Game Times (Mountain):
Friday - 6:05 p.m.
Saturday - 2:05 p.m.
Sunday - 12:05 p.m.
Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | CSUN - PDF
Live Streaming: GAME #1 - WACINT | GAME #2 - WACINT | GAME #3 - WACINT
Live Stats: GAME #1 | GAME #2 | GAME #3
Twitter: @UtahTech_Sports | @UtahTech_BASE | #UtahTechBlazers | #WACbsb

PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday (G1) – RHP #40 Dylan Gardner (0-1, 17.48 ERA) vs. RHP #21 Thomas Bainton (0-0, 4.50 ERA)
Saturday (G2) – LHP #6 Carston Herman (0-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. RHP #4 Ryan Halamicek (0-1, 3.60 ERA)
Sunday (G3) – RHP #34 Ky Decker (0-1, 9.00 ERA) vs. RHP #14 Braden Wauschek (0-0, 5.40 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: Utah Tech (1-4/0-0 WAC) returns to action this weekend with a three-game series vs. CSUN (2-2) at Bruce Hurst Field. 
            Friday's series opener will start at 6:05 p.m., followed by game two on Saturday at 2:05 p.m., and Sunday's series finale at 12:05 p.m.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: This weekend's series will mark second time that the Trailblazers and Matadors have squared off on the diamond. The two sides first met during the 2022 season in a midweek match-up in Northridge, which CSUN claimed by a 6-4 count. 
 
UTAH TECH ON THE WEB: All Utah Tech home games, along with all WAC away games, this season will be streamed live online on either WAC International (wacinternational.tv) or ESPN+ (plus.espn.com).
 
COACHING STAFF: Two-time Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year Chris Pfatenhauer is in his 12th season as head coach of the Utah Tech Baseball program. During his tenure in the UT dugout, Pfatenhauer led the Trailblazers to consecutive PacWest titles in 2014 and 2015, and to five-straight trips to the NCAA West Regionals from 2013-17, including serving as the host institution in 2013. 
            Pfatenhauer, who picked up his 300th victory as UT skipper in the 2022 season finale at California Baptist (14-8; 5/21/2022), owns a 314-236-1 (.571) overall record at Utah Tech, and a 366-295-1 (.553) career mark. 
            Joining Pfatenhauer (UNLV, 2000) in the Trailblazer dugout this season is associate head coach Bobby Rinard (Arizona, 2014), who is in his 10th season on coaching staff overall, along with first-year pitching coach Daniel Stange (UC Riverside, 2015), and former Trailblazer Braxton Ipson(Utah Tech 2020), who moved into an assistant coach role after serving as director of baseball operations last season. 
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech kicked off the 2024 season against of pair of PAC-12 opponents, which started by taking one of four from Washington State this past weekend at Bruce Hurst Field, highlighted by a 7-4 victory in game three of the series last Saturday afternoon. 
            The Trailblazers then opened their road slate on the wrong side of a lopsided road result at Arizona this past Tuesday afternoon in Tucson.
 
TRAILBLAZERS VOTED 11TH IN WAC PRESEASON POLL: Utah Tech was picked to finish 11th in the Western Athletic Conference as the league office announced its 2024 baseball preseason poll on Feb. 6. 
            Grand Canyon received nine first-place votes and 99 voting points to top the 2024 preseason coaches poll. Utah Valley (75 pts) and California Baptist (74 pts) each split the final two first-place votes to finish second and third in the poll, respectively.
            Abilene Christian (70 pts) wound up being selected fourth, followed by UT Arlington (68) in fifth, UTRGV (59 pts) in sixth, Sacramento State (54 pts) in seventh, Seattle U (39 pts) in eighth, Tarleton (34 pts) in ninth, Stephen F. Austin (19 pts) in 10th and Utah Tech (16 pts) in 11th. 
            The top eight teams in the conference standings will advance on to the 2024 WAC Baseball Championship Tournament, which will be held May 22-26 at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz.
 
PLENTY OF BUZZ: Though no Utah Tech player was voted to the WAC's preseason all-conference team, several Trailblazers are generating plenty of preseason buzz.
            Freshman SS Petey Soto Jr. was named to the Perfect Game all-WAC preseason team and was the publication's pick for Freshman of the Year.
            In addition, Perfect Game has listed three Blazers in its top-10 2024 Major League Baseball Draft prospects list, including junior LHP Justin Woodbury (#4), and a pair of newcomers in junior 1B Aaron Perez (#3) and RHP Dylan Gardner (#5).
            Meanwhile, Perfect Game has sophomore outfielder Karson Irvinlisted as the fourth-best prospect on its 2025 Draft list, and Soto Jr. made it on the 2026 Draft list. 
 
OPENING DAY: Utah Tech saw its "Opening Day" record fall to 9-9 all-time during its NCAA era after last Friday's 12-6 home loss to Washington State. 
            Utah Tech now owns a 10-8 overall record in home openers, 4-5 in season openers at home. Meanwhile the Trailblazers are now 8-10 all-time in road openers after last Tuesday's result at Arizona.
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Following its season-opening series with Washington State last weekend, Utah Tech has played to a 310-142 (.686) overall record in 448 games played inside the friendly confines of Bruce Hurst Field since the start of its four-year era in the 2007 season.
            UT has posted a winning home record in 15 of 17 seasons since transitioning to NCAA status in 2007, which includes an 11-11 at home in 2022. 
            Utah Tech had won 20 or more home games in eight of those 16 seasons overall, including 21-5 (.807) record in 2017, and a 24-6 mark (.800) in 2016, which was the second-best home record in terms of wins in the program's NCAA era (26-7 in 2009). 
            The 24 home wins in 2016 were the most under Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer, while the .807 winning percentage in 2017 was the best W% in Pfatenhauer's tenure.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Despite last Tuesday's result at Arizona, and a 2-21 road mark last year, Utah Tech has managed to hold its own away from home in its NCAA era as the Trailblazers have played to a 170-199-1 overall road record (.461).
            Utah Tech had posted a winning road record in eight of their last 14 seasons overall, highlighted by a 16-7-1 road mark in 2017. The 16 road wins were the most since beginning NCAA play in 2007.
            In 2015, Utah Tech went a program-best 15-5 on the road (.750), and UT has won at least 10 road games in nine of its last 11 seasons overall. When you also figure in neutral-site games (14-11 in 25 games), Utah Tech is 184-205-1 (.473) all-time away from Bruce Hurst Field in the program's NCAA era.
 
CLOSING IN ON 500: Utah Tech enters the week seven wins away from collecting victory No. 500 during its NCAA era.
            The Trailblazers recorded their 400th win in the program's NCAA era in the series opener vs. UCCS (6-1) on March 16, 2019. Utah Tech is currently 493-351-1 (.584) all-time through 17-plus years of NCAA competition (845 games). 
 
FREE BASEBALL: After not playing an extra inning game in two full seasons in 2019 and 2020, Utah Tech has played in 13 extra inning affairs since its move to Division I, all of which have come over the Blazers' last 134 games, including four last season.  
            The Trailblazers are currently 4-9 in extra inning games during their D-I transition, and 35-24 (.593) overall in 59 total extra-inning games in the program's four-year era. Utah Tech is 17-13 in 10-inning games, and the program has won nine of its last 20 extra inning games overall. 
 
TRAILBLAZER QUICK HITS 
* - Junior RF Hunter Katschke enjoyed a solid Trailblazer debut in the Wazzu series, against which he batted .438 (7-for-16) with team-highs of five XBHs, four RBI and four runs scored in four starts. 
* - Katschke hit safely in all four games, starting with a 2-for-4 day with a double, home run and two RBI in game one ... he then followed that up another double and homer as part of a 3-for-4 effort with two RBI and three runs scored in the Blazers' G3 victory. 
* - The junior closed the series with his third double of the weekend in four plate appearances.
* - Junior DH Brennen Study batted .571 in two starts in the WSU series (4-of-7), highlighted by a three-run HR in his first Trailblazer start in game two of the series.
* - Senior LF Chase Rodriguez doubled twice and tied a career high with four hits in the Wazzu series opener ... the senior outfielder batted .417 (5-of-12) with two runs scored on the weekend.
* - Junior 1B Aaron Perez has hit safely in four of his first five starts as a Trailblazer, including a three-hit day with an RBI and run scored in G2 vs. WSU ... he also homered in the Blazers' G3 victory. 
* - Senior catcher Hank Dodson started all four games vs. WSU, three of which behind the plate, and batted .308 (4-of-13) with a co-team high four runs scored ... Dodson also hit the second of three homers the Blazers would hit in their game three win.
* - Junior 2B Ethan He drove in two of the Trailblazers' four runs in the Arizona loss last Tuesday on a two-out, first inning double.
* - Senior RHP Ryan Hardman fired four innings of two-hit, one-run relief with five strikeouts to earn the decision in game three of the Washington State series last Saturday afternoon.
* - Hardman's five Ks tied his career high he set last season at Oklahoma State (3/11/23).
*- Sophomore southpaw Evan Vasiliou made his first collegiate start in G2 vs. Wazzu, against which he fanned two and scattered four hits and three runs in 4.2 IP ... the sophomore shined in the early going of his first collegiate start in game one, retiring nine of the first 11 Cougars he faced through three innings.
* - The Trailblazer defense got off to a stellar start to the season as the unit was tagged with only one error and threw out four potential base stealers in the WSU series.
* - However Utah Tech, which was last in the WAC in fielding percentage last season, committed three errors in its loss Tuesday at Arizona. 
 
ABOUT THE CSUN "MATADORS": CSUN makes its first-ever trip to St. George with a 2-2 record in two after the Matadors claimed a 7-5 road win at San Diego State this past Tuesday night. 
            That victory came on the heels of CSUN dropping two-of-three at home to WAC foe Utah Valley last weekend in Northridge.
            Graduate OF Jakob Simons got off to a quick start to the season, slashing .467/.579/1.067 with two home runs and five RBI through his first five games of the season. 
            As a team, CSUN hits at a .220 clip and averages 7.0 runs a game through its first four games, while the Matador pitching staff owns a 5.50 ERA and has struck out 35 in 36.0 IP. 
 
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech will close out its homestand with a Tuesday afternoon date vs. UNLV. First pitch at Bruce Hurst Field is slated for 4:05 p.m.