On a day when senior Jake Engel became Dixie State's career home run leader on Senior Day, the Trailblazers completed their third-straight home WAC series sweep with a 9-6 triumph over Northern Colorado on Saturday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field.

DSU extended its season-best win streak to eight-straight with the victory to move to 23-30 overall. In addition, with the sweep the Blazers finished their first season of WAC play in fourth place with a 21-15 conference record.

The winning streak looked to be in jeopardy in the first inning when Josh Glenn ambushed a two-out, 0-1 pitch from Tevita Gerber (ND) and drove it over the left field wall for a three-run UNC (11-36/7-24 WAC) home run.

Engel got one of those runs back in the home first when, also on an 0-1 pitch, he launched his record-breaking 32^nd-career home run over the center field wall to make a 3-1 game. The homer was Engel's team-leading 10^th of the season, and the third long ball in his last five games overall.

DSU pulled within a run with an unearned tally in second, then after the Bears scored one in the third, the Blazers countered with single runs in the home third and fifth frames to knot the score at 4-4.

The game remained deadlocked until the DSU seventh when the Trailblazers struck for four runs on four hits, all with two outs in the stanza, to vault to an 8-4 lead.

Kaden Hollow got the hit parade going with a double to center to plate Engel, who drew a walk to lead off the frame. Tyson Fisher followed with a sharp single up the middle to chase home Hollow.

Jagun Leavitt then laced an opposite field double down the third base line, which brought up Mathew Ivancich, who beat out an infield single that plated Fisher, while Leavitt scampered home on an errant throw on the same play.

Northern Colorado cut the deficit in half an inning later thanks to a pinch hit two-run homer off the bat of Johnny Graham. However Hollow answered that with his third RBI-hit of the day to drive in a big insurance run in the Blazer eighth.

Jack Gonzales and senior closer Brayden Bonner would combine to retire the Bears in order in the ninth to wrap up the series sweep.

Hollow went 3-for-5 at the plate with those three RBI as Dixie State outhit UNC 9-5. Freshman righthander Ryan Hardman (W, 3-6), who came on to relieve Gerber in the third, retired 14-straight Bears from the fourth inning on before giving up a hit and the Graham homer in the UNC eighth. 

Hardman finished with four strikeouts on day on his way to his third win of the season. Meanwhile Gerber, who had not pitched since April 11 at USC, fanned four in 2.2 innings of work in his final home start in a Trailblazer uniform.

The Trailblazers wrapped up their 2021 home slate with a 17-9 overall record, including 12-straight wins, 11 of which came in the month of May.

Dixie State will put a bow on its 2021 NCAA Division I debut season with a three-game road series at nationally-ranked Arizona next weekend, May 27-29, in Tucson.