Utah Tech baseball closed out its 2026 season-opening, eight-game road swing with an 8-5 series-clinching victory at Pacific on Saturday afternoon at Klein Family Field. 
 
With the victory, the Trailblazers have already eclipsed last year's road win total (6-14) as Utah Tech improved to 7-1 on the young season.
 
Utah Tech owned a 7-0 lead on the strength of a three-run third inning, followed by a four-run fourth.
 
Kyle McDaniel drove in the game's first run of the day with a one-out single to center field that brought home Petey Soto Jr., who singled and stole second earlier in the frame.
 
McDaniel later advance to second on a wild pitch and would trot home on a two-out, two-run Ryan Kroepel home run over the right center field wall.
 
The Trailblazers broke the game open one inning later, thanks in large part to four more Tiger wild pitches and two costly errors. 
 
The early run support bolstered a strong start by junior righthander Brandon Kosel, who retired the first nine Tiger hitters over his first three innings of work.
 
However Pacific (3-4) would solve Kosel in the fourth as the Tigers struck for four runs before he could record an out in the inning. Tiger first baseman Grant MacArthur delivered the big blow with a three-run homer that cut the Blazer lead to 7-4, and chased the Blazer righthander from the game.
 
After Pacific pulled a run closer in the home fifth, Utah Tech managed to extend back to a three-run cushion on a Hudson Manwaring run-scoring ground out.
 
Utah Tech's bullpen took over from there as three relievers combined to limit Pacific to only one hit and five total base runners. 
 
Meanwhile the defense turned double plays in both the sixth and eighth frames, as the Trailblazers closed out their second series win of the year. 
 
Utah Tech outhit Pacific 9-6, with Soto Jr. leading the way with a season-high three safeties, one RBI and three runs scored.
 
McDaniel's third inning run-scoring single made history as it extended his career-long hit streak to 22-straight games. 
 
With that hit, the junior second baseman broke Utah Tech's four-year era school record for consecutive games with at least one base hit previously held by former Blazer slugger Jake Engel, who hit safely in 21-straight games over a three-year stretch from 2019 to 2021, which included the COVID pandemic shortened 2020 season. 
 
In addition, McDaniel's single extended his program NCAA-era school record on-base streak to 49-straight games.  
 
Ryan Martinez (W, 1-0), who played two seasons at Pacific before transferring to Utah Tech ahead of last season, threw two innings of two-hit relief with two strikeouts to earn his first win of the season. 
 
David Sheppard and Ethan Gardner both tossed zeros in their respective appearances, and Brock Roundy followed with 1.2 innings of spotless relief to earn his first save as a Trailblazer. 
 
Utah Tech will open its 2026 home slate with an eight-game homestand, beginning with a four-game series vs. Northern Colorado next weekend at Bruce Hurst Field.