Utah Tech split the middle two games of its four-game home series with South Dakota State on Saturday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field. The Trailblazers doubled up SDSU in the first game, 12-6 in seven innings, while the Jackrabbits broke through in the series with a 7-2 win in the nightcap.
 
Like they did in Friday's series opener, the Blazers found themselves in an early hole as SDSU struck for three first-inning runs. And like Friday's opener, Utah Tech would respond in its first at-bats, scoring four runs to jump out in front after one inning complete. 
 
Utah Tech (4-7) wasted little time loading the bases with walks to Bryker Hurdsman and Tyson Fisher, which bracketed a Shane Taylor double. Chase Rodriguez followed with a single to right to chase home two of the base runners, while Parker Schmidt laid down a safety squeeze to plate Fisher carrying the tying run. 
 
Rodriguez would eventually tally the go-ahead run on a two-out wild pitch after he was bunted to third.
 
Then after SDSU (2-4) pulled even with a run in the third, the Trailblazers plated four unearned runs after a two-out Jackrabbit error in the home third. Garrett Cutting provided the big blow with his second home run of the series and season, a three-run blast over the wall in left center to give UT an 8-4 advantage.
 
SDSU countered with single runs in the fourth and fifth frames to cut the deficit in half. However Utah Tech put the game away with three runs of its own in the fifth and another in the sixth.
 
The Blazers won despite being outhit 11-10, with Taylor accounting for three of those safeties, while Cutting finished with two hits and a career-high five RBI. Sophomore Carsten Herman (W, 2-0) struck out and scattered one run and four hits over 3.1 innings out of the Blazer bullpen to earn his second win of the year.
 
The start of the nine-inning nightcap bucked the trend set in the first two games of the series as both teams went scoreless through the first two innings.
 
That would change in a hurry in the SDSU third when the Jackrabbits took advantage of a pair costly two-out Blazer errors to plate four runs and race out to a commanding lead. 
 
Utah Tech would get two of those runs back in the home third with a two-out, two-run Fisher double.
 
SDSU matched that with two more runs an inning later and would push across an insurance run in the eighth. Meanwhile, three Jackrabbit pitchers would limit Utah Tech to just three hits from the fourth inning on as SDSU would salvage the series split.
 
Senior hurler Jake Dahle (L, 0-2) struck out a season high six over his four innings of work, but was saddled with the loss after the disastrous third inning. 
 
Utah Tech will look to clinch the series win in Sunday's finale beginning at 11:05 a.m.