Utah Tech used strong pitching and timely extra base hits to roll to an 8-2 victory over Utah Valley in the final game of its WAC home series on Sunday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field.
 
With the win, the Trailblazers took two-of-three from their "Old Hammer" in-state rivals and improved to 11-32 overall, 6-15 in conference play.
 
After spotting the Wolverines (23-20/9-10 WAC) an early 1-0 lead, Utah Tech answered with three first inning runs, and two more in the second, to race out to a quick 5-1 advantage.
 
Parker Schmidt kick-started the Blazer offense with a lead-off triple to right field and would later tie the game on the back end of a failed double-steal attempt.
 
Then with two outs in the frame, Chase Rodriguez tripled high off the center field wall and later scored UT's second run on a wild pitch.
 
Tyson Fisher, who was the plate when Rodriguez scored, followed that with his 40^th-career home run to make it a 3-1 game. For Fisher, it was his second homer of the series and his team-leading eighth of the season.
 
Schmidt would strike again an inning later with his second home run of the series, a two-out, two-run blast over the left field wall that stretched the Trailblazer lead to four runs.
 
Utah Tech extended its lead to 6-1 in the fourth on a Blake Borgogno run-scoring ground out. UVU clapped back with a run in the fifth, but Borgogno would collect his second RBI of the game with a double to right center to push the lead back to five runs.
 
Rodriguez then provided the exclamation point in the Trailblazer seventh when he launched his second homer of the series and fifth of the year well over the right field wall. 
 
While the Trailblazer offense was doing its thing, the beleaguered UT pitching staff, which had surrendered 31 runs and 34 hits over the first two games of the series, limited UVU to just two runs and nine hits on Sunday.
 
Freshman righthander Dakoda West set the early tone as he rebounded from a rocky start to retire the final seven Wolverines he faced. 
 
West struck out three in three innings of work before giving way in the fourth to junior RHP Ryan Hardman (W, 1-6), who fanned four and scattered one run and three hits over his three innings of relief.
 
Senior RHP Jake Dahle (S, 2) took it the rest of the way as fired three shutout innings with four strikeouts to close out the win. 
 
Rodriguez wound up a double shy of the cycle as he finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Meanwhile Schmidt went 2-for-2 two walks and two runs scored, and provided a highlight reel defensive gem in the seventh inning with a diving catch deep in the gap in left center to rob the Wolverines of extra bases.  
 
The Trailblazers finished with nine hits on the day, eight of which went for extra bases. 
 
Utah Tech hits the road next weekend for a three-game WAC series at Abilene Christian.