Baseball | 2/25/2025 12:39:00 PM

Game Time (Mountain):
Wednesday - 7 p.m.
Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | UCI
Live Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: at UC IRVINE
Twitter: @UtahTech_Sports | @UtahTech_BASE | #UtahTechBlazers | #WACbsb

PROBABLE STARTERS:
RHP #28 Jonah Marshall (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP #15 Finnegan Wall (0-0, 4.50 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: After playing eight-straight home games to begin the season, Utah Tech opens the road portion of its 2025 schedule with a six-game swing, starting with a midweek date at No. 20 UC Irvine (4-3) this Wednesday night. First pitch at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark in Irvine is set for 7 p.m. (MT). 
 
UTAH TECH VS. UC IRVINE: This weekend's series will be the first-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and the Anteaters on the diamond.
 
AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS: Utah Tech is 1-9 against ranked opponents in its brief time as an NCAA Division I program. 
            The Trailblazers lone win against a ranked opponent came in their first D-I transition season in 2021, an 11-9 road victory at then-No. 6 Arizona in Tucson (5/28/21) in the team's penultimate game of the season.
            No. 20 UC Irvine is the second ranked team Utah Tech will have faced from the Big West Conference. During the 2022 season, the Blazers were swept in a three-game series at then-No. 9/19 UC Santa Barbara (5/13-15/22), though two of those losses were one-run affairs, including a 7-6 loss in 10 innings in game two. 
 
FINALLY ELIGIBLE FOR POSTSEASON PLAY: Not only is the 2025 season Utah Tech's fifth Division I season overall, it is also the FIRST season that the Trailblazers are eligible for NCAA postseason play. 
        The NCAA Division I Board of Directors officially approved Utah Tech's move to active Division I status back on June 28, 2024. With that confirmation, Trailblazer Athletics is now officially eligible to participate in all NCAA postseason championships in its 15 intercollegiate programs.
 
COACHING STAFF: Two-time Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year Chris Pfatenhauer is in his 13th season as head coach of the Utah Tech Baseball program.                    
            During his tenure in the Utah Tech 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 330-279-1 (.541) overall record at Utah Tech, and a 382-338-1 (.530) career mark. 
            Joining Pfatenhauer (UNLV, 2000) in the Trailblazer dugout this season is associate head coach Bobby Rinard (Arizona, 2014), who is in his 11th season on coaching staff overall, along with second-year pitching coach Daniel Stange (UC Riverside, 2015), and former Trailblazer Braxton Ipson (Utah Tech 2020), who returns for his second season as an assistant coach after serving as the program's director of baseball operations in 2022. 
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech closed out its eight-game, season-opening homestand on a sour note as the Trailblazers dropped three of four to visiting UC Riverside last weekend at Bruce Hurst Field.
            After slugging their way to a 12-3 win in the Friday's series opener, the Trailblazers were swept in a Saturday twin bill, 5-4 in 10 innings and 8-6, before being shut out by a 4-0 count in Sunday's finale. 
 
TRAILBLAZERS VOTED NINTH IN WAC PRESEASON POLL: Utah Tech was picked to finish ninth in the Western Athletic Conference as the league office announced its 2025 baseball preseason poll on Feb. 5. 
            Two-time defending WAC regular season champion Grand Canyon received eight first-place votes and 64 points to top the 2025 preseason coaches poll. Abilene Christian collected one first-place vote to finish second in the poll with 54 points, while California Baptist (46 pts) was voted third. 
            Tarleton State (39 pts) wound up being selected fourth, followed by Sacramento State (36) in fifth, Utah Valley (34 pts) in sixth, UT Arlington (28 pts) in seventh, Seattle U (12 pts) in eighth, and Utah Tech (11 pts) in ninth. 
            The top eight teams in the conference standings will advance on to the 2025 WAC Baseball Championship Tournament, which will be held May 20-24 at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz.
 
OPENING DAY: Thanks to its 7-5 series opening win over Northern Colorado (2/14), Utah Tech improved to 10-9 all-time on "Opening Day" during its NCAA era. The Blazers' have now won six of their last 10, and 10 of its previous 16 season debuts overall. 
            In addition, Utah Tech moved to 11-8 overall record in home openers, and 5-5 in season openers at home. Meanwhile the Trailblazers are 8-10 all-time in road openers, and they are 5-4 in season-opening road games overall.
 
A LOOK AT THE 2025 SCHEDULE: Utah Tech's 2025 slate of games features 32 home games at Bruce Hurst Field. The 32 home games are most in their current NCAA Division I era, and the second-most in the program's four-year era (33 in 2009) overall. 
            The schedule also features match-ups against three 2024 NCAA Regional teams, and four games against Power-4 conference schools.
            The Trailblazers will play 17 of their first 23 games at home, which included their recently wrapped up eight-game homestand. 
            Utah Tech will open their 22-game road slate with its longest road stretch of the year, a six-game trip that starts with Wednesday's match-up at 2024 NCAA regional participant UC Irvine.
            The Blazers then head to the Northwest for a four-game wrap-around series at Portland this upcoming Friday-through-Monday, followed by a midweek game at 2024 regional participant and new Big Ten member No. 11/15 Oregon next Tuesday night in Eugene.
            Utah Tech returns home for a season long nine-game homestand, beginning with a three-game series with Saint Mary's (3/7-9). That week also includes the first of two home dates vs. UNLV (3/8). 
            The Trailblazers will also host Gonzaga for a midweek game on March 11, before opening a four-game weekend series against CSU Bakersfield (3/13-16).
            Utah Tech opens WAC play on the road at CBU (3/21-23), and after a conference bye week, the Trailblazers begin the home portion of its WAC slate with a three-game series with Utah Valley (4/4-6).   
            In addition, the Blazers will also play mid-week home-and-home games against BYU (3/18 in Provo; 4/8 in St. George), Utah (3/25 in St. George; 4/1 in Salt Lake City), and UNLV (4/29 in St. George; 5/5 in Las Vegas) and will close their non-conference slate with a mid-week game at UC Davis on May 13.  
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Utah Tech has played to a 316-164 (.658) overall record in 480 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 the 18 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 18 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: Utah Tech wrapped up the 2024 road slate with a 7-22. Despite finishing 15 games under .500 away from home last season, the Trailblazers have managed to hold its own away from home in its NCAA era as the Trailblazers have played to a 178-219-1 overall road record (.448). 
            Utah Tech has 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 193-230-1 (.456) 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 last season in its 12-5 series finale triumph vs. UTRGV (3/30/24). 
 
900 DOWN: Utah Tech played its 900th NCAA-era ball game in its series finale vs. Northern Colorado back on Feb. 16. In all, the Trailblazers have played to a 509-394-1 (.563) record all-time through 18-plus years of NCAA competition.
            That record also includes a 76-149 (.338) mark in the program's current Division-I era, and a 53-73 (.420) mark in Western Athletic Conference play.  
 
7W vs. P4: Seven of Utah Tech's 76 D-I wins have come against Power-4 programs, two of which came last season in a home victory over former PAC-12 member Utah (5/7/24), and a 9-8 road triumph at Oklahoma State (3/5/24), which was the Trailblazers' first vs. the Big 12 Conference. 
            Six of those seven Trailblazers came against three former PAC-12 Conference member schools (3 vs. Utah; 1 each vs. Arizona/Arizona State/Washington State). 
            Of note, all three victories over BYU, which is in its second season of Big 12 play, came when the Cougars were members of the West Coast Conference.
 
FREE BASEBALL: Utah Tech saw its streak of not playing an extra inning game stopped at 76-straight after last Saturday's 5-4 loss to UC Riverside in 10 innings. 
            Last Saturday's extra-inning loss was the Trailblazers' sixth-straight and dropped them to 4-11 in extra innings during their current Division I era. 
            In all, Utah Tech is 35-25 (.583) in 60 extra-inning games in the program's four-year era. The Blazers are now 17-14 in 10-inning games, while the program has won nine of its last 21 extra inning games overall.
 
DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE: Utah Tech enters the week tied for SECOND in the NCAA Division I ranks in double plays with 11, which includes five twin-killings in last weekend's series vs. UC Riverside.
 
ON THE FLIP SIDE: The news was not all good for the Utah Tech defense as the unit combined to commit 13 errors in the UCR series, including a school-record eight miscues in the 8-6 game three loss. The eight errors also tied for an overall NCAA D-I team high through the first two weeks of the season.
            Utah Tech had got off to a good start to the season as the unit committed only total three errors in the UNC series. The 16 total errors to this point of the season are tied for seventh-most in the D-I ranks going into this week.
 
TRAILBLAZER QUICK HITS 
* - Senior RF Hunter Katschke (.355/.581/.429) hit .467 in the UC Riverside series (7-for-15) with team-highs of six RBI and six runs scored.
* - Katschke had a night in last Friday's series opener, during which he tied a program NCAA-era record with five hits (5-for-5) with a double, home run and a career-high six RBI.
* - Katschke became the first Trailblazer in the program's relatively new NCAA Division I era to record five hits in a game, and he became the 16th-different player in the program's four-year era to drive in at least six runs in a single game. 
* - Junior 3B/RHP Ryan Kroepel (.360/.560/.514) batted a team-high .545 (6-for-11) in the UCR series with a homer, three RBI and three runs scored ... Kroepel reached base safely in 11 of his 18 total plate appearances in four starts with three walks, two HBPs, along with two sacrifices.
* - Kroepel has also shown that he is a dual threat at the hot corner, as well as the bump, after he picked up saves in both Blazer victories vs. Northern Colorado two weeks ago ... Kroepel was called on to move from third to the mound in the ninth inning in three of the four games overall and struck out two in 2.2 innings of work.
* - Of note, Utah Tech recorded only six total saves in 54 games last season.
* - Sophomore 2B Kyle McDaniel (.438/.688/.500) got his 2025 season off to a great start vs. Northern Colorado, against which he slashed at .600/1.133/.647 over the four games ... he went a combined 9-for-15 at the plated with a team-high five XBHs, four RBI and three runs scored. 
* - McDaniel hit safely in six of his first seven at-bats against Bear pitching, starting with a 4-for-4 effort Friday's opener with a double, triple and two runs scored ... he followed that up with three more hits in game two, including a two-run homer and another double
* - McDaniel batted .294 (5-for-17) in four starts vs. UCR last weekend, including .384 (5-for-13) out of the lead-off spot in the first three games of the series with four runs scored. 
* - McDaniel, who led Utah Tech with 14 doubles as a true freshman last year, now has 17 two-baggers to his credit in 57 career games.
* - Sophomore SS Petey Soto Jr. (.375/.458/.483) continued his torrid start to the season as hit .364 (4-of-11) in the UCR series with one double, one stolen base and two runs scored primarily out of the ninth spot in the order.
* - Soto Jr., who has hit safely in six of his first eight starts this season, batted .385 out of the nine-hole in the Northern Colorado series with one double, three RBI and five runs scored ... the sophomore also made several "Web Gem" plays in the infield and was part of all six of the Trailblazers' double plays in the series.  
* - Senior 1B Aaron Perez (.250/.400.360) enjoyed a solid season-opening series vs. UNC, during which he hit .455 with five RBI and five runs scored, and reached base safely in nine of his 15 plate appearance overall.
* - Four of Perez's five RBI came on one swing, a fifth-inning grand slam in game two, which was part of a six-run frame that helped erase a five-run UNC first inning. 
* - Perez's slam came nearly two years to the day of Utah Tech's last grand slam, and coincidentally it was another Blazer first baseman who hit it ... former 1B Sean Keating belted a bases-clearing homer, which was part of his three-homer day in Utah Tech's 12-4 home win over Wichita State (2/22/23).
* - Freshman DH/OF Finnegan Stewart (.240/.360.387) made the most of his collegiate debut as he hit .333 (4-of-12) with five walks and five runs scored in four starts vs. Northern Colorado.
* - Stewart, who hit safely in each of his first six starts overall, wasted little time making a name for himself as he became the first true freshman in the program's NCAA era to homer in a season-opening game (2/14) when he drilled a two-run shot over the left field wall on the first pitch he saw in the third inning.
* - Stewart also became the 12th different Trailblazer to homer in a season-opening game in Utah Tech's four-year era ... in fact, Stewart's long ball marked the third-straight year a Blazer slugger had homered in a season opener.
* - After going a combined 0-for-13 in the first four games of the season, the Utah Tech catcher platoon of juniors Andrew Pyle and Ty Johnsen combined to bat .357 (5-for-14) in the UCR series.
* - Pyle (.154/.462/.353) bounced back from an 0-for-3 opener with a 2-for-4 effort in game three with a solo homer ... Pyle also drew two walks in the weekend series. 
* - Meanwhile Johnsen went 3-for-7 combined in the series, with including a clutch 2-run, eighth-inning single in game two, and a 2-for-2 day at the plate with a walk in Sunday's finale. 
* - Sophomore RHP Cade Montgomery (2-0/1.74 ERA/5 K/10.1 IP) picked up his second victory of the season in Friday's opener vs. UC Riverside ... Montgomery faced one over the minimum through his first five innings of work and limited UCR to only two hits.
* - Montgomery pitched into the sixth, where UCR struck for three runs on two hits, and one costly error ... three Blazer relievers then combined for six strikeouts and limited UC Riverside to only two hits over the final three-plus innings to close out the win.
* - Junior RHP Ryan Martinez (0-0/2.77 ERA/11 K/13.0 IP) turned in his second-straight solid start of the year with seven innings of seven-hit, two-run baseball with four strikeouts in G2 vs. UCR, but he did not figure in the decision.
* - Martinez shined in his Trailblazer debut in game three vs. UNC (2/15), against which he fanned seven and scattered three runs (two earned) and five hits over six innings. 
* Fellow junior RHP Dakoda West (0-1/2.70 ERA/8 K/10.0 IP) turned in his best overall outing of his Utah Tech career in Sunday's finale vs. UNC (2/16) ... West retired the first 10 batters he faced and struck out a career-high six in five innings of work ... he wound up allowing only two runs and three hits on the day.
* - West followed that up with 5.0 dominant innings in Sunday's finale vs. UCR, against which struck out two and surrendered only one run on three hits ... West induced eight ground ball outs and one double play over those five innings, but was saddled with the hard-luck loss.
* - Well it took 47 appearances, but senior reliever Jacob Taggart finally earned that elusive first collegiate victory ... the senior RHP collected his first pitching decision in game three vs. Northern Colorado (2/15) after hurling two innings of one-hit relief with two strikeouts.
* - Overall, Utah Tech pitchers combined to post a 3.16 ERA and held UCR batters to a .232 average over the four games last weekend ... the staff also struck out 33 and surrendered only 16 walks, this after Utah Tech pitchers issued 26 walks and hit 16 batters in the Northern Colorado series.
 
ABOUT THE UC IRVINE "ANTEATERS": UC Irvine returns home for Wednesday's game coming off a road series win at Texas Tech last weekend in Lubbock. The Anteaters opened the 2025 campaign in Arizona with a 10-5 win over previously ranked Nebraska (2/14) and a hard-fought loss vs. current No. 13/14 Vanderbilt (2/16).  
            UCI boasts three starters batting over .400 during the first two weeks of the season, led by reigning Big West Player of the Week Jacob McCombs(.452/.968/.541).
            McCombs hit .562 (9-for-16) in the TTU series with two triples, two homers, eight RBI, and five runs scored over the three games. 
            As a team, UCI hits at a .298 clip and averages 9.6 runs and 11.0 hits through its first seven games, while the Anteater pitching staff owns a 6.24 ERA and has struck out 55 in 62.0 IP. 
 
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech continues its road trip with a four-game wrap-around series at Portland this Friday-through-Monday.