Thanks to an overall strong pitching performance and timely defense, Utah Tech extended its win streak to five-straight after a 9-4 victory at in-state rival BYU on Monday night at Miller Park.
 
The Trailblazers (27-14/5-1 WAC) pounced on BYU from the get-go, striking for three runs in their first swings, and four more in the second inning to bolt out to a commanding 7-0 lead.
 
Kyle McDaniel led off the game with a double, and after he took third on a Hudson Manwaring single, the junior second baseman scored on the back end of a double steal.
 
Manwaring managed to take third on the play thanks to an errant throw and would score on a Ryan Kroepel run-scoring fly out. Utah Tech tacked another run later in the frame on BYU's second error of the inning.
 
Then in the Blazer second inning with two on and one run already in, Miller Durham took a Luke Sterner fast ball and sent over the left field wall for his team-leading seventh homer of the season to give his side a seven-run cushion.
 
Utah Tech added another run to its total in the fourth, which helped bolster a strong start from freshman southpaw David Sheppard, who struck out three and limited the Cougars to one run and two hits over his first three innings of work. 
 
BYU (20-19) looked as if it had solved Sheppard in the home fourth as the Cougars pushed across two runs and had the bases loaded with two outs in the stanza. However Sheppard was able to induce a Tualau Wolfgramm fly out to right field to escape further damage.
 
The Blazers managed to get one of those runs back in the fifth with a Petey Soto Jr. off the left field that easily scored Mays Madsen from third base and stretched the Utah Tech lead to 9-3. 
 
Utah Tech turned things over to its bullpen, and the duo of Ethan Gardner (W, 1-2) and Easton Brooks combined to hold BYU to only one unearned run and no hits over the final five innings. 
 
Gardner struck out three in his three innings of work, while Brooks fanned four Cougars in the final two innings to close out the win. In addition, the Trailblazer defense turned a fifth inning double play, while Madsen make three highlight reel grabs out in center field. 
 
Meanwhile Sheppard shined in his third collegiate start. He finished with those three punch outs and scattered three runs and five hits over four innings, though he did not figure in the decision.
 
Utah Tech pounded out 13 hits in the victory, with Manwaring and Soto Jr. leading the way with three hits apiece. Soto Jr. also managed to extend his career long hit streak to 14-straight games, and his on-base streak to a career high 34-straight games. 
 
Kroepel finished with two hits and two RBI, while seven different Trailblazer hitters collected at least one base hit overall. 
 
The Trailblazers will wrap up their seven-game road swing this weekend with a crucial three-game Western Athletic Conference at California Baptist.