Utah Tech baseball closed out its five-game homestand on the wrong end of a 17-12 non-conference slugfest with in-state rival Utah Valley on Monday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field.
 
The Trailblazers (10-34) led 3-0 after three innings complete, plating a first-inning run on a Hunter Katschke RBI-single, which was followed one inning later by a two-run Jack Walker home run. The Walker homer was his second in as many games and his fourth of the season. 
 
UVU (23-22) spoiled a possible shutout bid in the fourth as the Wolverines batted around and struck for five runs on five hits to erase the deficit and bolt out to a 5-3 advantage.
 
Utah Tech got one of those runs back in the home half of the frame with the first of two Morgan Albrecht homers on the day. However Utah Valley countered with four more runs in the fifth inning to extend to a 9-4 lead.
 
The Trailblazers answered the Wolverine rally with five runs of their own in the home fifth to pull even at 9-9.
 
After a Katschke walk and a one-out Brennen Study single, Garrett Cutting drove a 1-1 Luke Kimmel offering over the left field wall for his fourth homer of the season, a three-run shot that trimmed the UVU lead to 9-7.
 
Petey Soto Jr. then split the gap in left center for a double and following a two-out Cayden Clark walk, the Wolverine defense committed two errors that allowed both base runners to score and tie the game.
 
Unfortunately for the homestanding Blazers the game did not remain tied long as Utah Valley batted around again in the sixth, this time sending 11 batters to the plate, with six of them scoring, to jump back on top at 15-9.
 
Albrecht would draw Utah Tech closer with a two-run blast in the seventh, but UVU tacked on single runs in both the eighth and ninth stanzas to clinch the overall season series sweep in the "Old Hammer Rivalry."
 
Albrecht, who also doubled and scored on a Chase Rodriguez pinch-hit double in the ninth, finished with career highs of three hits, three RBI and three runs scored. In addition, the senior reserve catcher's two-homer game was his first as a Trailblazer.
 
Utah Tech rapped out 12 hits on the day overall, with Katschke, Study and Soto Jr. each collecting two hits apiece. 
 
The Trailblazers return to Western Athletic Conference play this weekend with a three-game road series at Stephen F. Austin.