Utah Tech opened its five-game homestand on the wrong end of a wild 21-13 slugfest with Nevada on Monday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field.
After Nevada (17-20) ambushed the Trailblazers with five first-inning runs, Utah Tech clapped back with three runs in the bottom half to kickstart the slugfest.
Levi Randall led off the home first with his collegiate extra-base hit, an opposite field triple off the left field wall.
Kyle McDaniel would single home Randall for the Blazers' first run, then after a pair of wild pitches and two groundouts,
Chase Rodriguez launched his fifth home run of the year over the right field wall to score McDaniel and cut the deficit to 5-3.
Utah Tech (10-30) used the long ball again to inch closer in the fourth when
Connor Tallakson belted his first homer of the year down the left field line to make it a 5-4 game.
The Wolfpack countered with nine-unanswered runs over their next two offensive frames to open up a commanding 14-4 lead. Nevada sent 10 batters to the plate in a seven-run fifth, then followed that up with two more runs in the sixth.
The Trailblazers got off the deck in the home sixth with six runs of their own to pare the Nevada lead back down to 14-10.
Garrett Cutting led off the stanza with a towering solo homer over the hitter's eye in straight-away centerfield.
Utah Tech would go on to score its next five runs with thanks to four two-out walks, one wild pitch, a Tallakson RBI-single, and a two-run Rodriguez double that pulled the Trailblazers to within four runs.
Nevada got one of those runs back in the seventh on the third of Taylor Holder's three home runs of the game, and one of six total homers the Wolfpack would hit on the day.
However the Blazers managed to take advantage of more Wolfpack bullpen control problems after the stretch, plating three more runs without benefit of a hit to again pull to within two runs at 15-13.
Utah Tech scored those three run on five walks, four of which came with two outs, along with three wild pitches, and a hit batter with the bases loaded.
Unfortunately whatever momentum the Trailblazers had was quickly extinguished an inning later as Nevada scored six runs in the eighth, with the big blow coming on a two-out, three-run Michael Ball homer that extended the Wolfpack lead to eight.
Nevada reliever Dominic Desch (S, 1) would go on to retire six of the final seven Trailblazers he faced over the final two innings to end the game.
Rodriguez finished with two hits and a season-high five RBI, which was one off of his career high of six he set two years ago at home vs. Utah Valley (3/4/22). McDaniel also drove in two runs and collected two hits as Utah Tech finished with 10 safeties on the day.
The Trailblazers continue their homestand this weekend with a three-game Western Athletic Conference series vs. Abilene Christian. 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.
