Game Times (Mountain):
Friday - 6:05 p.m.
Saturday - 2:05 p.m.
Sunday - 12:05 p.m.
Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | UTAH VALLEY
Live Streaming: GAME #1 - WACINT | GAME #2 - WACINT | GAME #3 - ESPN+ 
Live Stats: GAME #1 | GAME #2 | GAME #3
Twitter: @UtahTech_Sports | @UtahTech_BASE | #UtahTechBlazers | #WACbsb

PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday (G1) – RHP #15 Cade Montgomery (4-0, 1.24 ERA) vs. LHP #26 Corbin Kirk (1-1, 5.67 ERA)
Saturday (G2) – RHP #45 Ryan Martinez (1-0,  3.29 ERA) vs. RHP #11 Colton Kennedy (1-0, 4.45 ERA)
Sunday (G3) – RHP #35 Dakoda West (1-4, 3.56 ERA) vs. LHP #24 Jacob Heppner (3-0, 7.12 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: After a near two-week break between games, Utah Tech (15-13/1-2 WAC) finally returns to WAC play this weekend with a three-game home series against in-state foe Utah Valley (18-10/4-2 WAC) in a renewal of the baseball portion of the "Old Hammer Rivalry."
            Game one of the series will be played on Friday night at Bruce Hurst Field beginning at 6:05 p.m. (MT), followed by game two on Saturday at 2:05 p.m. (MT), and the series finale on Sunday at 12:05 p.m. (MT).
 
UTAH TECH VS. UTAH VALLEY: Utah Tech is 13-13 all-time vs. Utah Valley in NCAA competition, though the Trailblazers are 10-3 against the Wolverines at Bruce Hurst Field.
            That said, the Trailblazers have lost four-straight and six of their last eight games against their in-state rivals over the last two seasons. 
            The two sides renewed pleasantries as conference rivals in 2021 during Utah Tech's first Division I season, and over those first two seasons, the Blazers won five-straight and seven of the 10 total games played.
            Utah Tech and UVU also played a combined eight times during the Trailblazers' Division II era in 2007 and 2008, during which the two teams split eight games over those two seasons. 
            Both Utah Tech (then Dixie State) and UVU were members of the Scenic West Athletic Conference during the junior college years, and the two sides played annually through 2003 before UVU began its own D-I transition ahead of the 2004 season. 
 
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 Utah Tech skipper in the 2022 season finale at California Baptist (14-8; 5/21/2022), owns a 342-287-1 (.543) overall record at Utah Tech, and a 394-346-1 (.532) 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. 
 
NEARING ANOTHER CAREER MILESTONE: Coach Pfatenhauer continues to inch toward another career milestone. The long-time Trailblazer mentor is now six wins away from career victory No. 400 (394-346-1). 
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech kicked off the second half of the season with a hard-fought 12-8 home win over Utah back on March 25 at Bruce Hurst Field. 
            The Trailblazers led 9-1 after six innings complete, only to see the Utes rally with seven unanswered runs, six of which came in the eighth inning that trimmed the Blazer lead to 9-8.
            However Utah Tech countered with three runs in the home eighth and recorded a scoreless ninth defensively to escape with its eighth win in the last 10 games overall.
 
OUT LIKE A LION: Thanks to winning eight of its last 10 games, Utah Tech closed March with an 11-7 record. 
            Since its move to Division I status, the Trailblazers have played to a 38-49 (.437) record in over their five previous March months, which included a 9-7 mark in 2022. 
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Utah Tech is currently 324-166 (.661) all-time in 490 games played inside the friendly confines of Bruce Hurst Field since the start of its four-year era in the 2007 season.
            In fact, Utah Tech will play its 500th NCAA-era home game on Sunday, May 4, when the Trailblazers play game two of their WAC series vs. Seattle U.           
            The Trailblazers, who are 11-7 at home this season, have posted a winning home record in 15 of the 18 seasons since transitioning to NCAA status in 2007, which included an 11-11 mark at home in 2022. 
            Utah Tech has 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 has managed to hold its own away from home in its NCAA era as the Trailblazers have played to a 182-225-1 overall road record (.447), including a 4-6 away mark this season. 
            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 197-236-1 (.455) 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 521-402-1 (.564) record all-time through 18-plus years of NCAA competition.
            That record also includes a 88-159 (.356) mark in the program's current Division-I era, and a 54-75 (.418) mark in Western Athletic Conference play.  
 
9W vs. P5: Nine of Utah Tech's 88 D-I wins have come against Power-5 programs, including notching its second victory of the season over a Big 12 program in the Utah home win on March 25. The Blazers also picked up a 10-3 road triumph at Big 12 member BYU back on March 17.   
            The Trailblazers posted two P4 wins last year on the road at Big 12 member Oklahoma State (9-8; 3/5/24), and at home vs. Utah when the Utes were a member of the PAC-12 Conference (W, 11-8; 5/7/24).  
            Seven of the nine Trailblazers wins have come against three former PAC-12 member schools (4 vs. Utah; 1 each vs. Arizona/Arizona State/Washington State). 
            Of note, all three previous 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.
 
HOW SWEEP IT IS: Utah Tech did something during its recently completed homestand that had not happened in nearly four full seasons - post a four-game sweep.
            The Trailblazers took all four games from CSU Bakersfield (3/13-16), which clinched the program's fourth four-game sweep during its brief NCAA Division I era overall. 
            Utah Tech recorded three home four-game sweeps during its first D-I season in 2021, all three of which came late in the year in WAC play against Utah Valley (4/30-5/2), Seattle U (5/14-16) and former member Northern Colorado (5/20-22). 
 
FREE BASEBALL: Utah Tech moved to 1-1 in extra inning games this season after posting a 3-2 road victory in its WAC opener at California Baptist on March 21. 
            That 10-inning win snapped the Trailblazers' six-game, extra-inning losing streak, and moved them to 5-11 in extra inning affairs during their current Division I era.
            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. 
            In all, Utah Tech is 36-25 (.590) in 61 extra-inning games in the program's four-year era. The Blazers are now 18-14 in 10-inning games, while the program has won 10 of its last 21 extra inning games overall.
 
DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE: Utah Tech heads into this weekend's series fifth in the WAC, and T-28th in the NCAA Division I ranks, in double plays with 24, which includes 11 twin-killings in 18 March ball games. 
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: In addition to double plays, Utah Tech is ranked t-18th nationally in sacrifice bunts (21), 70th in hits allowed/9IP (8.66), t-99th in walks drawn (135), 104th in ERA (5.36 - #4 in WAC), and t-111th in base hits (259).
 
AIN'T LIFE GRAND: We are at the midway point of the 2025 season and Utah Tech has already tied the program's single season record with three grand slams, two of which came in the Portland road series in early March.
            Junior 3B/RHP Ryan Kroepel blasted the first slam in the sixth inning of game two (3/1). Meanwhile senior 1B Aaron Perez connected on his second grand slam of the year, and the 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 in the series finale (3/3). 
            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/DH Hunter Katschke (.274/.524/.344) continued to feast on Utah pitching in the home win on March 25 ... though he went 1-for-5 at the plate, the one hit left the yard for his team-leading sixth homer of the season, a three-run blast in the Trailblazer five-run fourth inning.
* - In three career games vs. Utah, Katschke is 5-for-13 (.384) at the plate with eight RBI and five runs scored ... all five of his hits have gone for extra bases, including four HRs ... In Utah Tech's 11-8 home win last season (5/7/24), he belted three home runs and drove in a season-high five runs ... he also went 1-for-3 in with a double and a run scored in the road loss one week later in Salt Lake City (5/14/24).
* - Katschke, who is currently eighth on Utah Tech's career HR list (19), went just 1-of-13 (.077) at the dish in three starts at CBU two weekends ago, though his lone hit was a solo HR in game two (3/22).
* - Katschke had a night in the UC Riverside 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. 
* - Perez (.348/.543/.445) has been on a tear at the plate since the calendar turned to March ... the senior has hit safely in seven-straight games, and in 14 of 17 starts last month with six multi-hit games, highlighted by a 3-for-5 effort with his second GSHR and a career-high six RBI in the Portland series finale (3/3).
* - Perez, who has reached base safely in 16-straight games, batted .310 in nine starts during the homestand with two hits in both the UNLV loss (3/8) and the series opening win over CSU Bakersfield (3/13) with two RBI. 
* - Perez did not show signs of slowing down at BYU (3/17), against which he pounded out a career-high four hits and drove in four runs. 
* - Perez followed that up by hitting .385 (5-of-13) in the CBU series with two XBHs and two RBI, including belting the eventual game-winning HR in the 10th inning in the series opener (3/21).
* - Perez also went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI in the Utah home win (3/25).
* - Perez's first GSHR of the season vs. Northern Colorado (2/15) 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).
* - Sophomore 2B Kyle McDaniel (.350/.485/.468) has recorded at two hits in six of his last 10 starts, and has reached base safely 14-straight games overall.
* - McDaniel slugged out two hits and drove in three runs in G3 vs. CSUB, and chased that with a 2-for-5 effort with a run scored at BYU (3/17).
* - McDaniel started off the CBU series on the right foot, going 3-for-5 with a double, RBI and a run in the series opener (3/21) ... the sophomore wound up batting .333 (4-for-12) in that series overall, then went 1-for-3 with three walks and a run scored in the Utah win (3/25). 
* - McDaniel 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, who has hit safely in 19 of his first 28 starts with 11 multi-hit games this season, led Utah Tech with 14 doubles as a true freshman last year, and now has 20 two-baggers to his credit in 77 career games.
* - Kroepel (.333/.510/.418) is coming off a solid March in his own right, during which he batted .308 (21-for-68) in the month and reached base safely with a hit in 13 of 18 starts with eight two-hit games. 
* - Kroepel begins the week riding a season-long six game hit streak, which got started with four-straight, two-hit games (3/16-3/22) with two doubles, one homer, five RBI and four runs scored.
* - Three of Kroepel's five RBI came in the Utah win (3/25), against which he went 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. 
* - 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 and 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 fourth save of the season on two in G2 vs. Saint Mary's (3/8) ... Kroepel's four saves are good for t-second in the WAC and t-15th nationally.
* - Of note, Utah Tech recorded only six total saves in 54 games last season.
* - Freshman DH/RF Finnegan Stewart (.253/.434/.327) has been as steady as anyone in the Utah Tech line-up, having hit safely in 22 of 26 games ... in the home win over Utah (3/25), he came on as a pinch hitter in the eighth and drove the first pitch he saw off the wall in right center for an RBI-double to add the exclamation point to the Blazers' three-run rally. 
* - Stewart hit .278 (10-of-36) during the long March homestand with five XBH and 13 RBI ... the freshman drove in 10 of those runs over a five-game stretch, with a career high four of those runs coming as part of a 2-for-5 night with a triple and homer in the walk-off win over Gonzaga (3/11) ... he also doubled and drove in three more runs in the opener vs. CSUB (3/13).   
* - 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.
* - Junior LF Levi Randall (.295/.364/.380) begins the week t-fifth in the WAC and t-118th nationally in stolen bases (11-for-13) ... his 11 steals are also good for t-10th place on Utah Tech's single season list.
* - Randall broke an 0-for-13 slide (all at CBU) with a 2-for-4 day in the Utah win (3/25), highlighted by a two-out double that kick-started the Blazer eighth-inning rally. 
* - Randall enjoyed solid homestand last month, during which he hit a blistering .405 (15-for-37) out of the lead-off spot with at least two hits in six of those outings, including a pair of three-hit efforts in G2 vs. Saint Mary's (3/8) and the finale vs. CSUB (3/16).
* - Randall also legged out a combined three doubles, drove in six runs, scored 12 runs, and went a 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts.
* - Sophomore SS Petey Soto Jr. (.287/.372/.376) has driven 14 of his 18 total runs on the year over his last 13 games, including three RBI as part of a 2-for-3 day with two runs scored in the Utah win (3/25). 
* - Soto Jr. also homered and drove in two runs as part of a 2-for-4 effort in game two at CBU (3/22).  
* - The sophomore shortstop has hit safely in six-straight starts, and in 12 of his 18 March starts overall with five multi-hit outings ... Soto Jr. has also reahed base safely in 11-straight games overall. 
* - Utah Tech starting pitching has accounted for nine of the team's 14 wins (9-5) to this point of the season, including the last five games of the Trailblazers' current six-game win streak.
* - Junior RHP Tyler Ray (2-0/2.92 ERA/20 K/24.2 IP) got the run going by collecting his second win in as many starts in the CSUB series opener on March 7 ... Ray worked a season-high 6.0 innings and scattered four hits and three runs (two earned) with one strikeout.
* - Ray's effort chased a solid outing in game two vs. Saint Mary's (3/8), against which he tied a career high with five strikeouts and allowed only one run on three hits in 5.0 innings complete. 
* - Sophomore RHP Cade Montgomery (4-0/1.24 ERA/29 K/36.1 IP) ran his record to 4-0 after he fired 6.0 innings of three-hit shutout baseball with four strikeouts in his game two victory over CSUB (3/14).
* - Montgomery just missed his fifth win of the year in the series opener at CBU (3/21), against which he fired six innings of four-hit shutout baseball with a career-high nine strikeouts.
* - Montgomery enters this week as the WAC ERA leader (1.24 - #3 in NCAA D-I) and co-leader in wins (4-0 - t-45th in NCAA D-I).
* - Montgomery, who will start game one vs. Utah Valley this Friday night, became just the second starting pitcher in the program's brief Division-I era, and the fifth starter in Utah Tech's four-year era overall, to begin a season 4-0.
* - Former starter Brett Porthan was the last to do it, going 5-0 in six starts in 2022 ... meanwhile former hurlers Dylan File (4-0 in 10 starts) and Mason Hilty (9-0 in 12 starts) both turned the trick in 2016, while File (5-0 in 8 starts) did it again in 2017 ... former Blazer Preston Grimes was the first to do achieve the feat as he went 4-0 in seven starts to open the 2009 season. 
* - Well it took five starts, but junior RHP Ryan Martinez (1-0/3.29 ERA/32 K/38.1 IP) finally picked up his first win as a Trailblazer in game three vs. CSUB (3/15) ... Martinez, who opened the season with four-straight no-decisions, scattered one earned run (4 total) and six hits with four strikeouts and no walks over 7.0 innings to earn the victory.
* - Martinez, who is slated to start game two vs. UVU this Saturday, enters the weekend ranked ninth in the WAC in strikeouts, including a season-high eight over six innings in a no-decision at CBU (3/22).
* - Fellow junior RHP Dakoda West (1-4/3.56 ERA/21 K/30.1 IP), who will start Sunday's finale vs. UVU, made it a clean sweep in the finale vs. CSUB (3/16) after he tossed six innings of one-run, four-hit baseball with three strikeouts en route to his first win of the season. 
* - West's junior campaign got off to a great start when he turned in one of his best overall outings 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.
* - Not to be outdone, junior southpaw Brock Roundy (2-0/6.14 ERA/24 K/22.0 IP) has shined in his last two midweek starts, including a gem in Utah Tech's road win at BYU (3/17) ... Roundy struck out a career-high eight and limited the vaunted Cougar offense to only two runs and six hits in six innings complete to collect his first win in a Trailblazer uniform. 
* - Roundy then followed that up with five solid innings vs. Utah (3/25), during which he fanned five and scattered one run and four hits to earn his second win of the season.  
 
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech wraps up the in-state portion of its 2025 schedule this upcoming Tuesday afternoon when the Trailblazers welcome BYU to Bruce Hurst Field. First pitch is slated for 4:05 p.m. (MT).