Utah Tech could not overcome a big Abilene Christian seventh inning as the Trailblazers dropped the first game of a three-game WAC weekend home series by a 10-3 count on Friday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field. 
 
The Blazers (10-31/8-14 WAC) got off to a great start thanks a two-out, two-run Aaron Perez home run in the home first. It was the junior first baseman's second long ball of the season.
 
Sophomore lefthander Evan Vasiliou made those two early runs stand as he managed to keep the Wildcats off the scoreboard through the first four innings of his start.
 
However ACU (25-17/12-7 WAC) broke into the scoring column in the fifth, loading the bases with a pair of hit batters and a two-out walk ahead of Garrett Williams, who singled home two runs to tie the game at 2-2.
 
The Wildcats mounted another threat in the sixth, loading the bases with one out, but Trailblazer reliever Aaron Morris got WAC RBI leader Gino D'Alessio to line into an inning-ending double play to keep the game deadlocked.
 
ACU would again load the bases in the seventh, only this time the Wildcats took full advantage. Abilene Christian struck for eight runs in the frame and sent 14 batters to the plate en route to a commanding 10-2 lead.
 
Utah Tech got one of those runs back thanks in part to a pair of ACU errors after the stretch, and had a chance to get back into the game with the bases loaded in the eighth. But the Wildcat bullpen escaped the jam, and kept the Trailblazers at bay in the ninth to close out the game. 
 
Freshman shortstop Petey Soto Jr. posted his first collegiate three-hit game as he went 3-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, while fellow freshman infielder Kyle McDaniel doubled as part of a two-hit day with an RBI. 
 
Vasiliou struck out three and scattered two runs and four hits over five innings, but did not figure into the decision. 
 
The two teams will play the middle game of their three-game set on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.