For the second-straight day, Utah Tech put together a late inning scoring surge to clinch a road series victory at Southern Illinois with a 12-4 triumph on Sunday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium.
 
The Trailblazers (18-10/0-0 WAC) struck for a quick first inning run on a Cooper Smith bases-loaded walk, and stretched that lead to 2-0 in the fourth when Ty Johnsen scored from third base on a wild pitch.
 
Junior righthander Brandon Kosel (ND) made that lead stand through the first four innings of his start. After escaping a bases-loaded jam in the home first, Kosel retired nine of the next 10 Saluki batters he faced, and recorded three of his four total strikeouts over that stretch.
 
However Southern Illinois (10-16) managed to solve the Blazer hurler in the fifth, turning a pair of lead-off hits into runs to even the score at 2-2 after five innings complete.
 
Utah Tech broke the stalemate with a five-run rally with two outs in the seventh to jump back in front by a 7-2 count.
 
The Trailblazers plated the first two runs on consecutive bases-loaded walks drawn by Johnsen and Cooper Smith. Hudson Manwaring followed with a two-run single to left field, while Smith later scored the final run of the frame on a wild pitch. 
 
SIU got one of those runs back after the stretch, but Utah Tech countered with five more runs in the eighth to stretch its lead to nine. 
 
The Blazers scored four of those runs with two outs, which included a two-run single from Smith, who scampered home four pitches later on a Manwaring triple down the right field line. 
 
Manwaring finished with two hits and a season-high three RBI, while is eighth inning triple was Utah Tech's second three-bagger of the season overall. Meanwhile Smith, who had only driven in three total runs over his first 20 games coming into Sunday's series finale, wound up with a career-high four RBI on the day.
 
Kyle McDaniel also collected two hits, including a double along with two runs scored, as the Blazers rapped out eight hits on the day. 
 
Senior southpaw Brock Roundy (W, 2-0) came on in relief of Kosel with two outs in the fifth and fired 3.1 innings of three-hit, two-run baseball with two strikeouts to earn his second decision on the season. Fellow senior reliever Ethan Gardner pitched a spotless ninth with a pair of punchouts to close out the win. 

Utah Tech win on Sunday came in the program's 300th NCAA Division I game (115-185).  
 
Utah Tech wraps up its Midwest trip with a Monday night match-up at Saint Louis. First pitch at the Billiken Sports Center is set for 2 p.m. (MT).