Game Times (Mountain):
Friday - 4:05 p.m.
Saturday - 6:05 p.m.
Sunday - 1:05 p.m.
Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | UTAH VALLEY
Live TV/Streaming: GAME #1 - ESPN+ | GAME #2 - ESPN+ | GAME #3 - ESPN+
Live Stats: GAME #1 | GAME #2 | GAME #3 
Twitter: @UtahTech_Sports | @UtahTech_BASE | #UtahTechBlazers | #WACbsb

PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday (G1) – RHP #7 Tyler Ray (3-3, 4.69 ERA) vs. RHP #11 Colton Kennedy (0-4, 7.05 ERA)
Saturday (G2) – RHP #35 Dakoda West (3-3, 5.36 ERA) vs. TBA
Sunday (G3) – RHP #33 Brandon Kosel (2-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. TBA

FIRST PITCH: Utah Tech (23-14/2-1 WAC) returns to Western Athletic Conference play, and opens a seven-game road swing, this weekend with a trip north on Interstate 15 to Orem for a three-game series at in-state rival Utah Valley (15-21/1-2 WAC). 
      Friday's series opener will start at 4:05 p.m. (MT), followed by game two on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. (MT), and Sunday's series finale at 1:05 p.m. (MT), at UCCU Ballpark (7,500). 
 
UTAH TECH VS. UTAH VALLEY: Utah Tech is 13-16 all-time vs. Utah Valley in NCAA competition, though the Trailblazers have lost seven-straight and nine of their last 11 games in the "Old Hammer Rivalry" over the last three seasons. 
      The two sides renewed pleasantries as conference rivals in 2021 during Utah Tech's first Division I season, and over those first two seasons, the Blazers had won five-straight and seven of the 10 total games played.
      Utah Tech and UVU also played a combined eight times during the Trailblazers' Division II era in 2007 and 2008, during which the two teams split eight games over those two seasons. 
      Both Utah Tech (then Dixie State) and UVU were members of the Scenic West Athletic Conference during the junior college years, and the two sides played annually through 2003 before UVU began its own D-I transition ahead of the 2004 season. 
 
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 374-319-1 (.539) overall record at Utah Tech, and a 426-378-1 (.530) 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.
 
ONE MILESTONE DOWN, ONE TO GO IN 2026: Coach Pfatenhauer reached another career milestone when he served as head coach in his 800th career collegiate ball game in Sacramento State series finale back on April 4.  
      In addition, the long-time Blazer skipper is slated to be in the dugout for his 700th game at Utah Tech in game two of the Blazers' WAC road series at California Baptist on Saturday, April 25.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech closed its eight-game homestand in style as the Trailblazers scored a season-high 18 runs in an 18-8 run-rule victory visiting Washington State in seven innings on Wednesday night at Bruce Hurst Field.
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Utah Tech owns a 343-180 (.656) all-time in 523 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 13-6 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 as the Trailblazers have played to a 194-242-1 overall road record (.445) in their near 20 full years of NCAA play, including its 10-8 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) in February.
      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 210-254-1 (.452) all-time away from Bruce Hurst Field in the program's NCAA era.
 
12 to 1K: Utah Tech is slated to play in its 1,000th NCAA-era ball game in its WAC series opener at UT Arlington on Friday, May 8.  
      The Trailblazers have played to a 553-434-1 (.560) record all-time as the program competes in its 20th NCAA-era season. 
      That record also includes a 120-189 (.388) mark in the program's current Division-I era, and a 64-89 (.418) record in Western Athletic Conference play.  
 
9W vs. P4: Nine of Utah Tech's 120 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 has seen four of its last 23 games go into extra innings, including a dramatic 8-7 walk-off home victory in 10 innings over Fresno State back on March 19. 
      The Trailblazers also split two 10-inning games in the Austin Peay series earlier this season, and dropped the series finale at Santa Clara (L, 5-6; 3/15) in 10 innings nearly three weeks ago. 
      The Trailblazers are 8-13 in extra inning affairs during their current Division I era, including a 5-3 mark since the start of the 2025 campaign.
      In all, Utah Tech is 40-27 (.597) in 67 extra-inning games in the program's four-year era. The Blazers are 21-16 in 10-inning games, while the program has won 14 of its last 26 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 currently has 21 double plays through its first 37 games this season, including one twin killing in both midweek games vs. UNLV and Washington State earlier this week.
 
AIN'T LIFE GRAND: Utah Tech blasted three more grand slams during its just completed eight-game homestand to bring its season total to a school-record six through 37 games this year.
      Junior SS Petey Soto Jr. connected on the Trailblazers' fourth slam of the year in G2 vs. Sacramento State back on April 3, which actually broke the school record first. 
      Sophomore DH Cooper Smith followed that one week later with a GSHR in the eighth inning of last Friday's series opener vs. Azusa Pacific (4/10).
      Junior 2B Kyle McDaniel accounted for the sixth slam in the fifth inning of Wednesday night's win over Washington State. McDaniel, who also belted a grand slam last month vs. Austin Peay (3/5), became the first Trailblazer with two grand slams in one season in the program's current NCAA Division I era.
      Utah Tech had tied the school record with three grand slams, all of which happened within a span of six innings during the Blazers' March homestand.
      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. Austin Peay (3/5). In addition to McDaniel's first slam, which came in the fourth inning, senior OF/3B Kace Naone belted his first grand slam as a Blazer one inning later in the fifth, marking the first time in the program's NCAA era that Utah Tech had hit two slams in one game. 
      Utah Tech has belted at least three grand slams in a season seven times, including in their first D-I season in 2021. The Trailblazers 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 and vs. Fresno State 3/19). 
      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).
 
WALK THIS WAY: Utah Tech was issued a season-high 15 walks by UNLV pitching in its road win in Las Vegas back on March 22. Utah Tech batters were also plunked four times that afternoon, and the Blazers were able to turn three of those HBPs, and two of the walks, into runs in the 11-1 run-rule victory.
      Utah Tech also collected a series season-high 38 free passes - 28 walks and 10 HBPs, in its four-game set vs. Austin Peay last month, and drew a combined 22 walks and were hit by six pitches in three games at Southern Illinois three weekends ago. 
      In addition, the Blazers were the beneficiaries of 11 walks and four HBPs in their win over Washington State last Wednesday night. 
      Utah Tech is currently ranked 12th-nationally in walks drawn with 220 through 37 games (5.9 BB/game), and t-30th in Division I in HBPs with 72 (1.94 HBP/g). 
 
IN THE NCAA RANKS: In addition to walks drawn and HBPs, Utah Tech is currently ranked t-fifth nationally in sacrifice bunts (38), 11th in OB% (.434), t-38th in batting (.304), t-47th in walks/9IP (3.81) and t-50th in base hits (367). 
 
K-MAC STARTS A NEW STREAK: McDaniel saw his school NCAA-era record streak of reaching base safely end at 58-straight games after he was held off the base paths in the series opener at Santa Clara back on March 13.
      Since then he has reached base safely in 11-straight, and in 25 of his last 26 starts. He has done so with at least one base hit in 15 of those games, including in nine of his last 10 starts, with three three-hit outings, and a career high four hits in the opener vs. Azusa Pacific (4/10).
      McDaniel has driven in 18 runs in over this current stretch, highlighted by a career-high six RBI in last Wednesday's win over Washington State. In addition to his second grand slam of the season in the fifth inning of that win, he legged out a two-run triple one inning later.
      McDaniel's record streak began last season with a 3-for-5 day at the plate at Portland (2/28/25). In fact, McDaniel recorded at least one base hit in 47 of those 58 games with 24 multi-hit outings over that stretch.  
      The junior's on-base streak also featured a school record 22-game hit streak, which was halted in the Blazers' series opener vs. Northern Colorado (2/27). 
      McDaniel, who entered the 2026 campaign as the 12th-rated second baseman by D1Baseball.com, has drawn 25 walks in his 37 starts this season, which is currently good for t-sixth in the WAC.
      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.
 
KROEPEL CREATED PLENTY OF PRESEASON BUZZ: Junior 3B/RHP Ryan Kroepel 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 NCBWA Stopper of the Year and John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award watch lists.
 
TOP FIVE NATIONALLY IN SAVING THE DAY: Utah Tech's bullpen has recorded saves in 10 of the team's 23 victories this season, led by Kroepel, who notched his WAC-leading eighth save of the season (T-5th in the nation) in last Sunday's series finale vs. Azusa Pacific.
      Kroepel, who earned WAC Pitcher of the Week honors on Feb. 16, is already ranked t-third in program history with 16 career saves. In addition, he has retired 55 of the 77 batters he has faced, including 16 on strikes, over his 18.1 innings of work in 12 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.
 
KROEPEL EARNS NATIONAL HONORS: Kroepel was named the national John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Week on March 10 for his efforts in the Trailblazers' home series split with Austin Peay. 
      Along with picking up a win and a save in that series, the junior batted .267 (4-for-15) in four starts with three RBI, four runs scored, six walks and one stolen base. Two of his three RBI in the series came via a clutch two-run home run that helped propel the Trailblazers to a 15-11 victory in the series opener (3/5).
      In addition, Kroepel was tabbed as a Perfect Game College Midseason Third Team All-American as a two-way player back on April 1.
 
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. has hit safely in 10-straight, and in 23 of his last 27 starts, and is hitting at a .389 clip (37-for-95) over that stretch with a combined 10 XBHs and 28 RBI.
      Soto Jr. batted an even .308 (4-for-13) in the Sac State series, highlighted by a 2-for-4 night with his first collegiate grand slam and a career-high six RBI in G2 (4/3). He also belted his third homer of the season and scored three runs in the Washington State win last Wednesday night. 
      Soto Jr., who is 11th in the WAC in batting (.356) and sixth in the conference in  runs scored (34) through 37 games, recorded a pair of three-hit and three-RBI in Utah Tech's four games vs. the Mountain West Conference last month.
      He went 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs in the opener vs. Fresno State (3/19), and followed that with three more hits and three RBI in the win at UNLV (3/29).
      Soto enters the weekend riding a career long 30-game on base streak, highlighted by 12 multi-hit outings, including four three-hit games overall.
 
UTAH TECH'S OWN "SAY HEY KID": Freshman CF Mays Madsen has been on a heater in his own right over his last four starts, during which he is hitting at an even .600 clip (9-for-15) with nine RBI and six runs scored. 
      Madsen pounded out at least two hits in all four games, highlighted a his first collegiate three-hit outing in G2 vs. Azusa Pacific (4/11). He also drove in a career high four runs, including a three-run first inning double, in the Wednesday win over Washington State. 
 
TRAILBLAZER QUICK HITS 
* - McDaniel has pounded out at least two hits in 17 of his 37 starts this season out of the lead-off spot, which includes a 3-for-6 day with his first of two five-RBI days of the season at CSU Bakersfield (2/18).
* - McDaniel batted a combined .538 (7-for-13) in the Azusa Pacific series with four doubles and five runs scored in the three games.  
* - McDaniel went 2-for-5 in the series finale at Santa Clara (3/15), highlighted by his third homer of the season on the very first pitch of the game ... McDaniel's lead-off homer at SCU came nearly 23 months after his first one, which he clubbed at home vs. Abilene Christian (4/27/24) during his freshman year in 2024.
* - McDaniel's solo shot at SCU was the first of three first-inning solo HRs Utah Tech recorded to begin the game ... Kroepel belted a solo shot two batters later, which was followed two batters later by a Miller Durham blast. 
* - Utah Tech's three-homer inning was the first since the Trailblazers hit three of its five total home runs in third inning in a home win over Wichita State (2/22/23) during the 2023 season.
* - Meanwhile Durham also homered for the third-straight game, doing so with a first inning solo shot vs. Fresno State (3/19) ... Durham went 2-for-2 at the plate before coming out of the game due to a minor injury.
* - Durham matched McDaniel with a .538 average in the APU series last week, highlighted by a 4-for-5 day in the finale with a his team-high sixth homer and three RBI ... Durham also collected two hits in both midweek games vs. UNLV and Washington State.
* - Kroepel batted a team high .545 (6-for-11) with three walks, three RBI and two runs scored in the Sac State series.
* - Kroepel has reached base safely in career-best 21-straight games, with 14 of those occasions coming via a base hit ... he has seven multi-hit efforts and 14 RBI over that stretch. 
* - Senior catcher Ty Johnsen enjoyed a solid series vs. Sac State, batting .538 (7-for-13) with a pair of doubles, four RBI and four runs scored ... he followed that up by hitting at a .455 clip (5-for-11) a week later in three starts vs. APU, which included his second HR of the season a career-high four RBI in G2 (4/11).
* - Johnsen also notched career highs of four walks (tied school record) and four runs scored in the Washington State win last Wednesday night. 
* - Johnsen has hit safely in seven-straight, and in 15 of his last 16 starts, which has helped vault him into fifth in the WAC in batting (.372), second in the conference and 12th-nationally in OB% (.527), t-17th in doubles (9) and second in OB% (.527). 
* - Speaking of walks, Smith was issued a career-high and school single game record tying four walks, and was credited with a career-best four RBI, in the finale at SIU (3/29) ... Smith drove in two of those runs on bases-loaded walks, while he belted an eighth inning two-run single.
* - Smith heads into the UVU series as the WAC leader and ranked NINTH-nationally in OB% at .540.  
* - Sophomore OF Finnegan Stewart, who already has a pair of three-RBI games through his first 37 games, now two four-RBI days 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, and he collected four more RBI as part of a 2-for-2 night with a double in the Washington State win last Wednesday night. 
* - Stewart, who belted a walk-off two-run homer in the series finale vs. Fresno State (3/20), hit a combined .364 (4-for-11) in the Sac State series with another HR (G1), one double and a team-high tying six RBI. 
* - Junior RF Hudson Manwaring has a base hit in four-straight and in nine of his last 11 outings with five two-hit days, three of which came during the Blazers' last five games ... Manwaring has also swiped five of his team-high 11 stolen bases over the last three games, including two steals against both UNLV and WSU.  
* - As a team, Utah Tech batted a season series high .452 vs. APU with 11 XBHs along with 23 combined free passes (15 BB/8 HBP). 
* - Senior RHP Tyler Ray recorded his third win of the season, and his first out of the bullpen, in game two vs. Sac State (4/3) ... Ray struck out a career-high six and limited the Hornets to only two hits over 3.2 innings of scoreless relief. 
* - Fellow senior RHP Dakoda West tied a career high with eight strikeouts over 4.2 innings at UNLV (3/21) ... the senior earned his third win of the season in G2 vs. APU (4/11), during which he struck out five and scattered two runs and six hits over six innings complete. 
* - Junior RHP Brandon Kosel enjoyed a banner afternoon at UNLV (3/22), against which he struck out a season high six on his way to his second win of the year.
* - Kosel held the nation's then-14th ranked scoring offense to only four total hits over five scoreless innings ... after surrendering two Rebel base hits in the home first, Kosel retired 11-straight, and 12 of the next 13 Rebel hitters he faced. 
* - 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.
* - Sophomore reliever Talan Kelly earned his WAC-leading sixth win of the season (6-0) in last Sunday's finale vs. APU ... Kelly also collected a win in relief in the UNCO series finale a week earlier (3/1) ... the righthander struck out five over 2.1 innings combined in two relief appearances in that series, which helped him earn WAC Pitcher of the Week honors (3/2). 
* - Thanks to Kelly's six decisions and Ray's win vs. Sac State (3/7), 15 of Utah Tech's 23 pitching decisions have been recorded by the Blazer bullpen 
* - Senior RHP Ryan Martinez collected his fourth win out of the Blazer bullpen in last Wednesday's triumph over Washington State after he tossed 2.1 innings of one-hit scoreless relief with a strikeout.
 
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech will remain in Utah County for a Monday night road match-up at BYU. First pitch at Miller Park in Provo is set for 5:05 p.m. (MT).