Game Times (Mountain):
Friday - 1:05 p.m.
Saturday - 2:05 p.m.
Sunday - 12:05 p.m.
Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | ABILENE CHRISTIAN - 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) – LHP #24 Evan Vasiliou (3-5, 7.59 ERA) vs. RHP #14 Austin Glaze (3-3, 4.62 ERA)
Saturday (G2) – RHP #15 Cade Montgomery (0-1, 6.31 ERA) vs. RHP #17 Iain Campa (5-2, 3.57 ERA)
Sunday (G3) – LHP #6 Carston Herman (2-4, 5.64 ERA) vs. LHP #45 Brett Lanman (6-1, 2.03 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: Utah Tech (10-30/8-13 WAC) continues its homestand this weekend with a three-game WAC series vs. Abilene Christian (24-17/11- WAC) at Bruce Hurst Field (2,500)
           Due to forecasted rain later Friday afternoon and evening, Friday's series opener is now set to start 1:05 p.m. (MT), followed by game two on Saturday at 2:05 p.m. (MT), and Sunday's finale at 12 noon (MT).
 
UTAH TECH VS. ACU: This weekend's series will be the second between the Trailblazers and Wildcats on the diamond, and will mark the first time the two sides will meet in St. George. 
            Last season, Utah Tech won one of three in a road set at ACU, with that one victory coming in the series opener by a 14-6 count (5/5/23). However the Wildcats came back to claim a pair of tightly-contested games to clinch the overall series win (8-6 - 5/6/23; 4-2 - 5/7/23). 
 
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 323-262-1 (.552) overall record at Utah Tech, and a 375-321-1 (.539) 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. 
 
ON HIS WAY TO 700: Coach Pfatenhauer is inching his way toward another career milestone as he slated to manage in his 700th-career game in Sunday's series finale vs. ACU. 
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech opened its five-game homestand on the wrong end of a wild 21-13 slugfest with Nevada this past Monday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field. The Trailblazers withstood a pair of big Wolfpack innings, however a six-run Nevada eighth proved to be too much to overcome. 
 
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 State (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 generated 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 Irvin listed as the fourth-best prospect on its 2025 Draft list, and Soto Jr. made it on the 2026 Draft list. 
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Utah Tech has played to a 311-153 (.670) overall record in 464 games played inside the friendly confines of Bruce Hurst Field since the start of its four-year era in the 2007 season.
            The Trailblazers have 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 the 5-16 start to the road portion of the 2024 schedule, 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 176-213-1 overall road record (.452).
            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 (15-11 in 26 games), Utah Tech is 191-224-1 (.459) all-time away from Bruce Hurst Field in the program's NCAA era.
 
ON TO THE NEXT 500: Utah Tech collected its 500th NCAA-era victory in its 12-5 series finale triumph vs. UTRGV on March 30. 
            Utah Tech is currently 502-377-1 (.571) all-time through 17-plus years of NCAA competition (880 games). 
 
FINAL D-I TRANSITION SEASON: Utah Tech is currently in its fourth and final season of its transition to NCAA Division-I status. The Trailblazers have played to a 69-132 (.343) overall record during their transition, which includes a 51-66 (.436) mark in WAC play.  
 
6W vs. P5: Six of Utah Tech's 69 D-I wins have come against Power-5 programs, including its win at Oklahoma State (3/5), which was the program's first vs. the Big XII Conference. The Trailblazers have also racked up five wins against the PAC-12 Conference (2 vs. Utah; 1 vs. Arizona/Arizona State/Washington State). 
            Of note, all three victories over BYU, which is in its first season of Big XII play, came when the Cougars were members of the West Coast Conference.
 
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.  
            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.
 
DUH-DUH-DUH...DUH-DUH-DUH: Utah Tech got itself some national attention as the Trailblazer defense made ESPN's SportsCenter Top-10 Plays not once, but twice last week.
            The Trailblazers had the fifth-ranked play at BYU on April 16, when SS Petey Soto Jr. made a diving stop on a ground ball up the middle, flipped the ball with his glove to Blake Borgogno at second base, who then turned and fired a strike to Brennen Study at first base to complete the twin killing.
            Utah Tech then made it to No. 3 on Sunday when OF Chase Rodriguez made an incredible leaping grab just shy of the warning track in right center to steal extra bases and keep Grand Canyon off the scoreboard in the fifth inning of the Blazers' 2-1 victory.   
 
TRAILBLAZER QUICK HITS 
* - Senior catcher Hank Dodson (.315/.497/.393) has hit safely in 14 of his last 19 starts, which included his first career two-double (2-for-4) game at BYU (4/16), and a 2-for-4 day in Sunday's win at GCU.  
* - Dodson also collected two hits in the series finale vs. Tarleton (4/14), highlighted by his fourth homer of the season, a two-run shot in the third inning.
* - Dodson has legged out six of his team-high 12 doubles over his last 12 starts ... Dodson leads the Trailblazer everyday players with a .315 average with a team high 17 XBHs, along with 19 RBI and 18 run scored in 39 games. 
* - Dodson, who is hitting .333 clip WAC play, batted .333 (5-for-15) in the Seattle series, and hit .462 (6-for-13) in three starts vs. Sacramento State, with two hits in each start, all while collecting two RBI and two stolen bases over the three games.
* - Dodson also posted his first collegiate two-homer game as part of a 4-for-5 day in the finale vs. UTRGV (3/30). 
* - Junior RF/DH Hunter Katschke (.295/.538/.354) has hit safely in 17 of his last 24 games and is batting .313 (26-for-83) over this current stretch with 10 XBHs, including his team-leading eighth home run of the year last Saturday at GCU. 
* - Katschke saw his, and Utah Tech's season team-high, 13-game hit streak stopped in the series finale at UVU (4/7), but he came back with base hits in both games at UNLV (4/9-10), including an RBI-double in game one.
* - Katschke, who is batting .316 against WAC pitching, feasted on UTRGV pitching (3/28-30) to the tune of a .538 average (7-for-13) with five RBI and five runs scored ... he went 4-for-5 with a homer and four RBI in the series opener, then homered as part of a two-hit day in game two ... his four hits and four RBI in G1 were both season highs.
* - Katschke hit .385 in three starts at Seattle U (5-for-13) with four RBI and three runs scored ... he drove in at least one run in all three games, including a pair runs in the game two win. 
* - Katschke got his hit streak rolling in the Sac State series, during which he batted an even .500 (5-for-10) with a double, two HRs, three RBI and four runs scored ... the junior homered in both Blazer wins, including a two-run shot in G1 ... he also drew a career-best three walks in G2 and finished with a .615 OB% in the series.
* - Katschke has hit safely in 25 of his 38 games as a Trailblazer and he is the team leader in both HRs (8) and RBI (24).
* - Katschke also made his first mound appearance in G1 vs. Tarleton (4/12), against which he walked one and struck out one in 0.1 IP. 
* - Junior 1B Aaron Perez (.250/.342/.326) has hit safely in three of his last six starts, and in 22 of his first 34 games in a Trailblazer uniform overall. 
*  Perez batted an even .300 (3-for-10) in the UTRGV series, with all three hits coming in the finale, during which he doubled twice with two RBI ... he also drove in a Utah Tech career-best three runs in the BYU loss (3/19).
* - Junior INF/UT Brennen Study (.280/.387/.386) hit .429 (3-for-7) in two starts at GCU with a pair runs scored and a stolen base ... he also flashed a little leather with a pair of diving stops at first base, highlighted by a big two-out play in the eighth inning that preserved a one-run Blazer lead. 
* - Study, who has hit safely in eight of his last 11 outings, tripled, drove in a run and drew two walks in Monday's loss to Nevada. 
* - Freshman 3B Kyle McDaniel (.262/.402/.368) has been on a tear of late, having hit safely in six-straight and in 15 of his last 19 starts ...  the freshman batted .385 at GCU (5-for-13), with three of his five total hits going for doubles, including a pair of two-baggers as part of a 3-for-5 night in game two last Saturday. 
* - McDaniel followed that up with a 2-for-5 day with two RBI and a career-high three runs scored vs. Nevada on Monday. 
* - Freshman LF Ethan Royal (.265/.325/.351) has his safely in 10 of his last 13 starts, including all three games at GCU, against which he batted .308 (4-for-13) with a double and two RBI.
* - Royal posted his fourth multi-hit game of the year with a 2-for-4 night in the series opener, then tied a career high with his two RBI in game two. 
* - Senior OF Chase Rodriguez (.210/.400/.341), who collected his 100th-career hit in the series opener vs. Tarleton (4/12), drove in five runs, including a two-run first inning HR, vs. Nevada last Monday ... the senior's five RBI were one off of his career high of six he set two years ago at home vs. Utah Valley (3/4/22).
* - Junior catcher Connor Tallakson (.147/.235/.293) belted his first homer as a Trailblazer in the fourth inning vs. Nevada, against which he tied a career-high with two runs scored.  
* - Sophomore OF Levi Randall (.333/.333/.417) picked up his first collegiate XBH with a lead-off triple and tallied a career-best three runs scored in Monday's loss to Nevada ... Randall also recorded his first collegiate two-hit game and drove in his first career run in road finale at UNLV (4/10) ... Randall has collected at least one hit in seven of the 14 games he has appeared in this season. 
* - Junior LHP Carston Herman enjoyed arguably his finest outing as a Trailblazer in Sunday's win at GCU, against which he struck out a career-high eight in seven shutout innings ... Herman, who will start Sunday's finale vs. ACU, surrendered only two hits and two walks and needed 98 pitches to navigate his way through his career-best seven IP. 
* - Herman's eight punchouts at GCU bested his previous career high of six he recorded last season at Oklahoma State (3/12/23).
* - Sophomore Evan Vasiliou picked up Utah Tech's lone victory vs. Tarleton after he fired a career-high 7.0 innings of two-hit baseball in the 4-1 win back on April 13 ... Vasiliou, who will start Friday's opener vs. ACU, struck out one and surrendered only one run and allowed just five total base runners. 
* - Vasiliou recorded his second collegiate victory in the win at Oklahoma State (3/5), against which he struck out a career-high six and limited the Cowboys to two runs and eight hits over 5.2 IP.
* - Freshman RHP Cade Montgomery, who will start game two vs. ACU on Saturday, struck out three and scattered one run on three hits over four innings in his second collegiate start in G2 at GCU.
* - Redshirt junior LHP Justin Woodbury collected his first collegiate save in Sunday's finale at GCU after he fired 1.1 innings of spotless relief ... Woodbury made two appearances out of the bullpen in the GCU series, which included one inning of one-hit relief with two strikeouts in G2 last Saturday. 
 
ABOUT THE ACU "WILDCATS": Abilene Christian travels to St. George winners of five of its last eight games, which includes a pair of home shutout victories over both WAC co-leader CBU last Sunday (4-0) and Tarleton State (7-0) in a non-conference game this past Tuesday.
            Fifth-year UT Gino D'Alessio (.374/.578/.456) is the Wildcats' top hitter with a .374 average with eight HRs and 41 RBI. Meanwhile graduate OF Miller Ladusau (.371/.608/.481) leads ACU with 22 XBH, including a team-high 16 doubles, to go with six homers and 32 RBI.
            Freshman LHP Brett Lanham, who will start G3 on Sunday, is ACU's staff ace with a 6-1 record along with a 2.03 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 53.1 IP.  
            As a team, ACU is hitting at a .275 clip and averages 6.1 runs and 8.8 hits a game, while the Wildcats' pitching staff owns a 5.12 team ERA and has struck out 377 in 346.1 IP. 
 
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech wraps up its five-game homestand with a non-conference tilt against in-state rival Utah Valley on Monday afternoon. First pitch at Bruce Hurst Field is set for 4:05 p.m.