Utah Tech wrapped up the 2025 regular season with a thrilling 6-5 come-from-behind road victory over Sacramento State on Saturday afternoon at John Smith Field. 
 
Saturday's triumph not only clinched a season series win over the Western Athletic Conference regular season champions, it also earned the Trailblazers (23-29/9-15 WAC) the eighth and final spot in next week's WAC tournament.  
 
A Utah Tech victory did not look like it was in the offing after the Hornets (31-24/15-9 WAC) struck for two first inning runs off of Trailblazer starter Brock Roundy.
 
However the Blazer southpaw settled in from there, striking out the side in the second, while retiring nine of the next Sac State hitters he faced to get through four innings complete. Roundy finished with six total punch outs in his four innings of work, but did not figure in the decision. 
 
The Trailblazers chipped away at the deficit, scoring their first run of the afternoon on a Kace Naone sacrifice fly out in the third inning, before plating two two-out runs in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead. 
 
Ryan Kroepel and Hunter Katschke both reached on singles, and the base-running duo later came around to score on consecutive singles from both Aaron Perez and Ty Johnsen. 
 
Sacramento State wrestled the lead back with two runs of its own in the home half of that frame, tying the game on a wild pitch before jumping back on top at 4-3 after a two-out throwing error.
 
Perez would again draw Utah Tech even in the seventh with his eighth home run of the season, a towering solo shot over the right field wall that knotted the score at 4-4.
 
The Hornets looked as if they would break the game open in the home eighth, loading the bases with one out and eventually regaining the lead when pinch hitter Matt Masciangelo walked to force in a run to make it a 5-4 game.
 
Like they did in Friday's game two victory, the Utah Tech coaching staff called on Kroepel to move from third base to the mound. And like he did on Friday, the sophomore righthander pitched the Blazers out of the jam and limited the Hornets to just that one run.
 
Perez and Johnsen started the Blazer ninth inning rally with back-to-back singles. After Levi Randall bunted both base runners scoring position, Finnegan Stewart lifted a fly ball to center field that was deep enough to score pinch runner Gavin Long to tie the game.
 
Petey Soto Jr. then stepped up and lined an opposite field single to right center to chase home Johnsen from second base to put the Trailblazers up one run.
 
Kroepel (W, 3-2) went back to the mound to start the Hornet ninth, and after lead-off hitter Tyler White reached on a single, the Trailblazer closer erased White on a fielder's choice ground out before inducing a series-clinching 5-4-3 double play to end the game. 
 
Utah Tech outhit Sac State 14-8, led by a career day by Johnsen, who went 4-for-5 with a double to go with his RBI and his game-winning run. Perez pounded out three hits and finished with two RBI, and Soto Jr. and Katschke each finished with two hits apiece.
 
Along with earning his third win of the season in relief, Kroepel extended his season-long hit streak to 16-straight games with his fifth-inning infield single.
 
Meanwhile, Kyle McDaniel extended his school NCAA Division-I era record on-base streak to 38-straight games, and his current hit streak to 11-straight games, with a lead-off single in the fifth inning. McDaniel also moved to within one game of tying former Utah Tech shortstop Tanner Morache's (39 games, 2016) overall NCAA-era school on-base streak record. 
 
Utah Tech will move on to play in the opening round of the 2025 WAC Baseball Tournament, which begins this Tuesday, May, 20, at Hohokam Park in Mesa, Ariz. The Trailblazers will play No. 5 seed California Baptist in the second game of the day at 4 p.m. (PT).