Baseball | 2/16/2026 7:13:00 PM

Utah Tech junior RHP/3B Ryan Kroepel was named Western Athletic Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week on Monday for his efforts in the Trailblazers' season-opening, four-game road series sweep at UC Riverside this past weekend.
 
The junior from Poway, Calif., made back-to-back appearances in the Trailblazers Valentine's Day doubleheader last Saturday, and collected saves in each of the two seven-inning victories.

Kroepel made his first appearance of the season in the first game, during which he fired two innings of spotless relief, and needed only 19 pitches to set down all six batters he faced, in Utah Tech's 4-3 win in seven innings.
 
Then in the nightcap, he was called upon to move from third base to the mound with no outs in the bottom of the seventh after UCR had plated four runs to begin the inning and had runners on second and third. 
 
With the tying run on deck, Kroepel proceeded to retire the next three Highlander batters, including one on a safety squeeze bunt comebacker to the mound, along with a strikeout and a fly out, to earn his second save of the day in the 12-8 triumph.
 
Kroepel is currently one of only four pitchers in the NCAA Division I ranks with two saves through the opening weekend of the 2026 season. 
 
Utah Tech (4-0) continues its California road swing with a Tuesday midweek date at CSU Bakersfield. First pitch at Hardt Field on the CSUB campus is set for 7:30 p.m. (MT).