Utah Tech overcame an early deficit, and Mother Nature, to pick up the fourth victory on its season-long homestand in a 10-4 decision over CSU Bakersfield on a wet and frigid Thursday night at Bruce Hurst Field.
 
The Trailblazers (9-11) found themselves in a 3-0 hole heading into the home fourth after CSUB (7-12) struck an unearned run in the second inning, and a pair of lead-off solo home runs in the third and fourth frames.
 
Meanwhile, Roadrunner starter Jack Leary (L, 1-3) rolled through his first three-plus innings, retiring 12 of the first 13 Blazer hitters he faced along the way.
 
That all changed with two outs in the Utah Tech fourth when Kyle McDaniel squared up a Leary offering and sent it well over the right field wall for the Trailblazers' first hit and run of the night.
 
The McDaniel homer seemed to open the floodgates as Utah Tech struck for two runs in the fifth and six more in the sixth to open up a commanding 9-3 advantage.
 
In the fifth, Petey Soto Jr. and Levi Randall both reached on one-out singles ahead of Kace Naone, who doubled down the left field line to chase home both base runners and tie the game at 3-3.
 
McDaniel would start the Utah Tech rally in the sixth with a lead-off single. The sophomore infielder then stole second, was bunted to third, and scored the go-ahead run on an Aaron Perez single to right field.
 
Ethan Royal chased the Perez hit with a single of his own, and following a strikeout and a pitching change, Randall smacked an opposite field single to left center to bring Perez around to score and make it a 5-3 game.
 
The wheels would come off for the Roadrunners from there as Naone was hit by a pitch to load the bases, while Ryan Kroepel reached on a CSUB infield error that not only kept the inning alive, it also led to another Blazer run.
Finnegan Stewart then unloaded the bases two pitches later with a double to right center as Utah Tech sent 10 batters to the plate in the frame.
 
The Trailblazer nine-run rally picked up junior righthander Tyler Ray (W, 2-0), who settled in after the CSUB lead-off homer in the fourth to retire nine of the next 11 Roadrunners he faced. 
 
After both teams each traded single runs in the seventh, Mother Nature delivered wind, rain, hail, a few snowflakes, and even a lightning strike, all of which led to a 51-minute weather delay in the Utah Tech eighth inning.
 
However Mother Nature only delayed the Trailblazers from their post-game celebration as they improved to 4-2 through the first six games of their season-long, nine-game homestand.
 
Eight of the nine hitters in Utah Tech's starting line-up collected at least one hit, with Randall, McDaniel and Perez each recording two safeties apiece. Meanwhile Stewart, who tripled and homered as part of a four-RBI game in last Tuesday's win over Gonzaga, has now driven in seven runs over his last two ball games.
 
Ray wound up scattering three runs (two earned) and four hits with a one strikeout over six solid innings to earn his second win in as many starts. Three Blazer relievers later combined to strike out six and limit CSUB to one unearned on three hits over the final three innings to close out the win.
 
The two teams will play game two of their four-game weekend series on Friday afternoon beginning at 4:05 p.m. (MT).