Utah Tech used a late-inning rally to snap its season long seven-game losing streak and come away with a hard-fought 6-5 home victory over Grand Canyon in the first game of a WAC weekend series on Thursday at Bruce Hurst Field. 
 
A Trailblazer victory did not look like it was in the offing after the Lopes bolted out to an early 4-0 through the first two-plus innings. GCU (22-15/9-4 WAC) first baseman Zach Yorke opened the scoring for the Lopes with an RBI-single in the first.
 
Then after Yorke drove in another run with a single in the third, Cannon Peery belted a two-run home run to give GCU starting pitcher, and St. George native, Isaac Lyon (ND) a four-run cushion.
 
The Trailblazers (16-20/2-8 WAC) chipped away at the deficit with an unearned run in the home third on a Finnegan Stewart groundout, then made a 4-2 game thanks to a two-out Petey Soto Jr. double to plate Levi Randall, who reached on a one-out single.

Still down 4-2 after the stretch, Ethan Royal drew a lead-off walk and later scampered to third on a one-out Kyle McDaniel double, which chased Lyon from the game.
 
Hunter Katschke then stepped up and ambushed the first pitch he saw from GCU reliever Walter Quinn (L, 2-2), sending it to the gap in left center to drive in both Blazer base runners and tie the game at 4-4.
 
However the game would not stay tied long as Yorke led off the Lopes' eighth inning with a solo homer over the center field wall to put GCU back in front at 5-4.
 
Utah Tech clapped right back with two more runs in the eighth, which got kickstarted by a two-out Randall triple off the center field wall.
 
Quinn then issued consecutive walks to Royal and Soto Jr. to load the bases ahead of McDaniel, who laced an opposite single to left to bring both Randall and Royal around to score and give Utah Tech its first lead of the game at 6-5.
 
Trailblazer closer Ryan Kroepel (S, 5) moved over from third base to the mound to begin the ninth inning, and the Lopes promptly got the first two batters on base via a walk and a hit batter.
 
Kroepel settled in and got the next two GCU hitters to fly out, and was one strike away from ending the game, but a Josh Wakefield infield single loaded the bases and extended the inning for Yorke.
 
Kroepel then got Yorke to hit a soft comebacker to the mound on the first pitch to close out the win and the Blazers' April skid. 
 
Randall finished with a career-high four hits (4-for-4), including his second-career triple, to lead the Utah Tech offense, which outhit GCU 10-8. Randall also picked up his team-leading fifth outfield assist on a second-inning double play.

McDaniel went 3-for-4 at the plate to go with his two RBI and two runs as he extended his on-base streak to 22-straight games, while Katschke tallied two hits and two RBI.
 
Junior reliever Tyler Ray (W, 3-1) limited GCU to the Yorke homer and fanned one over two innings of relief to earn his third win of the season. Junior lefthander Brock Roundy was solid in his fifth start of the year, during which he scattered three earned runs (four total) on six hits with a pair of strikeouts over six innings complete. 
        
The two teams will play game two of their three-game conference series on Friday night beginning at 6:05 p.m. (MT).