Game Times (Mountain):
Friday - 4:05 p.m.
Saturday - 12:05 p.m. (DH)
Sunday - 1:05 p.m.
Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | NDSU - PDF
Live Streaming: WAC DIGITAL NETWORK
Live Stats: vs. NDSU
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | @Dixie_Baseball | #DixieBlazers | #WACbsb
 
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday (G1) – RHP #29 Dillon Holliday (0-1, 6.23 ERA) vs. LHP #31 Max Loven (0-0, 6.75 ERA)
Saturday (G2) – RHP #18 Brett Porthan (0-0, 8.44) vs. RHP #10 Cade Feeney (1-0, 5.40 ERA)
Saturday (G3) – RHP #34 Taye Newman (0-0, 18.00 ERA) vs. RHP #24 Evan Sankey (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Sunday (G4) – LHP #15 Ben Hart (0-0, 15.00 ERA) vs. TBA

FIRST PITCH: Dixie State (1-3/0-0 WAC) officially opens its 2022 home slate this weekend with a four-game series vs. North Dakota State (3-1) at Bruce Hurst Field. Game one of the series will take place on Friday at 4:05 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday at 12:05 p.m., and the series finale will be played on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

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

LET'S PLAY TWO: During Dixie State's NCAA era, playing a doubleheader was the norm rather than the exception - except for this season. Saturday's twin bill vs. NDSU will the first of only two doubleheaders, and the only home DH, the Trailblazers will play in during the 2022 campaign.
    DSU is also scheduled to play a doubleheader in its four-game road series at Cal Poly this upcoming April 1-3.

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 his 10th 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 250th victory as DSU skipper in the series finale vs. Concordia-Portland (10-4; 2/23/2020), owns a 279-162-1 (.632) overall record at DSU, and a 331-221-1 (.599) career mark.
    Joining Pfatenhauer (UNLV, 2000) in the Trailblazer dugout this season is third-year pitching coach Zach Wilkins (Nevada, 2016), along with eighth-year assistant coaches Bobby Rinard (Arizona, 2014) and Matt Hill (Dixie State 2015).

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State began its second full Division I season by taking one of three games in its season-opening series at PAC-12 power Arizona State last weekend in Phoenix. After being nipped 3-1 in the season opener on Friday night, the Trailblazers rallied for a thrilling 7-6 victory in 10 innings in game two on Saturday night to even the series.
    DSU enjoyed early leads in the rubber game on Sunday, but the Sun Devils scored 12-unanswered runs from the fifth inning on to clinch the series with a 17-8 win.

TRAILBLAZERS VOTED FIFTH IN WAC PRESEASON DIVISION POLL: Dixie State was picked to finish fifth in the newly formed WAC West Division as the conference announced its 2022 baseball preseason polls back on February 9.
    With the addition of the four new Texas schools to the WAC, the 13-team conference has split into two divisions. Defending WAC champion Grand Canyon topped the West Division poll with five first place votes and 34 total points, while Sacramento State collected one first place nod and 30 points to finish second.
    California Baptist also received one first place vote and tallied 27 points to finish third in the West poll, followed by New Mexico State (20 pts) in fourth, DSU (19 pts) in fifth, Utah Valley (10 pts) in sixth and Seattle U (7 pts) in seventh.
    In the Southwest Division, which features all Texas schools, WAC newcomer Abilene Christian picked up five first place nods and 25 points to claim the top spot in that poll. Meanwhile, UTRGV (1 FPV, 19 pts) and league newcomer Sam Houston (19 pts) tied for second, followed by new WAC members Lamar (11 pts) and Stephen F. Austin (9 pts) in fourth and fifth place, respectively, and Tarleton State (7 pts) wound up in sixth.

OPENING DAY: Dixie State fell to 9-7 all-time (8-8 all-time in road openers) on "Opening Day" during its NCAA era after last Friday's loss at Arizona State, though the Blazers have won five of its last seven, and nine of its previous 13 season debuts overall.
    DSU heads into Friday's home opener vs. NDSU with a 9-6 overall record in season debuts at Bruce Hurst Field.  

A LOOK AT THE 2022 SCHEDULE: Dixie State's 2022 schedule features 55 games, including 22 home dates at Bruce Hurst Field, along with match-ups against six 2021 NCAA Regional teams, and home-and-home single mid-week dates against UNLV (A - 4/12; H - 5/4) and in-state rivals Utah (A - 4/26; H - 5/11) and BYU (H - 4/5; A - 5/10).
    Along with the ASU and NDSU sets, the Blazers' non-conference slate includes road series at Nevada (3/15-16), at Cal Poly (4/1-3), and at UC Santa Barbara (5/13-15). DSU will also play single game mid-week road dates at nationally-ranked Arizona (3/1), at CSUN (3/22), and at Loyola Marymount (5/17).
    Dixie State will open its 30-game WAC slate with a three-game home series against in-state rival Utah Valley March 4-6.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Trailblazers have played to a 287-110 (.723) overall record in 397 games played inside the friendly confines of Bruce Hurst Field in the program's NCAA era, including winning 12-straight home games to finish the 2021 campaign with a 17-9 mark.
    In fact, Dixie State has posted a winning home record in all 15 seasons since becoming an NCAA program in 2007. DSU also went 8-3 (.727) in the COVID-19 Pandemic shortened 2020 season, and closed its 2019 home slate by winning seven of its final eight games to en route to a 21-7 (.750) home mark.
    DSU has won 20 or more home games in eight of 15 seasons overall, 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 157-156-1 overall road record (.501) in its four-year era, though they went 7-23 away from home last 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 172-165-1 (.510) all-time away from Bruce Hurst Field in the program's NCAA era.
    
JUST WIN BABY: Dixie State's 24-32 overall record in its NCAA D-I debut season last year led to another first for the Trailblazer program since it joined the NCAA ranks in 2007 - that being that Dixie State saw a final season record finish below the .500 plateau.
    That said, the Trailblazers did close out the 2021 season by winning 13 of their final 19 games, highlighted by an 11-9 upset win at then-No. 6 and PAC-12 champion Arizona in the penultimate game of the season (5/28/21).
    Prior to last season, Dixie State had 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 from 2009 to 2017.
    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.
    
HERE'S TO THE NEXT 400: Dixie State picked up its 400th win in the program's NCAA era in the series opener vs. UCCS (6-1) on March 16, 2019. DSU is currently 458-277-1 (.623) all-time through 15-plus years of NCAA competition (736 games).

BEST IN STATE?: Dixie State finished the in-state portion of its 2021 D-I debut schedule with a 6-2 mark against the other three Utah baseball schools. Along with their four-game WAC sweep of Utah Valley, the Trailblazers split home-and-home single game match-ups against both PAC-12 member Utah and West Coast Conference member BYU.

HOLLOW ON PRESEASON WATCH LISTS: Sophomore catcher Kaden Hollow has earned some early preseason attention heading into the 2022 campaign, and though we are only three games into the season, he has shown he is worthy of the hype.
    Hollow batted .364 in the ASU series (4-for-11) with three runs scored, highlighted by a 3-for-3 day with DSU's first (2R) homer of the season and two RBI in Sunday's series finale. He also threw out two of four would-be base stealers.  
    The sophomore backstop Hollow, who was voted to the WAC preseason all-conference team, is listed as one of the top-50 catchers in the nation by D1Baseball.com. In addition, he is on the 2022 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year watch list.
    Hollow earned first team all-WAC and 2021 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Freshman All-America honors after batting .322 with 15 doubles, nine homers and 41 RBI. He finished the year ranked in the WAC's top-10 in four offensive categories, including slugging percentage (.559), home runs, doubles, and RBI.
    He posted a career and DSU team season high 14-game hit streak last year, and hit safely in 37 of 53 games played with 12 multi-hit outings. Hollow also drove in at least one run in 20 games with 11 games with two or more RBI.
    On the defensive side, Hollow threw out 12 of 49 possible base stealers and posted a .992 fielding percentage, with just three errors in 355 total chances.

TRAILBLAZER QUICK HITS:
* - Sophomore 3B Shane Taylor picked up right where he left off last season as he batted a team-best .455 (5-for-11) out of the lead-off spot with a double, three RBI and two runs scored ... After being held hitless in the opener, Taylor came back with two hits and two RBI in the game two win, and went 3-for-3 with a double, RBI and two runs scored in the finale.
* - Senior CF Jagun Leavitt hit .333 in the ASU series and collected two RBI, a stolen base and a run scored in his three starts.
* - Senior 2B Tyler Hollow was one of two Blazers sluggers to hit safely in all three games at ASU ... Hollow batted .273 (3-for-11) in the series with an RBI, and moved to within five hits (155) of vaulting from 10th to eighth on DSU's career hits list.
* - Junior 1B Sean Keating also hit safely in all three games at ASU, batting .286 (4-for-14) in the series overall with an RBI and run scored.
* - Sophomore RHP Ryan Hardman picked up the Blazers' first win of the 2022 campaign after he scattered one run and six hits over 4.2 innings of relief with four strikeouts.
* - Senior RHP Jimmy Borzone made the most of his 2022 debut as he fired 2.2 innings of one-hit relief with four punchouts in the ASU opener.
* - Sophomore RHP Dillon Holliday struck out five in 4.1 innings of work in his Opening Day start at ASU ... fellow sophomore RHP Brett Porthan matched his rotation mate with five Ks in 5.1 innings in his game two start.
* - Freshman RHP Jacob Taggart had quite the Trailblazer debut at ASU as he struck out three in 1.1 innings of spotless relief in Sunday's finale.
* - Junior RHP Zach Thomas was also effective in G1 at ASU, against which he punched out two in a scoreless eighth inning appearance.
 
FREE BASEBALL: After not playing an extra inning game in two full seasons in 2019 and 2020, Dixie State has played six extra inning affairs since its move to Division I, all of which have come over the Blazers' 37 games.
    The Trailblazers moved to 3-3 in extra inning games as a D-I with their 7-6 win in 10 innings in game two at Arizona State.
    DSU saw its 52-straight game streak of not playing an extra inning game come to an end last season in the series opener at Tarleton State (L, 9-10, 4/1/21), and the Blazers finished the 2021 campaign with a 2-3 mark in extra innings.
    The Trailblazers are 34-18 (.654) in 52 total extra-inning games in the program's four-year era, 17-8 in 10-inning games, and the program has won eight of its last 13 extra inning games overall.

ABOUT THE NORTH DAKOTA STATE "BISON": North Dakota State opened its 2022 season by taking three of four on the road at WAC newcomer Abilene Christian last weekend in Texas. The Bison are coming off a 42-19 campaign in 2021 that saw them win The Summit League title and advance on to the NCAA Regionals.
    NDSU pounded out 38 hits over its four games at ACU, with sophomore catcher Will Busch and junior infielder Druw Sackett each batting .556 in the series. Scheduled game three starter, RHP Evan Sankey, earned Summit League Pitcher of the Week after he struck out three in four scoreless innings to earn the win in G3 vs. ACU.

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State heads back to the desert for a Tuesday midweek date at defending PAC-12 champion Arizona. First pitch in Tucson is slated for 6 p.m. (MT).