scored.
    Junior SS Alec Flemetakis (.278/0 HR/3 RBI) got the start in both games vs. NNU and in the finale at CSULA, and batted a combined .273 (3-for-11) with a pair of RBI ... junior SS Tanner Argyle (.500/0 HR/1 RBI) started in G1 at CSULA and reached base safely in all three plate appearances (1B, 2 HBP).
    Junior 1B/C Tanner Harper (.500/1 HR/6 RBI) enjoyed arguably his finest weekend in his two-plus seasons as a Trailblazer as he batted a combined .533 (8-for-15) with four XBH and five RBI in four starts in LA ... Harper, who has hit safely in all seven games this season (career-high), had at least two hits in three of the four games, which began with a 3-for-3 day with two runs scored in G1 vs. NNU ... the junior followed that up with his second career HR as part of a 2-for-4 day with two RBI in G2 vs. NNU, then collected two hits (three total) and drove in a pair of runs in the finale at CSULA on Sunday.
    Freshman 3B Jake Schulz became the second Blazer newcomer in as many weekends to collect his first collegiate hit and RBI as he connected for a two-run pinch-hit HR in the eighth inning of Sunday's finale at CSULA. 

THE BACKSTOP: Senior Cade Spurlin (.250/2 HR/9 RBI) shook off the rocky start to his 2020 campaign in a big way last weekend in LA as he hit .308 (4-for-13) with a team-high seven RBI and five runs scored ... all four of Spurlin's hits went for extra bases, including DSU's first two triples of the year, which came in each game of Saturday's NNU/CSULA split DH ... Spurlin also homered in G1 vs. NNU, a third-inning three-run blast to get DSU on the board, and belted an eighth-inning solo shot in the Sunday finale at CSULA.
    Freshman Kaden Hollow made his first start a memorable one as he picked up his first collegiate hit and RBI with a two-run first inning double in the finale at CSUSM (2/2). 

THE ROTATION: Junior RHP Justin Dunham (1-0/1.12 ERA/10 K), who will start G1 Thursday vs. Azusa Pacific, picked up his first win as a Trailblazer after he struck out seven and scattered one run on four hits in G1 vs. NNU ... Friday's G2 starter, junior LHP Jack Gonzales (1-0/2.00 ERA/9 K), started G1 at CSULA but did not figure into the decision after allowing one run on three hits in 4.0 IP ... Junior RHP Haiden Hendricks (1-0/2.57 ERA/4 K) will make his second start of the year in G3 vs. APU on Friday ... Hendricks earned his first win of the year in G2 vs. NNU, against which he surrendered two runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts in 5.0 IP ... Senior LHP Tevita Gerber (2-0/0.82 ERA/12 K) will get the call in Saturday's finale vs. APU ... the senior southpaw is coming off his second-straight gem to start the season in the finale at CSULA last Sunday, against which he struck out a career-high tying six and surrendered just one run on two hits in 5.0 innings complete to earn his second win of the season ... He fanned four of the first six Golden Eagles he faced, while the Blazer offense scored nine runs of support for him ... Gerber was named RMAC Pitcher of the Week (2/3) after he fired six innings of two-hit shutout baseball on just 70 pitches in the finale at CSUSM (2/2) ... the senior recorded six strikeouts and retired the final nine Cougars he faced.

CALL TO THE PEN: Senior closer Brayden Bonner collected his first save of the season, and ninth of his career, in G2 at CSUSM (2/1) ... Bonner pitched a spotless ninth inning with a strikeout ... the senior's save moved him into a tie for sixth place on DSU's career saves lists with former DSU hurlers Tanner Howell (2015-18) and Spencer Greer (2016) ... senior RHP Preston Hannay (0-0/0.00 ERA/7 K) continued his solid work in the early going as he struck out four in 3.0 innings of two-hit shutout relief in G2 vs. NNU ... freshman southpaw Benton Hart (1-0/1.50 ERA/5 K)made the most of his collegiate debut as he fired 3.1 innings of scoreless relief with four strikeouts to earn the decision in the opener at CSUSM (1/31) ... Hart worked 1.2 IP in G1 vs. NNU and allowed one run and two hits ... sophomore RHP Zach Thomas pitched 2.1 innings of spotless relief in G1 vs. CSULA last Saturday to earn his first collegiate win.
    Dixie State's bullpen was solid across the board as nine total relievers combined to surrender 13 hits and eight runs (five earned - 2.70 ERA) with 15 strikeouts in 16.2 innings of work.

TEAM NOTES
* - Dixie State touched up NNU/CSULA pitching for a combined .392 batting average over the four games last weekend ... 20 of the Blazers' 62 total hits went for extra bases, including nine doubles (23 over seven games overall) and nine homers to go with the two Spurlin triples.
* - Dixie State enters this weekend as the NCAA D-II leader in hits (95), doubles (t-first, 23) and runs scored (73), while the Blazers are t-second in the country in HRs (12), fifth in batting (.361) and seventh in SLG% (.601) and OB% (.460).  
* - Through seven games this season, DSU is averaging an RMAC best 10.4 runs (7th-nationally) and 13.5 hits per game ... DSU also owns a conference best 1.86 team ERA (9th-nationally), is tied for first in opponent BA (.218) and is second in the RMAC in total strikeouts (63, 9.0 K/9).
* - Dixie State's last three-game series sweep came nearly two years to the weekend when the Blazers took three from Cal State San Bernardino at Bruce Hurst Field (2/9-11/18). 

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State continues the homestand next weekend with a three-game set vs. Concordia-Portland on Feb. 22-23.