Utah Tech was done in by a late California Baptist rally in a 14-10 loss in the first game of its final three-game WAC weekend home series of the 2024 season on Thursday night at Bruce Hurst Field.
 
After spotting the Lancers a 2-0 lead on a second-inning Jake Brown homer, the Trailblazers (13-41/9-19 WAC) responded with six-unanswered runs over the next two innings en route to a 6-2 advantage after three innings complete.
 
Petey Soto Jr. pull his side even in the home second when he ambushed a 1-2 Lukas Pirko offering for his third home run of the season, a two-out, two-run blast over the left field wall that brought home Chase Rodriguez, who reached on a one-out single. 
 
Aaron Perez led off the Blazer third with fourth homer of the year on the first pitch he saw from Pirko to put Utah Tech up one run. The Trailblazers then proceeded to load the bases with one out thanks to a Morgan Albrecht single, followed by a Garrett Cutting double, and Rodriguez getting plunked by a Pirko pitch.
 
Jack Walker would step up and hit a sharp grounder to short, which was mishandled by the Lancer defense, and left two of the Blazer runners in between bases. Albrecht managed to score on the play, while Cutting and Rodriguez wound up advancing up one base, and Walker was erased at first base in a rundown for the second out.
 
Soto Jr. then came to the plate and drilled a 1-0 Pirko offering deep to center field for a two-run double to extend the Utah Tech lead to four runs.
 
Unfortunately for the homestanding Trailblazers, whatever momentum they carried into the fourth was quickly extinguished as CBU sent 12 batters to the plate as part of a seven-run rally that turned a four-run Blazer cushion into a 9-6 Lancer lead.
 
CBU (33-21/17-11 WAC) needed only four hits to plate those seven fourth-inning runs, as the Lancers took advantage of two costly Utah Tech walks and a hit batter. However two of those four Lancer safeties left the yard, including a three-run Mitch Simon homer, followed by a Ryan Kim solo shot.
 
Utah Tech managed to get up off the deck in the home fifth, tying the game at 9-9 thanks to three two-out runs. Walker singled up the middle to start the rally, while Soto Jr. picked up his third extra-base hit in as many at-bats with a double to left field.
 
Kyle McDaniel then beat out an infield single to chase home Walker, while a throwing error on the play allowed Soto Jr. to scamper to the plate and McDaniel to move up the second base.
 
McDaniel advanced to third on a wild pitch and would tie the game at 9-9 on a Hunter Katschke opposite field single to right.
 
Meanwhile, the Trailblazer bullpen held CBU in check as relievers Aaron Morris and Matt Nelson combined to retire nine of the next 11 Lancers to keep the game deadlocked heading to the stretch.
 
Soto Jr. singled to lead off the Utah Tech seventh and stood at second base with no outs after a wild pitch. Then with two outs in the frame, Perez drove in his second run of the night with an opposite field single through left side of the infield to chase home Soto Jr. carrying the go-ahead run. 
 
From there it was all CBU as the Lancers tied the game in the eighth, and regained the lead with a four-run ninth to clinch the series-opening win. 
  
Utah Tech lost despite outhitting CBU by a 17-13 count. Soto Jr. wound up a triple shy of the cycle as he finished 4-for-5 at the plate with four RBI and three runs scored. The freshman's four hits and four runs driven in were both career highs, while his three runs score tied a career high.
 
All nine batters in the Trailblazer starting line-up had at least one base hit, with McDaniel, Katschke, Perez, Cutting and Rodriguez each collecting two hits apiece. 
 
The two teams will play the middle game of their three-game set on Friday night starting at 6:05 p.m.