Game Time (Mountain):
Tuesday - 7 p.m.
Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | LMU
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Live Stats: at LMU
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | @Dixie_Baseball | #DixieBlazers | #WACbsb
 
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Tuesday – RHP #21 Ryan Hardman (3-2, 5.74 ERA) vs. LHP #21 Alex Burge (1-3, 4.07 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: Dixie State (19-32/12-15 WAC) continues its season-ending SoCal road swing on Tuesday night with a non-conference tilt at West Coast Conference member Loyola Marymount (18-29-1). First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. (PT), at Page Stadium (1,000) on the LMU campus in Los Angeles.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Tuesday's game at LMU will be the first-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Lions on the diamond.

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 297-192-1 (.607) overall record at DSU, and a 349-251-1 (.581) 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).

ONE MILESTONE DOWN, TWO MORE TO GO FOR COACH PFATE: Coach Pfatenhauer heads into the final four games of the 2022 season with two major career milestones within reach. To date, Coach Pfate stands just one win away from career win No. 350, and is now three wins shy of win No. 300 as Dixie State skipper.
    In addition, he served as head coach in his 600th-career game last Saturday when Trailblazers took the field in game two at UC Santa Barbara.  

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State began its final road swing of the 2022 season on the wrong end of a tough three-game sweep at current No. 5/18 UC Santa Barbara last weekend. UCSB used a seven-run first inning to claim the series opener on Friday night, 8-0, but in the final two games the Trailblazers gave the nationally-ranked Gauchos all they could handle. DSU held ninth and tenth inning leads in the Saturday's middle game, only to see UCSB rally in both frames en route to a 7-6 walk-off extra inning win. UCSB then withstood two late-inning DSU rallies to complete the sweep on Sunday, 8-7.

HOME SWEET HOME: Dixie State's home finale win over in-state rival Utah on May 11, not only sent Dixie State out on the road on a happy note, it also ensured that the program would not suffer its first home losing season in its NCAA era.
    DSU began the 2022 home slate boasting the fourth-longest home field winning streak in all of Division I, thanks in part to winning 12-straight at Bruce Hurst Field to finish the 2021 campaign with a 17-9 home mark.
    That streak reached 14-straight after the Blazers took the first two games in their 3-1 series win over North Dakota State (2/25-27). However the Bison snapped the streak with their lone win of the series (6-2) in game three, which also happened to be DSU's 400th NCAA game in its home park.
    Dixie State started the year winners of seven of its first 10 home games, but when the calendar turned to April, that record flipped to 4-8, though the Utah win did even the home mark at 11-11 for the year.
    Overall, DSU has played to a 298-121 (.711) overall record in 419 games played inside the friendly confines of Bruce Hurst Field in the program's NCAA era.  
    Dixie State has posted a winning home record in 15 of 16 seasons since transitioning to NCAA status in 2007. DSU has won 20 or more home games in eight of those 16 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 era (26-7 in 2009).
    The 24 home wins in 2016 were the most under Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer, while the .807 winning percentage in 2017 was the best W% in Pfatenhauer's tenure.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Despite last weekend's road sweep at UCSB, Dixie State has held its own away from home as the Trailblazers own a 164-175-1 overall road record (.486) in its four-year era. DSU had won six of its first 13 road games to begin the 2022 season, though after a four-game series sweep at Cal Poly (4/1-3), and WAC road series losses at both UVU and NM State, that record has dipped to 8-21 following the UCSB series. That said, thanks to their game two win at NM State (4/30), the Blazers have eclipsed their road win total (7-23) from last year's D-I debut season.
    DSU had posted a winning road record in eight of their last 12 seasons overall, highlighted by a 16-7-1 road mark in 2017. The 16 road wins were the most 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 178-186-1 (.489) 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 its 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 476-307-1 (.607) all-time through 15-plus years of NCAA competition (781 games).

BEST IN STATE?: Dixie State finished the in-state portion of its 2022 slate with an even 5-5 record, splitting all three series against the other three Utah D-I schools (BYU 1-1; Utah 1-1; Utah Valley 3-3).
    In DSU's D-I debut season last year, the Trailblazers posted a combined 6-2 mark against their in-state, going 4-0 vs. fellow WAC member UVU, along with home-at-home splits vs. both BYU and Utah.

ROUND AND ROUND: Dixie State has batted around six times in its last 43 games, including the fourth inning of the Blazers' 18-15 win at NM State (4/30), when they sent 12 batters to the dish and scored seven runs. DSU also did it in the eighth inning of DSU's come-from-behind series clinching win at Seattle U (3/27). DSU sent 10 batters to the plate and came away with six runs to take a 9-7 lead.
    In fact, all six instances have come in WAC play, including two times in their WAC-opening series vs. Utah Valley (3/4-6), doing so in each of the first two games. The Trailblazers sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs in the third inning of game one, this after UVU did the exact same thing in the top half of the frame.
    Then in game two, the Blazers made a little history when, for the first time in the program's NCAA era, they sent 11-straight batters to the plate before the first out was recorded, and wound up scoring eight runs in the frame, including a grand slam off the bat of senior SS Mathew Ivancich.
    However that was not the first time DSU had 10 consecutive batters reach base safely in a game. The last instance also came at home in the 2014 season vs. Cal State LA (4/18/14), when Dixie State had 10-straight hitters reach with one out in a 10-run fourth inning of a 17-9 DSU win. DSU wound up sending 14 batters to the plate in that frame, which also featured a grand slam (Kris Kaplan).

HOLLOW ON PRESEASON WATCH LISTS: Sophomore catcher Kaden Hollow earned some preseason attention leading into the 2022 campaign, and through 51 games this season, he has shown he is worthy of the hype.
    The sophomore backstop was voted to the preseason all-WAC team and was 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 (.333/36 RBI), who has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games and leads the team in HRs (8), has hit better than .300 in nine of DSU's 14 series this season, including a team-best .364 clip (4-for-11) with a pair of doubles and two RBI against a stout UCSB pitching staff last weekend.
    Hollow batted .500 (7-for-14) with two homers and six RBI at NM State three weeks ago (4/29-5/1), and also battered NM State pitching at home (3/18-20) for a .500 (6-for-12) clip, which included a 4-for-5 day with two doubles and his second career grand slam in the G2 win. He wound up driving in seven runs in that series with four runs scored.
    Hollow, who is batting .358 and has driven in 27 of his co-team high 36 runs against WAC pitching, also hit an even .500 (5-for-10) at home vs. UVU (3/4-6), and .385 in the Sacramento State road series (3/11-13), where he went 5-for-13 with three doubles and three RBI.
    He opened the year with a .364 clip in three starts at Arizona State (2/18-20; 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 the series finale (2/20).
    While he has done the job at the plate, Hollow has shined behind it as well, having thrown out a WAC-high 17 of 40 potential base stealers, including two last weekend at UCSB, three vs. UVU (3/4-6), and four in the North Dakota State series (2/25-27). In fact, Hollow, who has 42 assists in 40 starts behind the plate this season, threw out five total base runners in the NDSU series as he erased a runner trying to advance on a wild pitch.  
    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.

BASH BROTHERS: Kaden Hollow, along with his older brother Tyler Hollow, made a little more history three weeks ago at NM State when the brother duo homered in the same game for the second time this season in DSU's G2 win on April 30.
    The Hollow tandem became the first brother duo to achieve that feat in the program's NCAA era two weeks earlier in DSU's win road at UVU (4/16).
    In that win at UVU and before Kaden homered in the ninth inning, Tyler connected for his first homer of the year in the DSU fourth. In fact, it was the older Hollow's first homer in nearly three years - a span of 269 ABs overall. Then for good measure, Tyler hit his third homer of the year on Senior Day Saturday vs. Seattle U (5/7).
    Prior to this season, the senior 2B's last homer came in his first at-bat against UCCS in the opening game of the 2019 RMAC Tournament (5/8/19) during his sophomore season when he hit four long balls and drove in 52 runs in 53 games. He did not hit a homer in 63 ABs during the COVID-shortened season in 2020, and only had 69 ABs in an injury plagued 2021 campaign.

MR. 200: Tyler Hollow made even more history at BYU (5/10) by becoming just the third player in DSU's NCAA era to reach the 200-hit plateau, doing so right on the number thanks to a 3-for-4 night with a double and an RBI. He then collected hit No. 201 with a single in the win vs. Utah (5/11) and picked up two more hits last weekend at UCSB.
    Hollow has now joined former sluggers Drew McLaughlin (291; 2014-17) and Trey Kamachi (225; 2014-17) in DSU's exclusive hit club.
    The elder Hollow enters this week's action fourth all-time in DSU program history in doubles (38), fourth in career walks (89), and last weekend entered the top-10 in career RBI (106).
    Tyler is batting .314 (33-for-105) over his last 29 games and has hit safely in 14 of his last 20, and in 20 of those 29 starts overall with nine multi-hit outings.

DOING YARD WORK: After hitting just 25 home runs over the first 40 game of the season, Dixie State has hit 17 home runs in its last 11 games, including combined nine dingers in the Blazers' final two games at NM State three weeks ago.
    DSU went yard a season-high five times (along with a season-best 22 total hits) in the G2 win (4/30), and hit four more in the finale (5/1).
    In addition to the Hollow brothers combining for five of the 16 homers, both 1B Sean Keating and RF Tyson Fisher have each homered three times during this current stretch. Keating homered twice at NMSU (G2/G3) and in G2 vs. Seattle U (5/6), while Fisher homered in consecutive at-bats in the NMSU finale (5/1), and went deep again in the Seattle series opener (5/5).
    The Blazers have also gone back-to-back three times over the last three weeks, with the last instance coming in G2 vs. Seattle U when Zach Thomas blasted a three-run shot to straight-away center field, which was followed one pitcher/one pitch later by Kaden Hollow's eighth homer of the year.
 
TRAILBLAZER QUICK HITS:
* - Sophomore 3B Shane Taylor returned to the Trailblazer line-up at DH last weekend at UCSB, against which he hit safely in all three games and finished the series batting .308 with one double and three runs scored.
* - Taylor has been a force in the lead-off spot for the Trailblazers all season, which included a solid home series vs. Seattle U two weeks ago, batting .500 (5-for-10) with a double and three RBI ... that effort came on the heels of Taylor hitting a combined .385 (5-for-13) in the NMSU series (4/29-5/1) with two doubles, two walks and four runs scored ... Taylor then followed that up with a 2-for-4 night vs. UNLV (5/4).
* - Taylor has hit safely in 20 of his last 25 games overall, and the is batting .398 (37-for-93) over this current stretch with 12 multi-hit outings, including three three-hit games, along with nine XBHs, 15 RBI and 22 runs scored.
* - Taylor is hitting a robust .383 in WAC play, with all five of his homers and 22 of his team-leading 36 RBI coming against conference pitching.  
* - Taylor opened the year batting .455 (5-for-11) with a double and three RBI in the Arizona State (2/18-20) series, and followed that up with a .467 clip (7-for-15) in four starts vs. NDSU (2/25-27).
* - Taylor, who co-leads the team with 19 XBH, currently leads the club in average (.358), hits (67), doubles (13), RBI (36), and runs scored (43), all of which rank him in the WAC's top-25 in each category.
* - Speaking of staying hot, after opening the season 1-for-21 at the plate, sophomore OF/C Parker Schmidt is batting .378 (42-for-111) over his last 32 games, including a team-best .615 clip (8-for-13) in the NM State series (4/29-5/1) with a double, HR, six RBI and four runs scored.
* - Schmidt has hit safely in 13 of his last 17, and in 25 of his last 31 games overall with 10 two-hit games, along with a three-hit effort in DSU's home win vs. Utah (5/11), and career highs of four hits and five RBI in G2 at NMSU (4/30).
* - Junior RF Tyson Fisher has been on a tear in his own right, having hit safely in 16 of his last 19 games, highlighted by a career long 10-game hit streak (4/14-5/1), which included a 3-for-5 day with three RBI last Sunday at UCSB.
* - Fisher enjoyed arguably his finest overall series of the season two weeks ago vs. Seattle U, against which he batted .538 (7-for-13) with four XBH, four RBI and four runs scored ... he did most of his damage in the series opener (5/5), when he finished a double shy of his second-career cycle, going 4-for-4 with two RBI.
* - That performance came after batting .462 (6-for-13) in three starts at NMSU (4/29-5/1) with three XBH, including his two-homer game in the series finale, and four RBI.
* - Fisher was also the first Trailblazer to hit safely in at least 10-straight games since Kaden Hollow's career-best 14-game hit streak last season (3/13-4/2/21).
* - Fisher currently has 66 career XBH to his credit with 32 career doubles, six triples and 28 home runs, which ranks him fourth on DSU's career HR list ... meanwhile his six triples is good for fifth on DSU's career list and he is now ranked eighth in career doubles.
* - Fisher also stands five homers shy of breaking DSU's career HR record, which was set last year by former teammate Jake Engel (32 HR; 2017-21).
* - Fisher's two-homer day at NM State (5/1) was his second of the season and career (at Sac State 3/12).
* - Junior 1B/OF Sean Keating is batting .257 (9-for-35) since returning to lineup in G1 of the Sacramento State series (4/22) with three HRs and five total XBH, nine RBI and five runs ... Keating has hit safely in eight of those 14 games, highlighted by a 2-for-4 day with his first HR as a Trailblazer in G2 at NM State (4/30) ... the junior also connected for his third homer of the season, a first inning three-run shot in G2 vs. Seattle U (5/6).
* - In fact, Keating's 3R-HR was the first of two the Trailblazers hit that night as junior 1B/DH/RHP Zach Thomas followed suit with one of his own in the fifth inning ... Thomas went on to drill his second 3R-HR in four games in the fourth inning of DSU's home finale win vs. Utah (5/11) on his way to a career-high five RBI as part of a 3-for-3 day.
* - Freshman SS Ethan He also got into the act in the Utah (5/11) win as he collected career-highs of three hits and two runs scored out of the lead-off spot vs. the Utes ... in fact, the top-three in DSU's line-up (He/Schmidt/Thomas) combined to go 9-for-10 at the plate with eight RBI and four runs scored.
* - Though it took him 288 career at-bats (383 PA) to do it, senior CF Jagun Leavitt finally hit his first collegiate home run, doing so in his first plate appearance vs. NDSU (2/25) ... After a lead-off walk, Leavitt launched a 3-2 pitch over the RF wall to stake DSU to a 2-0 third-inning lead.
* - That all said, it only took Leavitt 85 more ABs to smash his second career homer, which came in the fifth inning of DSU's road win at UVU (4/16).
* - Leavitt also got a little love for his glove work from ESPN's SportsCenter last Saturday night for his HR-robbing, over-the-wall catch on a ball hit by Gaucho catcher John Newman Jr. in the bottom of the ninth ... Leavitt's play wound up ranked #4 on SportsCenter's Top-10 Plays of the Day.
* - Senior RHP Jimmy Borzone picked up his second career save at NM State (4/30), against which he struck out five and surrendered one run and five hits in 2.1 innings of relief ... Borzone went 38 appearances between saves, with the first coming in his eighth appearance during his freshman year in 2018 in a three-inning save vs. Fresno Pacific (W, 13-3; 4/5/18).
* - Borzone enjoyed his finest outing of the year in the series opener at UVU (4/14), tossing 5.1 innings of one-hit relief with a season-high 10 strikeouts ... his 10 Ks marked the second time the senior had reached double figures in strikeouts, the first coming last year when he punched out 14 in seven-inning CG win vs. Northern Colorado (5/21) ... Borzone's 14K performance was one off DSU's NCAA-era record 15 set by former DSU hurler Mike Dedrick at Academy of Art in the 2011 season (2/26/11).
* - Freshman lefthander Justin Woodbury earned his first collegiate victory in the series finale at UVU (4/16), against which he fired two spotless innings with three strikeouts ... Woodbury recorded a rare four-strikeout frame in the eighth inning the G1 vs. NM State (3/18) when he fanned all four hitters he faced in the stanza, this after his second strikeout victim reached base on a wild pitch after a swinging third strike ... Woodbury has made 13 appearances out of the Blazer bullpen this season and has struck out 12 in 11.1 innings of work.
* - Sophomore RHP Brett Porthan collected his sixth win of the season in G2 vs. Seattle U (5/6), against which he initially scattered three runs and seven hits over 6.2 IP ... Porthan was an out away from recording his second CG-win in the eventual seven-inning run rule win, but Seattle scored two runs to chase him from the game, which DSU eventually got back to end the game, 15-5.
* - Porthan's win was his first decision since facing, coincidentally Seattle U, in a 9-1 DSU victory (3/26) that moved him to 5-0 to start the year.  
* - After opening the year as the Trailblazers' closer, sophomore RHP Ryan Hardman has started in six of his last eight appearances, highlighted by his first collegiate complete-game victory in the series finale vs. Sacramento State (12-2 in 7 IP; 4/24) ... Hardman fanned four and allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings to collect his third win of the season.
* - Hardman, who will open Tuesday's game at LMU, earned his third save of the year in DSU's home win vs. Utah (5/11) after he worked three hitless innings, striking out two while allowing one unearned run.
* - Hardman picked up saves in two of his first four relief appearances, while two of his three wins on the year have also come out of the Blazer bullpen.
* - Speaking of the Blazer pen, after UCSB erupted for seven first-inning runs in last Friday's series opener, three relievers combined to limit the Gauchos to just one run and five hits, and struck 10 over the final 8.1 IP.
* - Freshman RHP Carsten Herman came on in the first and proceeded to record career-highs in innings (2.2 IP) and strikeouts (4) ... meanwhile, senior righthander Haiden Hendricks fired three scoreless innings to close out the game, allowing just two hits while fanning a career-high six, all while throwing 40 total pitches in that outing.
* - Senior RHP Scott Wright was credited with his first win as a Trailblazer after he tossed two scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts vs. Utah (5/11) ... in fact it was Wright's first collegiate win overall after spending his first three seasons at Butler University, where he was 0-1 in 10 career appearances.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE: Dixie State heads into its final week of the 2022 season as the unofficial NCAA D-I CO-LEADERS (along with New Mexico/New Orleans) in double plays turned with 54 through 52 games. It is unofficial, however, because DSU is not eligible to be listed in the NCAA rankings during its four-year transition to Division I status.
    The Blazers turned two three times at BYU (5/10), and rolled up two more at UCSB last weekend. Meanwhile, 32 of DSU's 54 double plays have come in WAC play.
    On the flip side, DSU has hit into 46 twin killings to this point of the season, which is second-most in the WAC (Lamar leads the WAC/nation with 58 DPs) and is t-eighth nationally.
 
FREE BASEBALL: After not playing an extra inning game in two full seasons in 2019 and 2020, Dixie State has played in nine extra inning affairs since its move to Division I, all of which have come over the Blazers' 74 games, including four already this season.  
    DSU fell to 2-2 in extra frames this season after last Saturday's loss at UCSB. Prior to that, DSU won its last extra-inning game, a 12-inning triumph at Seattle U (3/27), which marked just the sixth time in the program's NCAA era that Dixie State played in a 12-inning contest (4-2).
    The Trailblazers are currently 4-5 in extra inning games as a D-I, which includes their 7-6 win in 10 innings in game two at Arizona State (2/19), along with the 2-1 loss in 10 innings at nationally-ranked Arizona (3/1).
    The Trailblazers are 35-20 (.636) in 55 total extra-inning games in the program's four-year era, 17-10 in 10-inning games, and the program has won nine of its last 16 extra inning games overall.

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State wraps up the 2022 season with a three-game WAC series at former PacWest rival California Baptist this Thursday-through-Saturday in Riverside.