Game Times (Mountain):
Friday - 6:05 p.m.
Saturday - 2:05 p.m./5:05 p.m. (approx.)
Sunday - 12:05 p.m.
Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | SEATTLE U - PDF
WAC DIGITAL NETWORK: vs. SEATTLE U
Live Stats: vs. SEATTLE U
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | @Dixie_Baseball | #DixieBlazers | #WACbsb
 
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday (G1) – RHP #29 Dillon Holliday (3-2, 5.08 ERA) vs. RHP #25 Morgan White (1-3, 4.50 ERA)
Saturday (G2) – RHP #40 Jimmy Borzone (2-5, 6.63 ERA) vs. RHP #17 Alex Jemal (2-7, 3.68 ERA)
Saturday (G3) – RHP #18 Brett Porthan (1-0, 5.46 ERA) vs. LHP #26 Peter Chronowski (2-3, 4.20 ERA)
Sunday (G4) – RHP #21 Ryan Hardman (1-6, 10.10 ERA) vs. TBD

FIRST PITCH: Dixie State (15-30/13-15 WAC) opens its longest, and final, homestand of the 2021 season this weekend with a four-game WAC series vs. Seattle U (13-26/7-17 WAC) at Bruce Hurst Field.
    The series opener will take place on Friday night at 6:05 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday at 2:05 p.m., and the series finale on Sunday at 12:05 p.m.

ALL-TIME SERIES: This weekend's series will mark the first-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Redhawks on the diamond.

HI, MY NAME IS ....: After 14 years as a competing member of the NCAA at the Division II level, Dixie State has embarked on its first season transitioning to Division I status as one of two new members (along with Tarleton State) of the Western Athletic Conference.  
    During their 14-year Division II era, the Trailblazers played to a 435-243-1 (.641) overall record. Dixie State won four conference regular season championships (4 Pacific West Conference), and made six-straight NCAA D-II Baseball Tournament regional appearances from 2012-17 (9-12 record in NCAA Tournament games).

DIXIE STATE ON THE WEB: All Dixie State home games this season will be streamed live online on the WAC Digital Network (wacdigitalnetwork.com). The WDN is also available on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Roku TV, while the WDN app is available for iOS in the Apple Store and Android on Google Play.

COACHING STAFF: Two-time Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year Chris Pfatenhauer is in his ninth season as head coach of the Dixie State Baseball program. During his tenure in the Trailblazer dugout, Pfatenhauer 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 269-158-1 (.629) overall record at DSU, and a 321-217-1 (.596) career mark.
    Joining Pfatenhauer (UNLV, 2000) in the Trailblazer dugout this season is second-year pitching coach Zach Wilkins (Nevada, 2016), along with seventh-year assistant coaches Bobby Rinard (Arizona, 2014) and Matt Hill (Dixie State 2015).

LAST TIME OUT: A week after posting its first series sweep in their new D-I era, the Trailblazers saw the tables turned on them as Dixie State dropped all four games at former PacWest rival and current WAC co-leader Grand Canyon last weekend in Phoenix.
    The Blazers were shut out for the first time this season in the series opener, 10-0 in seven innings, and then were blanked again in game two by a 5-0 count as DSU was held to just two hits in each of those first two games. Dixie State followed that up with a hard-fought 4-3 loss in 10 innings in game three, and dropped the series finale on Sunday, 6-3.

WAKE UP THE BATS: Dixie State will look to get back on track offensively this weekend vs. Seattle U after struggling in its four-game set at GCU. The Blazers hit a paltry .168 in the four games vs. the Lopes with 19 hits - all singles, and managed to score only six total runs, which broke a school NCAA era record for fewest runs in a four-game series in the program's NCAA era. The previous record was eight runs scored in a four-game set at Hawai'i Pacific (3/13-15/13) during the 2013 season.
    DSU was also shutout in consecutive games for just the third time in its four-year era in the first two games of the GCU series. The first occasion also happened at HPU in 2013, while the second occurrence came in the 2014 season (at Colorado Mesa; 0-2/0-1 – 2/15/14).

BEST IN STATE?: Dixie State finished the in-state portion of its D-I debut schedule with a 6-2 mark against the other three Utah baseball schools this season. Along with their four-game sweep of Utah Valley two weeks ago, the Trailblazers split home-and-home single game series against both PAC-12 member Utah and West Coast Conference member BYU.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Dixie State posted a pair of D-I firsts in its series finale win over Utah Valley back on May 2. Not only did the Trailblazers complete their first series sweep as a newly minted D-I program, they recorded its first shutout victory in the new era.

HERE'S TO THE NEXT 450 ..... and 700: Dixie State also picked up its 450th win, and the 50th shutout victory, as an NCAA program in the finale vs. UVU back on May 2. In addition, DSU earned a victory in the program's 700th game in the four-year era earlier this season in the series finale at Sacramento State (7-5, 3/28).
    DSU is 450-273-1 (.622) all-time through 14-plus years of NCAA competition (724 games).

HOME SWEET HOME: The Trailblazers have played to a 279-110 (.717) overall record in 389 games played inside the friendly confines of Bruce Hurst Field in the program's NCAA era, including a 9-9 mark this year, and an 8-3 record (.727) in a shortened 2020 season.
    Dixie State closed its 2019 home slate by winning seven of its final eight games to clinch its 13-straight home winning record (21-7, .750) since becoming an NCAA program in 2007.
    DSU has won 20 or more games in eight of 14 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.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Dixie State has held its own away from home as the Trailblazers own a 157-152-1 overall road record (.508) in its four-year era, though they are 8-18 away from home so far this season.
    While the Blazers are currently 6-21 away from home this season, DSU has posted a winning road record in eight of their last 11 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 171-163-1 (.512) all-time away from Bruce Hurst Field in the program's NCAA era.

JUST WIN BABY: Last weekend's sweep at GCU also meant that for the first time since joining the NCAA ranks in 2007, Dixie State will see its final season record dip below the .500 plateau.
    Dixie State has played to a winning record in 13 of its previous 14 seasons, with the lone exception coming in 2018, when the Trailblazers posted an even 25-25 mark. In fact, DSU has reached the 30-win plateau 10 times in 15 seasons of NCAA play overall, which included nine-straight seasons (2009-17).
    DSU has won 35 of more games in a season four times 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.

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.

TRAILBLAZER QUICK HITS:
* - Senior 1B/OF/DH Jake Engel (.308/7 HR/23 RBI) was one of the few bright spots for the DSU offense at GCU last weekend ... Engel hit safely in all four games and batted .385 (5-for-13) in the series with an RBI, run scored and a stolen base.
* - Engel broke out of a combined 3-for-17 (.176) slump vs. CBU/at BYU in a big way in the San Diego State series, where he batted .455 (5-for-11) with four solo home runs in the April 30 twin bill, including three long balls in consecutive ABs in game one of the series.
* - Engel, who also drew a pair of walks in G1 at SDSU, became the second player in Dixie State's NCAA era to homer in three-straight plate appearances (Brody Clifford at Adams State – 3/10/19).
* - Engel also connected for his seventh homer of the season to lead off the fifth inning in G2 at SDSU (4/30) ... that homer, the 29th of his stellar collegiate career, moved him to within three homers of becoming DSU's career home run leader (Drew Oldfield - 31, 2009-10).
* - Five of Engel's co-team leading seven HRs this season have come in two games, including his first two home runs of the year to go with four RBI in the series finale at Wichita State (3/7) ... he then connected for his third homer of the season and drove in a career-high tying five runs in the road win at NMSU (3/14).
* -  Engel's two-homer day at Wichita State came nearly 13 months since his last one, which happened at home vs. Azusa Pacific (2/13/20) ... meanwhile, Engel last drove in five runs in a home win over CSU-Pueblo nearly two years to the day (3/31/19).
* - Engel enters this weekend's series vs. Seattle U third in program history in career RBI (131) and total bases (308), fourth in career runs (131), career doubles (35), SLG% (.598) and career OB% (.448), sixth in career hits (176) and walks (83), and eighth in career average (.342).
* - Senior OF Lane Pritchard (.327 - #6 in the WAC/4 HR/27 RBI) saw his seven-game hit streak and his 18-game on-base streak come to an end in the series opener at GCU last Friday night, and he was held to just one hit in 12 plate appearances in the series.
* - Prior to the GCU series, Pritchard was on quite the run over his last 25 games, during which he batted .415 (39-for-94) with seven three-hit outings, including a 3-for-4 day in the series finale vs. UVU (5/2) with a triple, home run and three RBI.
* - Pritchard batted .533 (8-for-15) against UVU pitching and drove in a team-high nine runs in the series, along with posting a .933 SLG%.
* - Pritchard has collected 20 of his 27 RBI, and 10 of his 15 XBH, over that 25-game stretch with five stolen bases.
* - Pritchard enters this weekend's home series batting a team-best .367 in WAC play ... he needs four stolen bases to move into second place on DSU's career stolen bases list (29 steals) ... in addition the senior OF is currently ranked fifth in program history in OB% (.447), t-sixth in career batting (.346) and ninth in SLG% (.533).
* - Junior CF Jagun Leavitt (.275/4 RBI) is batting .454 over his last eight games and has hit safely in seven of those outings ... after being held hitless in the opener at GCU, Leavitt collected five hits in the final three games of the series, including a three-hit effort in game three, and wound up 5-for-13 (.385) in the set with a stolen base.
* - Leavitt had himself a series vs. UVU two weeks ago, against which he hit a team-high .556 (5-for-9) and posted a whopping .733 OB% ... Leavitt hit safely in all four games with three walks and three HBPs, and led the team with three stolen bases (3-for-3) and eight runs scored ... he also picked up his fourth RBI of the year on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze for the 9-8 walk-off win in the series opener.
* - Since being inserted as the DSU lead-off hitter in G3 at Sacramento State (3/27), freshman 3B/2B Shane Taylor (.272/3 HR/18 RBI) has batted .304 (28-of-92) with six XBH over his last 26 games ... though that average took a dip as the freshman went 1-for-15 at the plate in the GCU series.
* - Taylor hit .545 (6-for-11) in four starts vs. UVU with a pair of doubles, seven RBI and six runs scored ... Taylor collected at least one RBI in all four games, highlighted by a career-high three RBI in series finale (5/2).   
* - Sophomore OF Drake Benner (.280/1 HR/4 RBI) posted his first collegiate three-hit game in game three vs. GCU last Saturday ... Benner also drove in two of DSU's three runs in the extra-inning affair.
* - Senior DH Cade Spurlin (.235/5 HR/17 RBI) has collected six of his 10 XBH of the season in his last 23 outings, including his fifth HR of the year in G1 vs. UVU (4/30) ... he also homered and batted  .429 (3-for-7) in three games at San Diego State (4/30-5/2) with two runs scored.
* - Junior SS Mathew Ivancich (.191/2 HR/9 RBI) connected for his first two HRs as a Trailblazer in the two bookend games of the UVU series, highlighted by a solo blast that flew well over the CF batter's eye to lead off the fifth inning in the series opener (4/30) ... he then ended the series with a "walk-off" two-run shot to give DSU a double-digit lead in the seventh in the series finale (5/2 ; W, 11-0).
* - Sophomore OF/3B/DH Tyson Fisher (.136/5 HR/12 RBI) moved into eighth place on DSU's career HR list with his 17th long ball in the finale vs. UVU (5/2) ... Fisher also plated the winning run on Leavitt's squeeze bunt in the UVU series opener (4/30).
* - DSU hit six homers against Aztec pitching, all solo shots, and connected for five more in the UVU series (three solo).
* - Of note, 24 of Dixie State's 39 total home runs this season have come with the bases empty ... DSU's 39 home runs on the year are tied for the sixth-most in the program's NCAA era .
* - Freshman C Kaden Hollow (.312/7 HR/30 RBI) will look to get back on track after being held hitless in three starts at GCU last weekend (0-for-7) ... Hollow did draw a walk and was credited with two sacrifice bunts in the series.
* - Hollow broke an 0-for-11 stretch with a sixth-inning double in G1 vs. UVU (4/30) ... Hollow batted .273 (3-for-11) overall in the series with a pair of RBI, which padded his team-leading RBI total.
* - Hollow hit .313 (5-for-16) with an RBI and run scored in four starts vs. CBU (4/16-18) ... however he was held hitless in four ABs in at BYU (4/20), and went 0-for-9 combined in two starts at San Diego State two weeks ago.  
* - Hollow, who is batting at a .375 clip against WAC pitching, hit .615 (8-for-13) and posted a 1.231 SLG% in the four games at Tarleton (4/1-3) ... he finished with two doubles, two homers, seven RBI and seven runs scored in the four game set.
* - Hollow kept the vibe going in the home loss vs. Utah (4/6), against which he went 2-for-2 with a double and a two-run home run in the third inning.
* - Hollow feasted on Utah pitching as he also homered twice and drove in a career-high six runs in the Blazers' 9-7 road win back on March 23 ... Hollow drilled a grand slam in the fourth inning, then followed that up with a two-run shot in the sixth that gave DSU an 8-0 lead, as the freshman posted his first collegiate four-hit game.
* - Dixie State broke a rather dubious record during the UVU series as the Trailblazers set a new strikeout record....at the plate ... DSU has now struck out 412 times this season (with 11 games to go), including a combined 29 Ks at GCU ... the previous school record was 350 Ks set in 2008.
* - DSU's pitching staff has fanned 305 batters thus far this season, which is good for sixth all-time in the program's four-year era.
* - Freshman RHP Dillon Holliday (3-2/5.08 ERA/24 K), who will start G1 vs. Seattle U on Friday, picked up his team-leading third win of the year in the series opener vs. CBU (4/16) ... Holliday struck out a career-high five and surrendered only one run and four hits in 5.2 IP.
* - Holliday was credited with his first collegiate pitching victory at Utah (3/16), against which he threw 2.0 shutout innings to open the game, striking out two while surrendering only two hits ... Holliday quickly got win number two five days later after he pitched 2.1 spotless innings of relief with a strikeout in the win at Sac State (3/28).
* - Junior RHP Jimmy Borzone (2-5/6.63 ERA/55 K) was saddled with the loss in G2 at GCU last Saturday despite surrendering just one run and five hits in 4.1IP in the seven inning game ... Borzone also did not record a strikeout for the first time in his 11 appearances this season.
* - Borzone notched the first major highlight of DSU's new NCAA D-I journey when he fired the second no-hitter in DSU's four-year era at Tarleton State back on April 2, for which he was named TicketSmarter WAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week (4/5).
* - Borzone struck out eight, which was one off of his career high (9 at Wichita State, 3/5), and allowed only four total base runners (3 HBP, 1 BB) in the Trailblazers' 5-1 victory in seven innings ... the junior retired the final 14 Texan batters he faced and threw 97 pitches on his way to his first complete-game win.
*- Prior to Borzone's day, Dixie State's only other no-hitter came nearly six years to the day on April 3, 2015, when former DSU hurler John Conquy blanked Fresno Pacific, 1-0, in a seven-inning road win. Borzone's no-no was also the 25th no-hitter in WAC history.
* - Borzone, who is slated to start G2 vs. Seattle U on Saturday, leads the DSU staff with 55 K in 57.0 IP and is seventh on DSU's single-season K/9IP list (8.68).
* - Freshman RHP Brett Porthan (1-0/5.46 ERA/15 K), who is scheduled to start game three vs. Seattle U on Saturday, scattered five hits and two runs in 5.1 IP in G3 at GCU, but did not figure in the decision.
* - Porthan picked up his first collegiate win in G3 vs. UVU (5/1) ... Porthan retired nine of the first 10 Wolverines he faced and held UVU just two runs and five hits with three strikeouts to earn 7.0 IP complete game victory.
* - Not to be outdone, fellow freshman RHP Ryan Hardman (1-6/10.10 ERA/30 K) fired six innings of five-hit shutout baseball with a career-high tying five strikeouts to earn his first collegiate victory in the series finale vs. UVU (5/2) ... Hardman retired 11 of the first 13 UVU hitters he faced, including four on strikes, while no UVU base runner advanced past second base on the freshman.
* - Holliday worked a scoreless seventh as DSU won that final game by the WAC run rule ... the combined ShO came exactly 15 months to the day since DSU's last one, which was turned in by current Blazer hurlers Tevita Gerber, Haiden Hendricks and Zach Hansen in a 7-0 win at Cal State San Marcos (2/2/20).
* - After struggling in his first two starts of the year, junior LHP Jack Gonzales (2-4/5.82 ERA/54 K) has been virtually lights out in his last 18 appearances - all in relief ... Gonzales has struck out 47 batters in 29.0 innings out of the Blazer bullpen, including a season-high six Ks in 3.2 scoreless innings in G3 at GCU last Saturday.
* - Gonzales collected his second win of the season in G2 vs. UVU (5/1), against which he tossed 3.0 hitless innings ... he also earned the decision in the Tarleton series finale (4/3).
*  - Gonzales owns a 3.20 ERA in WAC play with 33 strikeouts in 19.2 IP ... WAC hitters are also batting a paltry .188 against the southpaw, while he is holding all opposing batters to a .234 clip, both of which leads the DSU staff.
*- Gonzales enters this weekend's series vs. Seattle as DSU's single season (14.29) career K/9IP leader (9.51), and he is currently fourth in career appearances (49) and moved to fourth overall in career strikeouts (141).
* - Senior closer Brayden Bonner (2-2/5 SV/9.00 ERA/18 K) became DSU's career leader (66 APP) in appearances when he earned a save in the series finale vs. UTRGV (3/21) ... Bonner also saved both wins in the CBU series, and he enters this weekend in solo fourth on DSU's career saves list (14).  

FREE BASEBALL: After not playing an extra inning game in two full seasons, Dixie State has played five extra inning affairs in its last 23 games overall. DSU saw its 52-straight game streak of not playing an extra inning game come to an end in the series opener at Tarleton (L, 9-10, 4/1), then lost in the 10th inning in game two at San Diego State (4/24).
    DSU did manage to even its season extra-inning record at 2-2 thanks to victories over Utah Valley in the first two games of that series two weeks ago, but dropped a 4-3 decision at GCU in game three of that series last Saturday.
    The Trailblazers are 33-18 (.647) in 51 total extra-inning games in the program's four-year era, 16-8 in 10-inning games, and the program has won seven of its last 12 extra inning games overall.

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State closes out the home portion of its D-I debut season with its final WAC series of the year next weekend, May 20-22, with a four-game set vs. Northern Colorado.