Dixie State won its third straight and clinched its third WAC series win of the season with a 12-2 run-rule victory over New Mexico State in seven innings on Saturday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field.
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Tied at 1-1 after one inning, the Trailblazers (11-7/6-2 WAC) broke the game open with four runs in the second, all of which came home on
Kaden Hollow's third home run of the season, and second-career grand slam.
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DSU loaded the bases on a lead off Aggie error, which was followed by a
Jagun Leavitt one-out walk and
Shane Taylor getting hit by a pitch. Hollow then cleared the bases on the seventh pitch he saw from NMSU starter Pablo Cortes (L, 1-1), which he drove high over the wall in right center to stake the Blazers to a 5-1 lead.
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NM State (9-8/1-4 WAC) got one of those runs in the third on a lead-off Kyle Westfall homer, but the Trailblazers answered two runs in the fourth and five more in the fifth to extend to their 10-run cushion.
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Chase Rodriguez drove in both runs in the fourth when he lined a ball just inside the third base bag for an opposite double. Then in the fifth, five different Trailblazers collected an RBI as Dixie State sent 10 batters to the plate.
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The run support was more than enough for sophomore righthander
Brett Porthan (W, 4-0), who struck out five and scattered two runs and eight hits over five innings to win for the fourth time in five starts this season. DSU's bullpen also got into the act as
Ben Hart and
Trevor Meisner each struck out two in a combined two spotless innings of relief to close out the Blazers' second-straight 12-2 decision of the weekend series.
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Eight of DSU's nine starting hitters and 10 different Trailblazers overall collected at least one hit as Dixie State outhit NM State 16-8. Hollow finished a triple shy of the cycle as he went 4-for-4 with two doubles and season-highs of five RBI and three runs scored to go with his grand slam.
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Meanwhile, older brother
Tyler Hollow racked up two hits and two RBI, and
Zach Thomas was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and two runs scored.
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Dixie State will go for the series sweep on Sunday beginning at 12:05 p.m.
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