Softball | 4/2/2025 12:00:00 PM
(St. George, Utah - April 2, 2025) - The Trailblazers get the month of April underway this weekend hosting Tarleton State on Friday and Saturday at Karl Brooks Field.
Game #36 - DV AWARENESS GAME
Who | Tarleton State (20-15, 6-6 WAC) at Utah Tech (14-21, 5-7 WAC)
When | Friday, April 4 / 2:05 p.m.
Where | Karl Brooks Field / St. George, Utah
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Game #37- DV AWARENESS GAME
Who | Tarleton State (20-15, 6-6 WAC) at Utah Tech (14-21, 5-7 WAC)
When | Friday, April 4 / 4:35 p.m.
Where | Karl Brooks Field / St. George, Utah
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Game #38 - MILITARY APPRECIATION GAME
Who | Tarleton State (20-15, 6-6 WAC) at Utah Tech (14-21, 5-7 WAC)
When | Saturay, April 5 / 12:05 p.m.
Where | Karl Brooks Field / St. George, Utah
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Military Discount: 50% off Saturday tickets with a valid military ID at the gate
LAST TIME OUT
The Trailblazers won their second straight WAC series last weekend at Abilene Christian sweeping a doubleheader on Friday, 5-1 and 8-4 and fell in a heartbreaker, 9-8 in the series finale.
Utah Tech got the scoring started in the first inning with an RBI single back up the middle by Haith and pushed their lead to 3-0 in the third with a pair of runs. Gabi Giroux was hit by a pitch with a pair of outs, and after Kennedy Embrey came in to pinch run, Maka Sonognini drew a walk.
With Embrey and Sonognini both moving up to scoring position, Cassidy Hornung drilled a two-run triple through the left side of the infield that bounced off the shortstop's glove into left field.
Two more runs came around for the Trailblazers in the fifth on back-to-back RBI singles by Haith and Rubio. ACU broke up Garton's shutout bid in the sixth with a sacrifice fly, but the Wildcats were unable to get any more runs across. It was the fifth contest this season the Trailblazers have held an opponent to one run or fewer.
The backend of the doubleheader saw the Trailblazers get out to a 3-0 lead with a run in the first and added two more tuns in third on an RBI single back up the middle by Lakaiya Kahahawai-Kekona and Rubio added an RBI double to center.
The Wildcats jumped on the scoreboard in the third with a run, but UT answered back with a run in the fourth thanks to an RBI single by Jayda Gleave.
Four more runs came home for the Trailblazers in the fifth to extend Utah Tech's lead to 8-1 as ACU continued to chip away at the lead scoring two runs in the fifth on a two-run home run and closed out the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. The series finale saw UT jump ahead 5-1 before six straight runs for ACU put the Wildcats up a pair. Three straight runs for the Trailblazers, that included a two-run home run by Giroux, put UT ahead, 8-7, but a run in the fifth tied the game and ACU hit a walk-off single in the seventh for the come-from-behind win.
ABOUT THE TARLETON STATE TEXANS
Tarleton State is 20-15 overall on the season and enters the weekend in fourth in the WAC with a 6-6 mark sitting behind Seattle U, Grand Canyon and UT Arlington in the standings.
The Texans are 4-6 on the road this season taking two of three games at Grand Canyon, one of three contests at Southern Utah and also have a road victory at Prairie View A&M.
Tarleton State posted a 23-32 overall record in 2024 and finished seventh in the WAC regular season standings with a 9-16 mark.
As a team this season, the Texans are hitting .302 as a team and are averaging 5.46 runs per game to rank fourth in the WAC in both categories.
The Texans lead the WAC in walks (139), sacrifice flies (12), strikeouts per seven innings (6.75) and check in second in the conference in doubles (55), on-base percentage (.398) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.30).
Rounding out top marks in the conference checking in third in ERA (3.39), home runs (30), RBI (176), slugging percentage (.476), sacrifice bunts (25) and stolen bases (34).
Senior infielder Austin Germain leads the WAC in doubles (13), sits second in batting average (.440) & runs (31), third in hits (44) & total bases (68) and is fifth in both on-base percentage (.504) and slugging percentage (.680).
Kalyn Hill and Hayden Fox are also each hitting over .400 with Hill leading the conference in total bases (79), ranks second in hits (47), tied for fourth in RBI (30) & is fifth in home runs (7) while Fox is hitting .413.
In the circle, Tarleton is posting a 3.39 ERA, third in the WAC, while opponents are averaging 3.8 runs per game and are holding opponents to a .277 average. The Texans lead the conference in strikeouts with 223 averaging 6.7 strikeouts per game.
Freshman left-handed pitcher Shelby Schultz leads the WAC in strikeouts (97), ranks second in wins (9), tied for sixth in starts (13) and is seventh in innings pitched (78.1).
Senior right-handed Hannah Blincoe has six wins and tossed 69.0 innings striking out 66 while holding opponents to a .226 average.
SERIES HISTORY VS. TARLETON STATE
The Trailblazers lead the overall series against Tarleton State, 3-2 with the Trailblazers and Texans splitting a pair of games last season in Stephenville, Texas winning the first game, 3-1 and falling in the second contest, 7-0. The series finale was rained out.
Meeting for the first time in St. George in 2021, Utah Tech won two of three games at home over the Texans winning the first game, 8-7 in eight innings, the second game, 7-1 and dropped the series finale, 11-5.
WAC RANKINGS IN 2025
The Trailblazers lead the WAC and rank 37th nationally in hits with 301 and also top the conference with 29 sacrifice bunts and 13 triples (17th nationally).
Utah Tech is second in the conference in batting average (.315) & stolen bases (55), check in third in runs (192), walks (114), scoring (5.49) & on-base percentage (.385) and fourth in RBI (171) & fifth in slugging percentage (.412).
Individually, Kahahawai-Kekona ranks fourth in the WAC in hits (43), RBI (30) & hits (43) and is sixth in batting average (4.02).
Hornung ranks eighth in the WAC hitting .367 from the plate, tied for second in runs (31), is fourth in the conference with 11 stolen bases and leads the conference with 10 sacrifice bunts.
In the circle, Sauren Garton is tied for second in the WAC in appearances (23), third in complete games (6), starts (16) & innings pitched (90.1) & is seventh in strikeouts (62).
Riley Price is tied with Garton for the team lead with six wins and has tossed 78.0 innings (eighth in WAC) in 19 appearances and has struck out 36.
MIDWAY POINT OF WAC PLAY
Utah Tech has reached the midway point of the WAC action tied for sixth in the conference with Abilene Christian at 5-7 and take on Tarleton State (6-6, fourth), Southern Utah (4-5, fifth), California Baptist (3-6, ninth) and Grand Canyon (6-2, second) in the final four WAC series of the season.
FIVE THE MAGIC NUMBER
The Trailblazers have reached five or more runs in 13 of their 14 wins this season and are 13-10 overall on the season when reaching the five-run plateau.
CLOSE CONTESTS
Five of the Trailblazers 20 losses this season have been in extra innings as Utah Tech has dropped games in eight innings to CSUN, Sacramento State, Hawaii, Idaho State and Omaha.
In addition, four more losses have been by three or fewer runs and a total of six losses this season have been by one run.
Overall in five seasons in Division I, the Trailblazers are 5-12 in extra innings with a 3-0 record in 2021, 0-1 in 2022, 1-4 in 2023 and 1-2 in 2024.
UTAH TECH IN WAC PLAY
The Trailblazers is in their fifth season of WAC play with a 50-53 overall mark. The Blazers are 29-24 at home and 21-29 on the road.
UT went 12-13 in WAC play in 2024 finishing fifth in the conference and fell to Southern Utah in WAC Tournament.
The Trailblazers captured the WAC regular season crown in 2023 with a 19-5 overall record, including an 11-1 mark at home.-
UT went 8-16 in WAC play in 2022 and finished fifth in the West Division posting a 4-8 mark on the road as well as at home.
In their first season of WAC play in 2021, the Blazers went 6-12 to finish sixth in the WAC.
WAC TOURNAMENT HEADS TO RIVERSIDE IN MAY
The Trailblazers are looking to qualify for the WAC Tournament hosted by California Baptist in Riverside on May 7-10 at John C. Funk Stadium.
ROOT ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM
Utah Tech is 325-103 (.759) overall at home in the NCAA era.
The Trailblazers are 280-89 (.759) at home under head coach Randy Simkins.
UP NEXT
The Trailblazers play their final midweek game of the season on Tuesday (April 8) at BYU (21-8) at 5 p.m.
