Game Times (Mountain):
Friday: G1 - UNLV vs. Saint Mary's, 2 p.m.
Friday: G2 - Utah Tech vs. Saint Mary's, 6:05 p.m.
Saturday: G3 - Utah Tech vs. UNLV, 12:05 p.m.; G4 - Utah Tech vs. Saint Mary's, 4:05 p.m.
Sunday: G5 - Utah Tech vs. Saint Mary's, 12:05 p.m.
Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | SAINT MARY'S | UNLV
Live Streaming: GAME #1 | GAME #2 | GAME #3 | GAME #4 | GAME #5
Live Stats: GAME #1 | GAME #2 | GAME #3 | GAME #4 | GAME #5
Twitter: @UtahTech_Sports | @UtahTech_BASE | #UtahTechBlazers | #WACbsb

UTAH TECH PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday (G1) – RHP #15 Cade Montgomery (3-0, 1.65 ERA) vs. SMC RHP #35 Sam Kretsch (2-1, 3.72 ERA)
Saturday (G2) – RHP #45 Ryan Martinez (0-0, 3.26 ERA) vs. UNLV RHP #30 Reese Lueck (1-0, 3.97 ERA)
Saturday (G3) – RHP #31 Tyler Ray (0-0, 3.29 ERA) vs. SMC RHP #30 Donovan Chriss (2-0, 3.18 ERA)
Sunday (G4) – RHP #35 Dakoda West (0-2, 3.60 ERA) vs. SMC TBA

FIRST PITCH: Utah Tech (5-9/0-0 WAC) returns home for a season-long, nine-game homestand this weekend with four games against two different opponents. 
            The Trailblazers will face Saint Mary's (9-4) in a three-game series, with game one of the series taking place on Friday night at 6:05 p.m. (MT). Game two of the series will be played 4:05 p.m. (MT), and Sunday's series finale will start at 12:05 p.m. (MT).
            In addition, Utah Tech will square off against UNLV (8-5) in the first game of a split doubleheader on Saturday at 12:05 p.m. (MT). Meanwhile, Saint Mary's and UNLV will open the weekend with a Friday neutral-site game beginning at 2:05 p.m. (MT). 
 
UTAH TECH VS. THIS WEEKEND'S OPPONENTS: This weekend's series vs. Saint Mary's will be the first-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and the Gaels on the diamond. 
            On the flip side, Utah Tech heads into Saturday's match-up vs. UNLV looking for its first win in the head-to-head series. Utah Tech is 0-5 against the Rebels in its brief D-I era, which includes all three games played between the two sides last season.
            Saturday's Utah Tech/UNLV game will also be the first of three games that the Blazers and Rebels will play against each other this season. UNLV will return to Bruce Hurst Field for a midweek game on April 29, while the Trailblazers will head to Las Vegas for the return game on May 5. 
 
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 332-283-1 (.540) overall record at Utah Tech, and a 384-342-1 (.529) 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 returns home after going 2-4 on its season-long, six-game road swing, which included a four-game series split at Portland over the weekend. 
            The Trailblazers bookended that series with single games against ranked opponents, starting with an 8-4 loss at current No. 18 UC Irvine back on Feb. 26. Utah Tech then closed the road odyssey on the wrong end of a 15-0 result at No. 10/13 Oregon this past Tuesday night in Eugene. 
 
AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS: Utah Tech fell to 1-11 all-time against ranked opponents in its brief time as an NCAA Division I program after its loss at Oregon last Tuesday night. 
            The Trailblazers lone win against a ranked opponent came during their first D-I transition season in 2021, an 11-9 road victory at then-No. 6 Arizona in Tucson (5/28/21) in Utah Tech's penultimate game of the season.
 
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.
 
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, which played its 400th NCAA-er road game in last Friday's series opener at Portland, is 2-4 away from home in the early going this season. 
            Utah Tech wrapped up the 2024 road slate with a 7-22 mark. 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 180-223-1 overall road record (.447). 
            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 195-232-1 (.457) 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 511-398-1 (.562) record all-time through 18-plus years of NCAA competition.
            That record also includes a 78-153 (.337) 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 78 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 have come 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, were recorded 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 its 5-4 game two loss to UC Riverside (2/22) in 10 innings. 
            That 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 heads into this weekend's slate of games as the WAC co-leader, and T-THIRD in the NCAA Division I ranks, in double plays with 14, which includes three twin-killings in last weekend's series at Portland.
 
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 three errors in the UNC series. The Trailblazers followed that up with only four total errors last weekend in Portland. 
 
AIN'T LIFE GRAND: We are only 14 games into the 2025 season and Utah Tech has already tied the program's single season record with three grand slams, two of which came in last weekend in the Portland road series.
            Junior 3B/RHP Ryan Kroepel blasted the first slam in the sixth inning of game two on Saturday. Meanwhile senior 1B Aaron Perez connected on his second grand slam of the year, and Utah Tech's 29th in the program's NCAA era overall, with one out in the Blazer ninth in Utah Tech's 8-6 come-from-behind win. 
            Perez notched his first grand slam of the season in game two of the Trailblazers' season-opening series vs. Northern Colorado (2/15).
            In fact, Perez became just the third Trailblazer in the program's NCAA era to hit two grand slams in one season, joining former sluggers Chase Pittsenbarger (2010) and Drew Oldfield(2009), who both achieved the feat during Utah Tech's Division II era.
            Utah Tech has belted at least three grand slams in a season six times, including in their first D-I season in 2021, though it took them 52 games to do it. Utah Tech also did it four times in the D-II era (2009/2010/2011/2016).   
 
TRAILBLAZER QUICK HITS 
* - Senior RF Hunter Katschke (.298/.532/.365) batted at a .333 clip in the four games at Portland (3-of-9), with two of those hits coming in the G1 win, highlighted by a two-run third inning HR ... Katschke also collected an RBI on a pinch-hit single in game three.
* - Katschke 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 the UCR series opener (2/21), 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. 
* - Kroepel (.320/.560/.417) also hit at a .333 clip at Portland (6-for-18), which included his team-leading second triple of the year in the opener, to go with his grand slam in game two.
* - Kroepel 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 kept that vibe going as he tripled in a run, and later scored a go-ahead run, in the third inning at UC Irvine (2/26).
* - Kroepel has also shown that he is a dual threat at the hot corner, as well as the bump, after he picked up his third save of the season in last Monday's finale at Portland ... the junior needed only eight pitches to retire the Pilots in order to close out the series. 
* - Of note, Utah Tech recorded only six total saves in 54 games last season.
* - Sophomore 2B Kyle McDaniel (.364/.509/.426) 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 batted .294 (5-for-17) in four starts vs. UCR, 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 has hit safely in 10 of his first 14 starts with five multi-hit games this season, led Utah Tech with 14 doubles as a true freshman last year, now has 17 two-baggers to his credit in 62 career games.
* - Perez (.286/.548/.380) bounced back from a hitless UCR series by batting .318 (7-for-22) in six starts on the Blazers' recently completed road trip with two doubles, two homers, and a team-high nine RBI.
* - Perez belted his second home run of the season at UC Irvine (2/26), a two-run shot in the second inning ... he then doubled twice and drove in seven runs in the Portland series, highlighted by his grand slam that capped a 3-for-5 day with a career high six RBI in last Monday's finale.  
* - Perez enjoyed a solid season-opening series vs. Northern Colorado, 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 (.273/.386/.396) has hit safely in 12 of his first 14 collegiate games, including all six games on Utah Tech's current road trip ... Stewart batted a combined .364 at Portland (4-for-11) with a double and one run scored in Monday's finale ... he also doubled in four plate appearances at Oregon last Tuesday night.  
* - Stewart 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 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. 
* - 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 .395 (15-for-38) over their last 10 games. 
* - Pyle (.379/.655/.455) had himself quite the series at Portland, against which he batted an even .600 (6-for-10) with a double, a triple and one run scored ... he then went 1-for-3 with a single at Oregon on Tuesday night to extend his hit streak to six-straight games. 
* - Pyle got off his road trip off to a good start as he went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored at UC Irvine (2/26). 
* - Meanwhile Johnsen (.182/.182/.357) went 3-for-7 combined in the UCR 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 that series finale (2/23) ... he then went 1-for-2 with an RBI and two runs in last Monday's finale at Portland. 
* - Sophomore RHP Cade Montgomery (3-0/1.65 ERA/11 K/16.1 IP) struck out a career high six and scattered one earned run (two total) and seven hits over 6.0 solid innings to win his third-straight start in last Friday's series opener at Portland.  
* - Montgomery became the first Trailblazer in the program's brief Division I era to win his first three starts to open a season ... he also became the first Utah Tech pitcher to win his first three season starts since former Blazer Jayden Murray turned the trick in 2019 on his way to a 10-3 record.
* - Junior RHP Ryan Martinez (0-0/3.26 ERA/17 K/19.1 IP) is still searching for his first win of the season after he again came away with his third-straight no decision in his G2 start at Portland last Saturday.
* - After giving up two first inning runs, Martinez retired 16 of the next 18 Pilot hitters he faced, including six on strikes ... he lasted 6.1 IP and scattered three runs and seven hits overall. 
* - Martinez 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 (2/22).
* - 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 (0-2/3.60 ERA/11 K/15.0 IP) turned in his best overall outing of his Utah Tech career in the series 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 the series finale vs. UCR (2/23), 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.
* - 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.
* - 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.
* - Junior RHP Jonah Marshall posted career highs in both strikeouts (7) and innings pitched (3.0) in a spot start at UC Irvine on Feb. 26 ... it was Marshall's second collegiate start in 17 career appearances.
* - In all, five Utah Tech hurlers combined to strikeout out 15 Anteater hitters over the nine innings played. 
 
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech continues its homestand with a midweek match-up against another West Coast Conference member in Gonzaga this upcoming Tuesday, March 11. First pitch at Bruce Hurst Field is set for 6:05 p.m. (MT).