Hank Dodson homered twice as part of an 18-hit barrage as Utah Tech salvaged the final game of its three-game home WAC series with a 12-5 victory over UTRGV on Saturday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field.
Trailing 4-0 heading into the home fourth, Dodson sparked the start of a three-run Utah Tech (8-19/6-6 WAC) rally when he split the gap in left center for a one-out double.
Chase Rodriguez then stepped up and hammered the very next pitch from UTRGV hurler Zach Tjelmeland well over the left field wall for a two-run, opposite field home run to get the Blazers on the board.
Blake Borgogno followed suit two batters later when he went opposite field on an 0-1 Tjelmeland offering for his first home run as a Trailblazer to pull his side to within a run at 4-3.
UTRGV (14-12/4-5 WAC) got one of those runs back with a Martin Vazquez solo homer to lead off the fifth, only to see Dodson match that with his second long ball of the season to start the home sixth and again make it a one-run game.
Utah Tech, which fell victim to multiple Vaquero big offensive innings over the first two games of the series, finally managed to flip the script on UTRGV in the eighth as the Trailblazers struck for eight runs on seven hits, which turned a 5-4 deficit into a seven-run lead heading into the ninth.
Ethan Royal plated the first run with a pinch-hit single that chased home
Brennen Study, who singled to lead off the frame.
Kyle McDaniel followed with a lined shot that glanced off of Vaquero pitcher Anthony Tejada's glove, which allowed
Garrett Cutting to scamper to the plate carrying the go-ahead run.
Then after
Hunter Katschke walked to load the bases,
Aaron Perez laced an opposite field double down the third base line to drive in two more runs and make it an 8-5 game.
Following a wild pitch that scored Katschke and moved Perez to third, Dodson ambushed a 2-2 Jack Lopez pitch and sent it well over the hitter's eye in straight-away center field to extend the Utah Tech lead to 11-5.
Study kept the hit parade going with his second single of the stanza with two outs, and would score the game's final run on Borgogno's first triple of the season.
The eight-run outburst paid off a stellar performance by the Trailblazer bullpen as three relievers combined to limit the potent UTRGV offense to just one run and five hits over the final five innings.
Dylan Gardner set the tone with three innings of one-run, three-hit relief with a pair of strikeouts. Meanwhile freshman righthander
Aaron Morris (W, 1-0) struck out one in a scoreless eighth to earn his first collegiate decision, and senior
Ryan Hardman worked around a two-out hit in the ninth to close out the program's 500th NCAA era victory.
Dodson came within a triple of hitting for the cycle as he pounded out a career-high four hits and finished with three RBI and three runs scored. McDaniel and Perez both doubled twice and finished with three hits apiece, while Study collected three hits and two runs.
In all, 10 of the Trailblazers' 18 hits on the day went for extra bases, including five doubles to go with the four homers and Borgogno's three-bagger.
Utah Tech begins a stretch that will see the team play nine of its next 12 games on the road, starting with a three-game WAC series at in-state rival Utah Valley next weekend in Orem.
