UTAH TECH VS. UTAH: Utah Tech is 3-3 all-time against its in-state rival, which includes an 11-8 victory over the Utes last Tuesday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field.

            Two of the three Trailblazer wins in the series have come at home, including a 9-4 decision during the 2022 season (5/11/22). Utah Tech also claimed a road win vs. the Utes in the first-ever game between the two programs in Utah Tech's NCAA era, a 9-7 triumph at Smith's Ballpark on March 23, 2021. 

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 326-271-1 (.546) overall record at Utah Tech, and a 378-330-1 (.534) 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. 

NEARING ANOTHER CAREER MILESTONE: Coach Pfatenhauer heads into the final week of the 2024 season within reach of another career milestone. The longtime Trailblazer mentor is slated to manage his 600th game at Utah Tech in this Thursday's series opener at home vs. California Baptist. 

            Coach Pfate passed another career milestone last month in the series finale vs. Abilene Christian (4/28), when he managed in his 700th-career collegiate game. 

LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech came away with a 1-3 mark in its final road series of the season at Cal Poly, which was played last weekend in San Luis Obispo. After dropping the first two games by counts of 7-2 and 3-2, the Trailblazers roared back with a 6-2 victory in the nightcap of a Saturday twin bill. However Utah Tech could not secure a series split as the Mustangs clinched the series win with an 8-1 win Sunday afternoon.   

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 Irvinlisted 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 312-157 (.665) overall record in 469 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-plus seasons since transitioning to NCAA status in 2007, which included an 11-11 at home in 2022. 

            Utah Tech had won 20 or more home games in eight of the previous 17 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 going 7-21 on the road this season, and posting 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 178-218-1 overall road record (.449) during its NCAA era. 

            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 192-226-1 (.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 505-386-1 (.567) all-time through 17-plus years of NCAA competition (892 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 72-141 (.338) overall record during their transition, which includes a 52-71 (.422) mark in Western Athletic Conference play.  

7W vs. P5: Seven of Utah Tech's 72 D-I wins have come against Power-5 programs, including last Tuesday's home victory over Utah, and its 9-8 triumph at Oklahoma State (3/5), which was the program's first vs. the Big XII Conference. 

            The Trailblazers also have racked up six wins against the PAC-12 Conference (3 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.

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 month.

            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 following the series finale at Grand Canyon (4/21) when OF Chase Rodriguez made an incredible leaping grab just shy of the warning track in right center to steal extra bases and keep GCU off the scoreboard in the fifth inning of the Blazers' 2-1 victory.   

GOING, GOING, GONE!: After hitting only 27 total home runs in its first 38 games, Utah Tech has enjoyed a major power surge that has seen the Trailblazers blast 22 homers in their last 14 games.

            Twenty of those 22 homers have been hit out of Bruce Hurst Field, including seven dingers in the Abilene Christian series, and six more in last Tuesday's over Utah. Utah Tech also went yard four times in the UVU non-conference game two weeks earlier (4/29).

FREQUENT FLYERS: Junior RF/DH Hunter Katschke belted three home runs and drove in a career-high five RBI in Utah Tech's home victory over Utah on May 7. Katschke homered on three pitches in consecutive at-bats early in the game, starting with a two-run blast to straight-away centerfield on the first pitch he saw in the first inning, which he followed with a solo shot in nearly the same spot on a 1-0 pitch in the third.

            He then connected for another two-run blast on a 1-1 pitch with one out in the seventh. 

            Katschke, who padded his team lead in both homers (12) and RBI (32) during his banner day, became the third Trailblazer in the program's brief NCAA Division I era to homer three times in one game. 

            Former Utah Tech All-American Jake Engel was the first to do it during the 2021 season in a game at San Diego State (4/24/21), while former Blazer infielder Sean Keating achieved the feat last season in a home win over Wichita State (2/22/23).

            Former Blazer Brody Clifford holds the program's single game home run record with four in a road victory at Adams State (3/10/19) during the 2019 season. 

            Meanwhile senior catcher Hank Dodson posted his second two-homer game of the season, and of his career, in the Utah win, going went 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored. Dodson also left the yard twice in a home win earlier this season vs. UTRGV (3/30/24).

            Dodson's back-up, senior catcher Morgan Albrecht, also went yard twice one week earlier vs. UVU (4/29). 

            In all, 13 different Trailblazers have accounted for all 49 homers to this point of the season. 

LEAD OFF JACKS: Freshman Kyle McDaniel recorded his second lead-off homer of the season in G2 vs. ACU (4/27). McDaniel, who has three long balls overall in 41 games, also led off Utah Tech's win at Oklahoma State (3/5) with his first collegiate HR. 

            In fact, 10 of the Trailblazers' 49 homers to this point of the season have come leading off an inning. 

LOB: For the fifth time in the program's NCAA era, and just the second time in its brief tenure as a D-I program, Utah Tech stranded only one base runner in last Tuesday's game win vs. Utah.

            In a strange quirk to that stat, the previous four instances came on the road, with the last occurrence happening exactly three years to the day at GCU (5/7/21). The Trailblazers also did it three times during its Division II era. 

LET'S TURN THREE: Utah Tech turned its first triple play of its NCAA era during the seventh inning of last Friday's series opener at Cal Poly.

            With one run already in and two base runners at second and third with no outs, Utah Tech reliever Dakoda West got Braxton Thomas to hit a sharp ground ball to Perez, who stepped on the bag at first base and fired a strike to Soto Jr., who tagged out Ryan Stafford as he tried to retreat to the second base bag.

            Soto Jr. then relayed the ball to the plate, where Dodson tagged out Jake Steels trying to score from third to end the inning with a 3-6-2 triple play.

            On the flip side, the Trailblazers have hit into two triple plays during its four-year era, the first came on the road at Cal State San Bernardino early in the 2017 season (2/5/17). Utah Tech also got tripled-up in a home win vs. UVU during the 2021 campaign (5/2/21). 

TRAILBLAZER QUICK HITS 

* - Soto Jr. (.250/.316/.337) saw his career best nine-straight hit streak stopped in the series opener at Cal Poly last Friday night ... Soto Jr. had five multi-hit games during his streak, highlighted by his first collegiate three-hit game in the series opener vs. Abilene Christian (4/26).

* - Soto Jr. is batting at a .333 clip (16-for-48) over his last 13 games with one double and seven runs scored.

* - McDaniel (.272/.424/.392) has been on a tear of late, having hit safely in 23 of his last 31 starts, including 14 of his last 18 with seven multi-hit outings.

* - McDaniel led the Trailblazer offense with a .333 average (5-for-15), along with a pair of doubles and three runs scored in the Cal Poly series ... the freshman doubled and had two hits in the final two games of the set. 

* - McDaniel batted .444 (4-for-9) at SFA two weekends ago and led Utah Tech with two doubles, five walks, six runs scored and four stolen bases (4-for-4) ... in fact, McDaniel stole three bases in the series opener (5/4), becoming just the fifth Trailblazer in the program's NCAA era, and the second during Utah Tech's current Division I transition, to steal at least three bases in one game.

* - The freshman also had a solid series at GCU, against which he batted .385 (5-for-13), 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 (4/20).

* - Katschke (.288/.548/.361) has hit safely in 22 of his last 32 games and is batting .301 (34-for-113) over this current stretch with 15 XBHs. 

* - 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 .291 against WAC pitching, feasted on UTRGV's staff (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.

* - 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.

* - Dodson (.274/.462/.367) has hit safely in 18 of his last 31 starts, which included his first career two-double (2-for-4) game at BYU (4/16), and a 2-for-4 day in the win at GCU (4/21).  

* - Dodson has legged out six of his team-high 12 doubles over his last 24 starts ... Dodson is second on the team with 19 XBHs, to go with 24 RBI and 25 runs scored in 51 games. 

* - Dodson, who is batting .280 in WAC play, hit .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.

* - Junior 1B Aaron Perez (.244/.359/.320) posted his fourth three-hit game of the season in Saturday's game three win at Cal Poly, against which he went 3-for-4 with a double, RBI and a run scored ... Perez has hit safely in eight of his last 16 starts, and in 27 of his first 44 games in a Trailblazer uniform overall. 

* - Perez smacked his third HR of the season in the first inning of Tuesday's win vs. Utah as part of a 2-for-4 day with two runs scored ... in fact, he homered on the very next pitch following the Katschke two-run HR. 

* - Study (.265/.382/.359) batted an even .300 (6-for-20) during the just completed homestand, with three of his six hits going for extra bases, including his first triple of the year vs. Nevada (4/22), along with a double his second homer of the season in the series finale vs. ACU (4/28).

* - Study, who has hit safely in 12 of his last 18 outings, also had two hits and a run scored vs. UVU (4/29), and a base hit in his only start at SFA (G1 - 5/4: 1-for-4, RBI/RS). 

* - Junior LF Ethan Royal (.243/.290/.336) collected two hits in his homecoming to the Central Coast last weekend, including an RBI-single in the game three win vs. Cal Poly ... the Arroyo Grande native has hit safely in 14 of his last 22 starts, including all three games at GCU, against which he batted .308 (4-for-13) with a double and two RBI.

* - Rodriguez (.203/.391/.329), 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 (4/15) ... 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).

* - Rodriguez went hitless in eight at-bats in the SFA series, but came back in a big way in last Tuesday's win vs. Utah, going 2-for-4 with a double and one run scored.

* - Senior OF Jack Walker (.224/.447/.313) posted his third career three-hit game in the finale vs. ACU (4/28), against which he finished a double shy of hitting for the cycle and tallied two RBI and two runs scored.

* - Walker had base hits in each of the final two games at Cal Poly last weekend, including his fifth double of the year in the game three victory. 

* - Junior INF Ethan He (.265/.337/.330) posted his sixth career three-hit game in the game two win at SFA on May 4 ... He went 3-for-3 with three RBI, which was one off of his career high ... He has hit safely in four of his last five games and is batting .461 (6-for-13) during this stretch with one XBH. 

* - Sophomore Evan Vasiliou picked up Utah Tech's lone victory at SFA on May 4, against which he scattered six hits and two runs (one earned) over six innings with three strikeouts. 

* - Vasiliou also earned the decision vs. Tarleton (4/13) after he fired a career-high 7.0 innings of two-hit baseball in the 4-1 win back on April 13 ... Vasiliou 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.

* - Junior LHP Carston Herman continued his solid second half of the season as he recorded the game three win at Cal Poly last Saturday ... after surrendering two first-inning runs, Herman retired 18 of the next 21 Mustangs he faced with five strikeouts over his next six innings on his way to his third win of the season. 

* - Herman has been Utah Tech's most consistent pitcher over the last four weeks ... the southpaw has struck out 22 in his last 25.0 innings of work, during which he has surrendered only six total runs and 21 hits. 

* - Herman was the hard-luck loser in the finale at SFA (5/5), against which he punched out six, while allowing only two runs on six hits in six innings complete. 

* - Herman turned in five solid innings in the finale vs. ACU (4/28) ... he struck out three and scattered two runs and six hits, but he did not figure into the decision ... Herman managed to extend his scoreless innings streak to 11.1 IP before ACU pushed across a pair of runs with one out in the fifth ... however the junior battled back to record his final strikeout and induced an inning-ending foul out to end his day. 

* - Herman enjoyed arguably his finest outing as a Trailblazer the road win at GCU (4/21), against which he struck out a career-high eight in seven shutout innings ... Herman surrendered only two hits and two walks and needed 98 pitches to navigate his way through his career-best seven IP. 

* - Junior RHP Matt Nelson collected his second win of the year in last Tuesday's win at Utah ... Nelson struck out a career-high five in four shutdown innings of one-hit relief.

* - Junior RHP Ky Decker, who will serve as the opener at Utah on Tuesday afternoon, earned his first save as a Trailblazer in the game one win at SFA (5/4), against which he fanned three in three innings of one-hit relief ... Decker also turned in two innings of one-hit relief in last Saturday's victory at Cal Poly. 

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech will put a bow on its 2024 season with a three-game home series vs. California Baptist at Bruce Hurst Field. Games one and two of the series will be played on Thursday and Friday nights at 6:05 p.m. (MT), followed by a Senior Day Saturday matinee at 12:05 p.m. (MT).