Dixie State dropped the opening game of its four-game WAC series at Sacramento State by a 9-3 count on Friday afternoon at John Smith Field.

Sacramento State starter Scott Randall kept the Blazer bats silent in the first three innings. The Hornet righthander struck out eight of the first 11 DSU batters he faced, while only giving up one hit, which came on a drag bunt single up the first base line by Lane Pritchard after Jake Engel was plunked to lead off the second frame. However Randall would punch out the next three hitters he faced to end the DSU scoring threat.

Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, Dixie State (5-13/3-6 WAC) again looked to break through against Randall as catcher Kaden Hollow doubled to the gap in left center to lead off the stanza. Hollow would advance to third on an Engel flyout, but he would be stranded on the base paths as the Hornets escaped without further damage.

Sacramento State would tack on two more runs in the home fourth, while Randall retired the next 10 Blazer hitters he faced after Hollow double.

Dixie State finally got on the scoreboard in the seventh when Chase Rodriguez singled home Pritchard with two outs to cut the deficit to 3-1. The Hornets countered with two runs after the stretch and four more in the eighth, and would cruise on from there for the series-opening win.

The Trailblazers wound up with nine hits on the day, including a three-hit effort from Pritchard to go with two runs scored. Meanwhile, DSU starter Jimmy Borzone (L, 0-3) kept the Blazers in the game before running into trouble in the seventh. The junior righthander fanned seven Hornets over 6.2 innings of work, while he scattered five runs and nine hits. 

Randall (W, 4-0) finished with Hornet program record tying 14 strikeouts on the day he limited DSU to four hits and one run over seven complete to earn the win.

In all, Hornet pitching combined to strike out 17 Trailblazers, which tied a DSU program record for most strikeouts in a game (17 vs. Colorado School of Mines, 5/10/19).  

The two teams will play the middle pair of their four-game weekend series on Saturday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m. (PT).