Utah Tech belted six home runs to power past Utah Valley, 13-8, in the first game of a home WAC weekend series on Friday night at Bruce Hurst Field.
 
The six home runs, the most in the program's current NCAA Division I transition, were the second-most in Utah Tech's four-year era, second only to a school record seven homers hit in a road win at Adams State (W, 28-9; 3/10/19) during the 2019 season.
 
In addition, the six home runs on Friday night were hit by six different Trailblazers, the top-six in the UT batting order, which is a new school record, and were the most hit at Bruce Hurst Field by Utah Tech (and before then Dixie State) in program history.
 
Utah Tech (10-31/5-14 WAC) scored all 13 runs in the first five inning, with the long ball derby starting in the home first when Parker Schmidt won a nine-pitch battle with UVU ace Logan Gerling (L, 4-4) with his fifth homer of the season to lead off the game.
 
Chase Rodriguez would later drive in a run on a groundout ahead of a Tyson Fisher RBI-double as the Blazers jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead.
 
The Trailblazers extended to a 6-1 lead in the second when after Blake Borgogno stole home, Zach Thomas connected for fifth round-tripper of the season, a two-run blast to left field.
 
Sean Keating then got into the act in the third with a solo shot to right field, his second homer in as many games and his sixth of the season, as part of a two-run UT frame that made it an 8-3 game after three complete.
 
Utah Tech went back-to-back in the fourth, starting with a Rodriguez (4) one-out solo homer that just stayed inside the right field foul pole. 
 
Fisher, who was playing in his 200^th-career game, then stepped up and drilled the very next pitch well over the wall in left center. That homer was the senior's seventh of the season and padded his UT career home run record total to 39 overall.
 
Then in the Utah Tech fifth, Shane Taylor (7) became the sixth Blazer to go yard with an opposite-field, three-run homer to left to stretch the Trailblazer lead to 13-6.
 
Meanwhile Utah Valley (22-19, 8-9 WAC) would hit four homers of its own, including a Burke Camper solo shot to lead off what was a two-run Wolverine eighth that cut the Blazer lead to 13-8.
 
However that would be as close as UVU would get as Blazer reliever Jacob Taggart (S, 1) retired six of the final seven Wolverines he faced to end the game.
 
Junior righthander Brett Porthan (W, 5-3) struck out seven ansd scattered six runs and nine hits over six innings to collect his fifth win of the season. Taggart took it home the rest of the way as he limited UVU to three hits and those two runs to earn his first save of the year.
 
Taylor finished a double shy of hitting for the cycle as he went 3-for-4 with two runs scored to go with his three RBI. Schmidt also rapped out three hits with three runs scored, while Thomas, Fisher and Borgogno tallied two hits apiece.
 
In all, the top-six in the Blazer order went 12-for-26 with nine extra-base hits, 11 RBI and 10 runs scored, as Utah Tech outhit UVU 15-12.
 
The two teams will play game two of their three-game WAC series on Saturday night beginning at 2:05 p.m.