Utah Tech opened the home portion of a its 2023 season with a two-game sweep of Saint Louis, 2-1 and 17-5 in five innings, on day one of the Trailblazers' round robin tournament on Friday at Karl Brooks Field.
 
In game one, the Trailblazers (7-5) scored all the runs they would in their first at-bat when Hannah Hughbanks singled in two runs with two outs in the frame. 
 
Saint Louis (2-7) would get one of those runs back one inning later, but that would be it for the Billikens as the duo of Sauren Garton and Attlyn Johnston (W, 3-1) limited SLU to just one hit over the final five innings of play.
 
UT collected six hits in the win, with lead-off hitter Tanya Windle going 3-for-3, while Hughbanks tallied two safeties to go with her two RBI. Johnston pitched the final 3.2 innings, striking out five while allowing only the one hit.
 
While game one was a pitcher's duel, the nightcap was anything but one as the Trailblazers, who were playing the role as visitors in the game, struck for 14 first-inning runs to bolt out to a commanding lead. Utah Tech sent 19 batters to the plate in the stanza and pounded out eight hits and drew seven walks, while the Billikens committed a two-out error.
 
Utah Tech would tack on one more run in the third and two more in the fifth for good measure, while fifth-year hurler Kate Dolinski (W, 1-4) scattered five runs and 10 hits over five innings with two strikeouts to earn her first decision of the year. 
 
The Trailblazers rapped out 13 hits in game two, with Hughbanks going 2-for-2 with a homer, two walks, four RBI and four runs scored.  
 
Utah Tech will host two more games on Saturday, with SLU squaring against Weber State at 11 a.m., followed by the Trailblazers taking on the Wildcats at 1:30 p.m.