Utah Tech opened Western Athletic Conference play with a sweep of a Saturday doubleheader at Abilene Christian at Poly Wells Field. The Trailblazers rolled to a 12-2 victory in five innings in game one, and closed the day with a 6-5 triumph in nine innings in the nightcap.
 
UT (17-9/2-0 WAC) led wire-to-wire in the series opener, striking for three first-inning runs thanks to a Wildcat error and a two bases-loaded walks.
 
The Trailblazers then blew the game open with nine runs in the fourth, sending 13 batters to the plate, eight of whom recorded base hits in the rally.
 
The run support was more than enough for freshman pitcher Sauren Garton (W, 8-3), who struck out one and surrendered only two hits in three scoreless innings to earn her eighth win of the season. 
 
Eight of the nine Trailblazers in the starting line-up recorded at least one hit, with Tanya Windle, Carly Eldredge, Lauren Almeida and Rachel Campbell each collecting two hits. Meanwhile, Hannah Hughbanks led UT with three RBI, two of which came on a fourth-inning double. 
 
Trailing 1-0 after the first inning of game two, Utah Tech plated two runs in the second on the back end of a double steal and a throwing error later in the frame to take a 2-1 advantage.
 
The Blazers took a 4-2 lead into the home seventh, only to see the first three ACU (6-22/0-2 WAC) batters reach to load the bases with no outs. Senior Kate Dolinski (W, 3-3), then came on in relief to strike out the first batter she faced. 
 
However the Wildcats would draw even one batter later when Olivia Taylor singled to center to drive in two runs and knot the score at 4-4. Dolinski would escape further damage with a groundout and strikeout to send the game to extra innings. 
 
With the game still deadlocked at 4-4 after a scoreless eighth, the Trailblazers jumped back on top thanks to a Shea Clements two-out, RBI-triple. Clements then scampered home five pitches later on an Almeida double.
 
The Wildcats managed to cut the deficit in half after a two-out Blazer throwing error allowed a run to score and extended the game. Dolinski would quell the potential ACU rally one pitch later with a ground ball out to second base to clinch the Saturday sweep. 
 
Windle racked up three more hits and two runs scored out of the lead-off spot for Utah Tech, while Clements finished with three safeties and three RBI. 
 
Utah Tech will go for the road series sweep in Sunday's finale starting at 12 noon (CT).