Chase Rodriguez homered and drove in a career-high six runs as Dixie State slugged past in-state rival Utah Valley, 16-10, in the 2022 Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams on Friday night at Bruce Hurst Field.
 
After going scoreless over the first two innings, the two teams combined to score 22 runs over the next three innings, and fortunately for the Trailblazers, they managed to plate the majority of those runs.
 
UVU (2-7/0-1 WAC) got the scoring bonanza going with five runs in the top of the third on four hits and one DSU error. The Wolverines actually had runners on first and second with two outs and those five runs already in, but the Blazers escaped further damage when sophomore catcher Kaden Hollow threw out Brody Ponti at third base on a UVU double steal attempt.
 
Dixie State (5-4/1-0 WAC) answered with five runs of its own in the home third, sending 10 batters to the plate to knot the score at 5-5. Jagun Leavitt got rally started with a one-out opposite field single ahead of Shane Taylor, who drove a 1-0 Devin Smith pitch over the wall in left center to make it a 5-2 game.
 
DSU quickly loaded the bases and scored two more runs on a Rodriguez groundout and throwing error, which was first of two Wolverines miscues in the frame that allowed the Blazers to later plate the tying run.
 
After UVU regained the lead with a Mitch Moralez two-run homer in the fourth, Dixie State countered with four runs in the home fourth, before erupting for six more in the fifth, to bolt to a commanding 15-7 advantage.
 
Rodriguez drove in five of the Trailblazers' 10 runs over those two frames, picking up a pair of RBI with a two-out double in the fourth. Then with two on and three runs already scored in the fifth, the sophomore outfielder drilled a Carson Brown 2-2 offering over the right field wall to stake DSU to its eight-run cushion.
 
Utah Valley would later score three runs in the seventh to trim the DSU lead to five, and had the bases loaded with one out in the eighth.

DSU Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer made the call to his closer Ryan Hardman (S, 2), and the sophomore righthander fanned Connor Hall for the second out and popped up Kayler Yates two pitches later to end the threat.

The Blazers tacked on an insurance run in the home eighth, and Hardman retired the Wolverines in order in the ninth with two more strikeouts to close out the win.
 
Dixie State pounded out 18 hits in the game, with Hollow and Mathew Ivancich each collecting three hits apiece. Meanwhile Rodriguez wound up going 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored to cap his banner night.

Freshman righthander Blake Milne (W, 1-0) was credited with his first collegiate win after he tossed 1.2 innings of spotless relief with a strikeout.
 
The two teams will continue their three-game weekend set with the middle game on Saturday afternoon beginning at 2:05 p.m.