Utah Tech opened the road portion of its final WAC conference slate with a 7-4 road victory at in-state foe Utah Valley in the first game of the annual "Old Hammer Rivalry" series on Friday afternoon at UCCU Ballpark. 
 
After surrendering a pair of first inning runs the Trailblazers (24-14/3-1 WAC) countered with six-unanswered runs of their own over the next three innings to bolt out to a 6-2 fourth inning lead.
 
Ty Johnsen got Utah Tech on the board with a solo home run to start the second, his third of the season. Petey Soto Jr. later tied the game with a shallow single to left field that chased home Mays Madsen, who walked and advanced to third on a stolen and a Wolverine throwing error.
 
Utah Tech dialed long distance for its first lead of the series an inning later when after Miller Durham and Johnson reached with one-out singles, Finnegan Stewart belted his fifth homer of the season to give his side a 5-2 advantage.
 
The Blazers then picked up an add-on run in the fourth on a Durham RBI-groundout in the bases loaded. 
 
Utah Tech's scoring outburst helped senior righthander Tyler Ray (W, 4-3) settle in after a rocky start. After being touched up for the two first inning runs, Ray escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second and got a big shutdown inning in the third.
 
However UVU (15-22/1-3 WAC) managed to cut the Blazer lead in half at 6-4 in the home fourth thanks to a pair of two-out solo home runs.
 
The Trailblazers got one of those runs back in the sixth, and again it would be Durham who delivered an opposite field double to left center that chased Ryan Kroepel home all the way from first base after he walked to start the frame. 
 
Ray pitched into the sixth before being lifted for the bullpen. Senior southpaw Brock Roundy came on and was brilliant, firing 2.1 innings of one-hit scoreless relief with two strikeouts.
 
Kroepel then moved from third base to the mound in the ninth and retired the Wolverines in order with two punch outs of his own to earn his ninth save of the season.
 
Utah Tech outhit UVU 11-6 with five Trailblazers accounting for all 11 safeties.
 
Durham went 3-for-5 at the plate to go with his two RBI and a run scored, while lead-off hitter Kyle McDaniel, Johnsen and Stewart each collected two hits apiece. 
 
Ray finished with a career high seven strikeouts over 5.2 innings of work to earn his fourth win of the season. 
 
The two teams will play the middle game of their three-game WAC weekend series on Saturday night beginning at 6:05 p.m. (MT).