Game Times (Mountain):
Tuesday - 3:05 p.m.
Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | BYU
Live TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: at BYU
Twitter: @UtahTech_Sports | @UtahTech_BASE | #UtahTechBlazers | #WACbsb

PROBABLE STARTERS:
Tuesday – RHP #30 Ryan Martinez (1-0, 6.43 ERA) vs. RHP #6 Austin Park (0-0, 9.53 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: Utah Tech (13-3/0-0 WAC) will play 10 of its next 13 March games on the road, beginning with a midweek date at in-state rival BYU (6-8) this Tuesday afternoon in Provo. First pitch at Miller Park is set for 3:05 p.m. (MT). 
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: Utah Tech is 4-6 all-time against BYU during its brief time as a Division I program, with both teams virtually alternating wins and losses throughout the five-year series. 
      The home team has won seven of the 10 games in this series, though both sides claimed road wins a season ago. The Trailblazers claimed their first-ever victory in Provo with a 10-3 decision (3/17/25) on St. Patrick's Day. However the Cougars exacted a little revenge with a decisive 19-1 run-rule triumph at Bruce Hurst Field three weeks later (4/8/25). 
      In addition, BYU and then-Dixie College played 10 times during the program's junior college era between 1953 and 1966, with the Cougars winning all 10 of those meetings.
 
WAC FOR ONE MORE SEASON: The 2026 campaign will mark an end of an (brief) era as Utah Tech will compete as a member of the Western Athletic Conference for the sixth, and final, season. The Trailblazers joined the WAC in 2020-21 during the first year of the program's NCAA Division I transition. 
 
CLIMBING THE "MOUNTAIN" IN 2027: This past October 29, Utah Tech announced that it had accepted an invitation to join the Mountain West Conference beginning on July 1, 2026. 
      Starting in the 2026-27 season, both the Trailblazer Baseball and Men's Soccer programs will compete under the Mountain West banner as affiliate members.
 
COACHING STAFF: Two-time Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year Chris Pfatenhauer is in his 14th season as head coach of the Utah Tech Baseball program. 
      During his tenure in the Utah Tech dugout, Pfatenhauer led the Trailblazers to consecutive PacWest titles in 2014 and 2015, and to five-straight trips to the NCAA West Regionals from 2013-17, including serving as the host institution in 2013. 
      Pfatenhauer, who picked up his 350th victory as UT skipper in the 2025 regular season finale at Sacramento State (6-5; 5/17/2025), owns a 364-308-1 (.541) overall record at Utah Tech, and a 416-367-1 (.531) career mark. 
      Joining Pfatenhauer (UNLV, 2000) in the Trailblazer dugout this season is assistant coach Braxton Ipson (Utah Tech, 2020), who is in his fourth season on coaching staff overall after concluding his collegiate playing career with the program in 2020.
      In addition, pitching coach Quentin McGrath (Washburn, 2017) and assistant coach Tyler Malone (Oregon State, 2020) are in their first seasons on Pfatenhauer's staff, as is former Trailblazer Jake Schulz (Utah Tech 2025), who returns to Utah Tech as the program's director of baseball operations. 
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech wrapped up its first extended homestand of the 2026 season with a four-game series split with visiting Austin Peay last weekend at Bruce Hurst Field.
      The Trailblazers hit a school record two grand slams as part of a three-homer barrage to claim last Thursday's series opener, 15-11.
APSU then swept both ends of a Friday doubleheader, 10-5 in 10 innings and 7-4, but Utah Tech avoided the series loss with a walk-off 7-6 triumph in 10 innings on Saturday to close the homestand with a 6-2 mark.  
 
IT'S NOT HOW YOU START: Thanks to its 15-11 win in their series opener vs. APSU, Utah Tech tied its best overall start to a season in the program's NCAA era (12-1 in 2013).
      Meanwhile, the Trailblazers' current 13-3 record is tied for the best overall start after 16 games in the program's four-year era. 
      In 2020, Utah Tech got off to a 13-3 start and ran that record to 15-3 and was ranked ninth in the NCBWA Division II poll. However the Blazers would not play another game due to the COVID-19 global pandemic that led to the cancellation of the remainder of the season.
 
TRAILBLAZERS VOTED SIXTH IN WAC PRESEASON POLL: Utah Tech was picked to finish sixth in the Western Athletic Conference in the league's 2026 preseason coaches poll released on February 10. 
      Four of the seven teams in the poll received at least one first place vote, led by Abilene Christian, which received three first-place votes and 33 points to top the 2026 preseason coaches poll. Utah Valley garnered one first place nod to finish second with 29 points, while California Baptist collected one first place vote and 27 points to claim the third spot.
      Meanwhile Sacramento State picked up the final two first place votes to finish fourth with 22 points, followed by Tarleton State (15 pts) in fifth, Utah Tech (11 pts) in sixth, and UT Arlington (10 pts) in seventh.  
      The top six teams in the conference standings will advance on to the 2026 WAC Baseball Championship Tournament, which will be held May 20-23 at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz. 
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Utah Tech owns a 336-176 (.656) all-time in 512 games played inside the friendly confines of Bruce Hurst Field since the start of its four-year era in the 2007 season, which includes a 6-2 mark this season.
      The Trailblazers played to a 17-15 overall home record last season, which is the program's 16th winning home record in 19 seasons since transitioning to NCAA status in 2007.
      Utah Tech has won 20 or more home games in eight of the previous 19 seasons overall, including 21-5 (.807) record in 2017, and a 24-6 mark (.800) in 2016, which was the second-best home record in terms of wins in the program's NCAA era (26-7 in 2009). 
      The 24 home wins in 2016 were the most under Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer, while the .807 winning percentage in 2017 was the best W% in Pfatenhauer's tenure.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Utah Tech has managed to hold its own away from away from home in its NCAA era as the Trailblazers have played to a 191-232-1 overall road record (.451) in their near 20 full years of NCAA play, including its 7-1 start this season. 
      In fact, the Trailblazers have already eclipsed last year's road win total (6-14), doing so in the series finale at Pacific (2/21).
      Utah Tech has posted a winning road record in eight of their last 16 seasons overall, highlighted by a 16-7-1 road mark in 2017. The 16 road wins were the most since beginning NCAA play in 2007.
      In 2015, Utah Tech went a program-best 15-5 on the road (.750), and the Blazers have won at least 10 road games in nine of their last 11 seasons overall. 
      When you also figure in neutral-site games (16-12 in 28 games), Utah Tech is 207-248-1 (.455) all-time away from Bruce Hurst Field in the program's NCAA era.
 
33 to 1K: Utah Tech is slated to play in its 1,000th NCAA-era ball game at home on Sunday, May 3, in its series finale vs. Tarleton State.  
      The Trailblazers have played to a 543-423-1 (.562) record all-time as the program competes in its 20th NCAA-era season. 
      That record also includes a 110-178 (.382) mark in the program's current Division-I era, and a 62-88 (.413) record in Western Athletic Conference play.  
 
9W vs. P4: Nine of Utah Tech's 110 D-I wins have come against Power-4 programs, including two wins over the Big 12 Conference last season (10-3 at BYU - 3/17/25; 12-8 vs. Utah - 3/25/25).  
      The Trailblazers also posted two P4 wins in 2024 on the road at Big 12 member Oklahoma State (9-8; 3/5/24), and at home vs. Utah when the Utes were a member of the PAC-12 Conference (W, 11-8; 5/7/24).  
      Seven of the nine Trailblazers wins have come against three former PAC-12 member schools (4 vs. Utah; 1 each vs. Arizona/Arizona State/Washington State). 
      Of note, Utah Tech's first three victories over BYU, which is in its third season of Big 12 play, were recorded when the Cougars were members of the West Coast Conference.
 
FREE BASEBALL: Utah Tech saw two of its four games in the APSU series go into extra innings, with both sides claiming 10-inning victories over the weekend.
      The Trailblazers are 7-12 in extra inning affairs during their current Division I era, including a 4-2 mark since the start of the 2025 campaign.
      In all, Utah Tech is 39-26 (.600) in 65 extra-inning games in the program's four-year era. The Blazers are 20-15 in 10-inning games, while the program has won 13 of its last 24 extra inning games overall.
 
DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE: Utah Tech ended the 2025 season as the NCAA D-I co-STATISTICAL CHAMPION with UCLA in double plays per game at 1.00 dp/g. 
      The Trailblazers also wound up tied for fourth nationally in total double plays with 55, which were also the second-most recorded during the program's NCAA era. The Blazers closed the season one twin killing shy of tying the school record of 56 set during the 2022 campaign.
      Utah Tech already has 13 double plays through its first 16 games this season, including two twin killings in the APSU series last weekend. The Trailblazers' 13 double plays are good for t-47th in the country after four weeks of play. 
 
AIN'T LIFE GRAND: Utah Tech has already hit a single-season record tying three grand slams this year, all three of which happened within a span of six innings last week.
      The Trailblazers' first grand slam came in walk-off fashion when senior DH/INF Gavin Glasgow cleared the bases in Utah Tech's series finale win over Northern Colorado (6-4; 3/1).
      Utah Tech followed that up with a school record two GS homers in its series opening win vs. APSU last Thursday. Junior 2B Kyle McDaniel blasted his first collegiate grand slam with two outs in the fourth inning.
      Then one inning later, senior OF/3B Kace Naone belted his first grand slam as a Blazer. 
      Utah Tech's three grands slams in its first 13 game this season also matched the total the Blazers hit in their first 13 games last season. 
      Utah Tech has now belted at least three grand slams in a season seven times, including in their first D-I season in 2021, though it took them 52 games to do it. Utah Tech also did it four times in the D-II era (2009/2010/2011/2016). 
 
WALK IT OFF: Glasgow became the first Trailblazer slugger in just over 10 years to end a game with a walk-off grand slam, doing so in the series finale vs. Northern Colorado back on March 1.
      Glasgow finished the day with a career-high five RBI to go with his first home run as a Trailblazer. The senior is currently one of two Trailblazer sluggers to have driven in five runs in a game this season (McDaniel at CSU Bakersfield - 2/18). 
      The senior's walk-off homer came just over 10 years to-the-day of Utah Tech's last walk-off grand slam. Former Blazer Division II All-American Tanner Morache was the last to achieve the feat, doing so in a 9-6, 10-inning home victory over Saint Martin's (2/21/16).
 
K-MAC KEEPS STREAKING ALONG: McDaniel managed to extend his school NCAA-era record streak of reaching base safely to 57-straight games during the APSU series last weekend.
      McDaniel hit safely in three of the four games, and drew his lone walk in the series in game two last Friday, which marked just the second time this season, and in his last 30 games overall dating back to last season, that the junior infielder failed to record at least one base hit. 
      McDaniel saw his school record 22-game hit streak halted in the series opener vs. Northern Colorado (2/27), though he has now seen his current on-base streak span more than 12 months (2/28/25-current).
      McDaniel, who entered the 2026 campaign as the 12th-rated second baseman by D1Baseball.com, is averaging one walk per game, and his 16 walks overall this season leads the WAC and ranks him t-29thnationally.
      McDaniel was named WAC Player of the Week on Feb. 23, after  he batted a combined .389 (7-for-18) out of the lead-off spot over the final four games of Utah Tech's season-opening, eight-game California road swing. He collected two extra base hits, six RBI, two stolen bases and two runs scored.
      The senior got off to a strong start in the Blazers' 14-4 road win at CSU Bakersfield (2/18), against which he went 3-for-6 with a career high five RBI, one stolen base and one run scored. 
      He then batted .333 (4-for-12) in Utah Tech's series win at Pacific. McDaniel hit safely in all three games, including a 2-for-5 effort with a double and a run score in the series opener (2/19). He later belted a solo home run in the Trailblazers' 2-1 triumph in game two (2/20), and had an RBI-single in the team's 8-5 series clinching win (2/21).
 
KROEPEL CREATING PLENTY OF PRESEASON BUZZ: Junior 3B/RHP Ryan Kroepel has also enjoyed quite the lead-up heading into his second season as a Trailblazer.  
      Kroepel was tabbed WAC Preseason Player of the Year and was voted to the conference's all-preseason team at both third base and at reliever.
      Kroepel also began the season ranked as the 18th-rated third baseman by D1Baseball.com, and has been included on both the 2026 NCWBA Stopper of the Year and John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award watch lists. 
 
NUMBER ONE NATIONALLY IN SAVING THE DAY: Utah Tech's bullpen has recorded saves in eight of the team's 13 victories this season, led by Kroepel, who notched his NCAA Division-I leading sixth save of the season in the series opener vs. Austin Peay last Thursday. He then picked up his first victory of the season in last Saturday's series finale. 
      Kroepel, who earned WAC Pitcher of the Week honors last month (2/16), is already ranked fifth in program history with 14 career saves. In addition, he has retired 31 of the 38 batters he has faced, including eight on strikes, over his 10.1 innings of work in seven appearance this season. 
      Meanwhile, redshirt sophomore RHP Easton Brooks recorded his first collegiate save after he tossed three spotless innings at CSU Bakersfield (2/18). Brooks struck out a career high six in that outing, while nine of his 19 career strikeouts overall have come vs. CSUB, including three Ks last season (3/13/25).
      Senior LHP Brock Roundy followed suit in the Pacific finale (2/21), during which he hurled 1.2 innings of spotless relief to earn his first save as a Trailblazer. Roundy also earned the decision in the CSU Bakersfield win after he struck out three in 3.0 innings of one-run, three-hit relief.
 
SOTO JR. STAYS HOT: Junior SS Petey Soto Jr. is on an absolute tear batting in the nine-hole of the Trailblazer line-up. Soto Jr. is riding a six-game hit streak and is hitting at a .518 clip (14-for-27) over his last eight games with a combined six XBHs and 10 RBI.
      Soto Jr. batted an even .500 (6-for-12) in the Northern Colorado series with two doubles and five RBI, three of which came on his first homer of the season in the eighth inning of game three.  
      Soto Jr., who is the WAC's leading hitter at .421 through 16 games, followed up by hitting .533 (8-for-13) in the APSU set with two more doubles and the Blazers' first triple of the season in game three Friday. He drove in two of his five total runs in the series on that three-bagger, and also drew two walks, stole two bases and scored a team-high five runs in the series overall. 
 
TRAILBLAZER QUICK HITS 
* - McDaniel batted a team-high .571 (8-for-14) in the UCR series with one double, two RBI and a team-highs of eight runs scored and six walks out of the lead-off spot. 
* - McDaniel has pounded out at least two hits in six of the 16 starts, which includes a 3-for-6 day with a career-high five RBI at CSU Bakersfield (2/18). 
* - McDaniel's previous career high for RBI was three set three times, with the last instance coming last season against, coincidentally, CSU Bakersfield last season (3/15/25) ... McDaniel also became the first Trailblazer to drive in at least five runs since former Blazer OF Chase Rodriguez in a win at California Baptist (5/17/24) late in the 2024 season.
* - Kroepel did it with his arm, and with his bat, in the APSU series, during which he hit .267 (4-for-15), which included a big two-run homer in the seventh inning of game one ... Kroepel also drew six walks, four of which came in game two, to go with one stolen base, and four runs scored over the four games.   
* - Senior catcher Ty Johnsen legged out three doubles in three games at UCR, including a pair of two-baggers in the series finale (2/15) ... he batted an even .500 in the UCR series overall with two RBI and three runs scored. 
* - Johnsen followed that up by going 2-for-3 with another double and three runs scored in the CSU Bakersfield win (2/18). 
* - Junior 1B Miller Durham will look to return to the line-up this week after he missed the entire APSU series (injury) ... Durham enjoyed a solid Trailblazer debut in the UCR series during which he batted .400 in the UCR series (6-for-15) with four RBI and three runs. 
* - Durham also hit .400 (6-for-15) in the UNCO series with three XBHs, including his second homer of the season, along with five RBI, three runs and a stolen base. 
* - Sophomore OF Finnegan Stewart, who already has a pair of three-RBI games through his first 16 games, now has a career-best four RBI day under his belt ... Stewart drove in four runs in G3 vs. UNCO thanks to a career-high four hits, highlighted by a three-run, third-inning HR.
* - Stewart is batting .322 (10-for-31) over his last eight games and has hit safely in his last four starts overall. 
* - Sophomore C/1B Cooper Smith went 3-for-6 over three games in the APSU series, with two of his hits going for extra bases, including his first collegiate HR with two outs in the sixth inning of the series finale. 
* - Utah Tech batted a combined .277 in the APSU series with five doubles and five HRs ... the Blazers were also issued a season-high 38 free passes - 28 walks and 10 HBPs ... Utah Tech is currently tied for 33rd-nationally in walks drawn with 91 through 16 games (5.7 BB/game).
* - Junior RHP Jackson Price made his first start of the season in the opener vs. APSU, against which he scattered one earned run (4 total) and three hits with four strikeouts over 3.1 innings ... he made his Trailblazer debut in G3 of the UNCO series (2/28), during which he tossed two spotless innings with three strikeouts.  
* - Senior RHP Tyler Ray struck out three over seven solid innings in G2 vs. APSU, though he did not figure in the decision ... his seven innings of work was a career high.
* - Fellow senior RHP Dakoda West struck out a career high eight over 6.2 IP in his G3 start vs. APSU.
* - Junior RHP Brandon Kosel recorded his second scoreless outing of the season in the series finale vs. UNCO (3/1), against surrendered four hits and struck out four in four innings of work.
* - Kosel turned in a great start in his Blazer debut at UCR (2/15) with 6.1 innings of three-hit shutout baseball with four strikeouts in an 8-1 victory ... Kosel will get the start Saturday's finale vs. APSU.
* - Sophomore reliever Talan Kelly earned his staff-high third win of the season (3-0) in the APSU series opener last Thursday ... Kelly also collected a win in relief in the UNCO series a week earlier ... the righthander went 1-0 and struck out five over 2.1 innings in two relief appearances in that series, which helped him earn WAC Pitcher of the Week honors (3/2). 
* - Thanks to Kelly's three decisions and Kroepel's win last Saturday, eight of Utah Tech's 13 pitching decisions have been recorded by the Blazer bullpen ... senior RHP Aaron Morris picked up his first win of the year after working 1.1 innings in G3 vs. UNCO (2/28). 
* - Senior RHP Ryan Martinez, who will get the start at BYU on Tuesday, struck out two in 2.0 innings of relief at Pacific (2/21) to earn the win over his former club in the series finale ... for Martinez, it was his third pitching victory as a Trailblazer.   
 
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech heads to NorCal for a three-game road series at West Coast Conference member Santa Clara this Friday-through-Sunday.