Game Times (Mountain):
Friday - 7 p.m.
Saturday (DH) - 3 p.m.
Sunday - 2 p.m.
Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | GCU - PDF
Live Streaming: WAC DIGITAL NETWORK
Live Stats: Game #1 | Game #2 | Game #3 | Game #4
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | @Dixie_Baseball | #DixieBlazers | #WACbsb
 
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Saturday (G1) – RHP #29 Dillon Holliday (3-1, 3.77 ERA) vs. RHP #13 Pierson Ohl (6-1, 2.67 ERA)
Saturday (G2) – RHP #40 Jimmy Borzone (2-4, 7.04 ERA) vs. RHP #33 Carter Young (6-0, 1.99 ERA)
Saturday (G3) – RHP #18 Brett Porthan (1-0, 5.92 ERA) vs. RHP #11 Dawson McCarville (3-2, 3.51 ERA)
Sunday (G4) – RHP #21 Ryan Hardman (1-5, 10.21 ERA) vs. RHP #31 Zach Barnes (4-5, 5.00 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: Dixie State (15-26/13-11 WAC - T-4th place) heads out on its final WAC road trip this weekend as the Trailblazers travel to Phoenix for a four-game series at former PacWest rival Grand Canyon (26-17-1/19-5 WAC - 2nd place).
    The series opener will take place on Friday night at 6 p.m. (PT), followed by a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m. (PT), and the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. (PT), at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: Dixie State owns a 34-19 all-time series lead vs. Grand Canyon, which dates back to when both programs were members of the Pacific West Conference. However, the two sides have not met since the 2013 season, which was GCU's last season in the PacWest before its transition to NCAA Division I status and the program's move to the Western Athletic Conference.
    That season, the Trailblazers won six of the eight meetings between the two teams, including a three-game sweep in Phoenix (May 3-4). However the Lopes claimed the final game of the season series by a 12-3 count (5/16/13) at the 2013 NCAA Division II West Regional tournament, which was hosted by Dixie State.

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, along with all WAC away 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. 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 269-154-1 (.635) overall record at DSU, and a 321-213-1 (.601) 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: Dixie State snapped a six-game losing skid in a big way by sweeping a four-game home series vs. in-state rival Utah Valley last weekend at Bruce Hurst Field. The Blazers trailed for a total of three innings in series, though the first two games of the set featured some late inning fireworks.
    DSU held five runs leads in games #1 and #2, only to see the Wolverines score five times in each of their final at-bat in both games to force extra innings. However the Trailblazers would ultimately prevail in walk-off fashion, 9-8 in 10 innings in the opener and 10-9 in eight innings in game two. Dixie State pitching would rule the day in the final two games of the series as the Blazers won game three by a 4-2 count, and completed the "Old Hammer Rivalry" sweep with an 11-0 win in Sunday's finale and move into a tie for fourth place in the WAC standings.

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 sweep of UVU, 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 Sunday's win over Utah Valley. 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 last Sunday. 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 450-269-1 (.625) all-time through 14-plus years of NCAA competition (720 games).

TRAILBLAZERS VOTED EIGHTH IN WAC PRESEASON POLL: Dixie State was picked to finish eighth by the coaches in its WAC debut season when the 2021 conference baseball preseason poll was released on Feb. 10.
    There was not much consensus on which program will enter the season as the conference favorite as three teams – UT Rio Grande Valley, Grand Canyon and Sacramento State, all finished tied atop the 10-team poll with 73 points apiece. UTRGV did receive four first place votes, while GCU and Sacramento State collected three first place nods apiece.    
    New Mexico State tallied 53 points to finish fourth in the polling, followed by California Baptist (49 pts) in fifth, Seattle U (37 pts) in sixth, Utah Valley (32 pts) in seventh, Dixie State (26 pts) in eighth, and fellow WAC newcomer Tarleton State (17 pts) and Northern Colorado (17 pts) round out the poll in t-ninth.
    The Trailblazers did not have a player representative on the preseason all-WAC Team.

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 157-148-1 overall road record (.514) in its four-year era, and played its 300th NCAA road game in the series opener at USC back on April 9.  
    DSU has posted a winning road record in eight of their last 10 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 171-159-1 (.518) all-time away from Bruce Hurst Field in the program's NCAA era.

JUST WIN BABY: Dixie State has never had a losing season since making the jump to NCAA status in 2007. In fact, DSU has reached the 30-win plateau 10 times in the last 12 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.
    DSU has won 35 of more games in four of the last seven 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.

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 OF Lane Pritchard (.348 - #6 in the WAC/4 HR/27 RBI) has been on quite the run over the last 25 games as he is batting .415 (39-for-94) with seven three-hit outings, including a 3-for-4 day in Sunday's finale vs. UVU 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 this current stretch with five stolen bases.
* - Pritchard, who batted .308 (4-for-13) with a stolen base and run scored at San Diego State, enjoyed a solid series vs. CBU (4/16-18), against which he batted a team-best .692 (9-for-13) with a double, HR, two RBI, four runs scored and two stolen bases.
* - Pritchard (29 SBs), who has hit in seven-straight games and reached base safely in 18-straight, is batting a team-best .407 in WAC play ... he enters the weekend four SBs shy of moving into second place on DSU's career stolen bases list ... in addition the senior OF is currently ranked third in program history in OB% (.457), fifth in career batting (.355) and eighth in SLG% (.547).
* - Senior 1B/OF/DH Jake Engel (.301/7 HR/22 RBI) stayed steady in the UVU series, against which he hit .308 (4-for-13) with his fifth career triple (t-5th all-time at DSU) and two RBI.
* - 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 at GCU third in program history in career RBI (130) and total bases (303), fourth in career runs (130), career doubles (35) and career SLG% (.604), sixth in career hits (171) and walks (82), and eighth in career average (.341).
* - Junior CF Jagun Leavitt (.250/4 RBI) had himself a series last weekend vs. UVU, 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 (.300/3 HR/18 RBI) has batted .350 (27-of-77) with six XBH over his last 22 games.
* - 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 Sunday's finale.   
* - Senior DH Cade Spurlin (.264/5 HR/17 RBI) is batting .348 (16-for-46) over his last his last 19 games and has hit safely in six of his last eight games overall ... Spurlin, who is batting .327 against WAC pitching this year, has seen in season batting average rise 51 points during his current stretch.
* - Spurlin has collected six of his 10 XBH of the season in his last 19 outings, including his fifth HR of the year in G1 vs. UVU ... 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 ... he then ended the series with a "walk-off" two-run shot to give DSU a double-digit lead in the seventh in Sunday's series finale (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 in the Sunday's win vs. UVU ... Fisher, who plated the winning run on Leavitt's squeeze bunt in the UVU series opener, started a three-run rally with a solo shot with one out in the home fourth.
* - 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 (.328/7 HR/30 RBI) broke an 0-for-11 stretch with a sixth-inning double in G1 vs. UVU ... 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.
* - DSU hit a 2021 series-high .342 against UVU and posted a .570 SLG%, which was bested only by a .587 clip in the Tarleton series (4/1-3).
* - Dixie State broke a rather dubious record over the weekend vs. UVU as the Trailblazers set a new strikeout record....at the plate ... DSU has struck out 383 times this season (with 15 games to go), including a combined 27 Ks vs. UVU, which broke the previous record of 350 Ks set in 2008.
* - DSU's pitching staff has fanned 287 batters thus far this season, which is good for eighth all-time in the program's four-year era.
* - Freshman RHP Dillon Holliday (3-1/3.77 ERA/22 K), who will start G1 at GCU 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 (2-4/7.01 ERA/55 K) 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 picked up his second win of the year in G2 vs. CBU (4/17), against which he scattered six hits and fanned seven in 5.1 scoreless innings.
* - Borzone, who is slated to start G2 at GCU on Saturday, leads the DSU staff with 55 K in 52.2 IP and is fourth on DSU's single-season K/9IP list (9.40).
* - Freshman RHP Brett Porthan (1-0/5.92 ERA/13 K), who is scheduled to start game three at GCU on Saturday, picked up his first collegiate win in G3 vs. UVU last Saturday ... 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 (1-5/10.21 ERA/28 K) fired six innings of five-hit shutout baseball with a career-high tying five strikeouts to earn his first collegiate victory in Sunday's finale vs. UVU ... 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 of 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 (2-4/6.53 ERA/48 K) has been virtually lights out in his last 17 appearances - all in relief ... Gonzales has struck out 41 batters in 25.1 innings out of the Blazer bullpen, including a season-high tying five Ks in 2.0 IP in the opener at Tarleton (4/1), and five combined strikeouts in two appearances vs. UVU last weekend.
* - Gonzales collected his second win of the season in G2 vs. UVU, against which he tossed 3.0 hitless innings ... he also earned the decision in the Tarleton series finale (4/3) ... the junior enters this weekend's series at GCU as DSU's single season (14.24) career K/9IP leader (9.37), and he is currently t-fourth in career appearances (48) and fifth in career strikeouts (138).
* - The DSU bullpen accounted for two of the four wins in the UVU series overall, with sophomore RHP Zach Thomas (2-1/10.38 ERA/10 K) picking up his second win of the year in game one last Friday.  
* - Senior closer Brayden Bonner (2-2/5 SV/17 K) became DSU's career leader (65 APP) in games pitched 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 four extra inning games in its last 19 games overall. DSU saw its 52 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 last weekend.
    The Trailblazers are 33-17 (.667) in 50 total extra-inning games in the program's four-year era, 16-7 in 10-inning games, and the program has won seven of its last 11 extra inning games overall.

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State opens its longest, and final, homestand of the 2021 season next weekend, May 14-16, beginning with a four-game WAC series vs. Seattle U. DSU will then close out the home portion of its D-I debut season with four WAC games vs. Northern Colorado on May 20-22.