No. 24 Dixie State clinched its first RMAC series win of the 2020 season in dominant fashion thanks to a pair of lopsided seven-inning victories over Adams State Saturday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field. The Trailblazers combined to outscore ASU 45-4 in the two wins, blitzing the Grizzlies in game one, 22-2, which was followed by a 23-2 triumph in the nightcap.

Dixie State (14-3/3-0 RMAC) scored all the runs it would need in game one in its first at-bats of the afternoon. The Blazers sent 12 batters to the plate on their way to eight first-inning runs, with seven of those runs coming around to score before Adams State could register the first out.

Lane Pritchard was hit by ASU hurler Cutter Smith (L, 1-1) on the second pitch of the day, while Braden Stutzman beat out an infield single and Tyler Hollow walked to load the bases. Jake Engel followed with a run-scoring infield hit, which was followed by both Cade Spurlin and Tanner Harper getting plunked to force in two more runs.

Tyson Fisher then stepped up and drove a 1-0 Smith pitch over the centerfield wall to clear the bases and stake Dixie State with a commanding 7-0 lead. The grand slam was the first of two Fisher homers on the day.

Stutzman would later add a two-out, RBI-single later in the stanza. The Trailblazers would tack on three more runs in the fourth before scoring a combined 11 runs over their final two offensive frames.

The early run support was more than enough for junior lefthander Jack Gonzales (W, 2-1), who struck out five and surrendered only one run and three hits over five solid innings of work to pick up his second victory of the season.

Stutzman finished with three hits to lead the Blazer offense, while Engel, Fisher and Kaden Hollow collected two hits and four RBI apiece. In all, 13 different Trailblazer batters had at least one hit as Dixie State rapped out 18 hits in the first game.

Dixie State kept the momentum going in the nightcap as the Trailblazers struck for four runs in the first inning and five more in the second to bolt out to a 9-0 advantage. DSU took advantage of two costly Adams State (5-12/0-3 RMAC) errors in the opening stanza, while Engel doubled in two more runs after DSU loaded the bases with no outs in the second. Harper then capped the rally two batters later with his second homer of the season, a two-run blast over the wall in left center.

While the offense continued to manhandle ASU pitching, junior RHP Jimmy Borzone (W, 1-0) shined in his 2020 debut as fired 4.0 innings of one-hit shutout baseball with five strikeouts. Borzone backed up his offense by retiring nine of the first 10 Grizzly batters he faced on just 34 pitches.

In all, Dixie State scored at least four runs in five of its six offensive frames and combined to plate 14 runs over the final three innings. Harper went 3-for-5 with a career-high five RBI and three runs scored to pace the Blazer offense, while Tanner Argyle collected two hits off the bench, which included a pinch-hit grand slam on the second pitch he saw in the Blazer fifth.

In addition, Pritchard, Engel and Drake Benner each finished with two hits and three RBI as eight total Blazer hitters had at least one hit and one RBI in game two.

The two 20-plus run scoring margins on Saturday, including a new school record +21 margin in the second game, marked the first two instances in the program's NCAA era that the Dixie State had won a game by 20 or more runs. The previous school record for largest margin of victory was 19 runs, first set in 2009 in a 28-9 home win over Hawai'i Hilo (3/28/09), and was tied last season in the series finale at Adams State (28-9; 3/10/19). 

Dixie State will look to complete the series sweep in the final game of the Blazers' 11-game homestand on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 12 noon.