Game Times (Mountain):
Thursday - 6:05 p.m.
Friday - 6:05 p.m.
Saturday - 12:05 p.m. (SENIOR DAY)
Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | ACU
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:
Thursday (G1) – RHP #7 Tyler Ray (4-6, 4.97 ERA) vs. RHP #25 Aidan Coleman (6-2, 5.24 ERA)
Friday (G2) – RHP #35 Dakoda West (6-4, 4.84 ERA) vs. LHP #45 Brett Lanman (1-5, 4.88 ERA)
Saturday (G3) – RHP #30 Ryan Martinez (6-1, 6.39 ERA) vs. RHP #41 Evan Whiteaker (4-3, 6.19 ERA)

FIRST PITCH: Utah Tech (30-22/7-8 WAC) wraps up the 2026 regular season this weekend by hosting Abilene Christian (25-26/8-7 WAC) in a pivotal three-game WAC series. 
      Game one of the series will be played on Thursday night beginning at 6:05 p.m. (MT), followed by game two on Friday night at 6:05 p.m. (MT), and Saturday's Senior Day series finale at 12:05 p.m. (MT).
 
THANK YOU SENIORS: This weekend's series will serve as the final home games for Utah Tech's 13-player senior class, including pitchers Ethan Gardner, Dakota Gray, Jonah Marshall, Ryan Martinez, Tyler Ray, Brock Roundy and Dakoda West, along with infielders Gavin Glasgow, Gavin Grutzmacher and Kace Naone, catchers Ty Johnsen and Andrew Pyle, and outfielder Gavin Long.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: Utah Tech is 1-9 all-time vs. Abilene Christian and has lost eight-straight in the series overall, this after claiming the first-ever meeting between the two sides during the 2023 season in Abilene (14-6; 5/5/23).
      The Wildcats went on to win the next two games on their home diamond to clinch the series, then posted a three-game road sweep over the Trailblazers two years ago at Bruce Hurst Field (4/26-28/24). ACU also swept a three-game home set last season, and eliminated Utah Tech from the 2025 WAC Tournament (L, 5-9; 5/22/25). 
 
WHAT'S ON THE LINE: Utah Tech enters the final weekend on the 2026 season with a chance to clinch the third seed in next week's WAC Tournament. 
      The Trailblazers are tied for fifth place in the conference standings with UT Arlington at 7-8, and are one game back of both ACU and Sacramento State, both of which are tied for third at 8-7. 
 
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 381-327-1 (.538) overall record at Utah Tech, and a 433-386-1 (.528) 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 closed out its 2026 road slate with a 16-9 loss at in-state rival Utah this past Tuesday afternoon in Salt Lake City. 
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Utah Tech owns a 344-183 (.653) all-time in 527 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 14-9 mark this season.
      Thanks to their 8-3 home victory over UNLV (4/28), the Trailblazers clinched the program's 17th winning record at their home ballpark in the program's 20 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: Despite Tuesday's road loss at Utah, Utah Tech has managed to hold its own away from away from home as the Trailblazers have played to a 200-247-1 overall road record (.446) in their near 20 full years of NCAA play, which includes their final 16-13 2026 road mark. 
      Thanks to finishing three games over .500 on the road this season, Utah Tech has posted a winning road record in nine of their last 17 seasons overall. The 16 road wins this season are the most in the program's brief Division I era, and tied for the most in the program's four-year era overall (16-7-1 in 2017).
      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 10 of their last 12 seasons overall. 
      When you also figure in neutral-site games (16-12 in 28 games), Utah Tech is 216-259-1 (.455) all-time away from Bruce Hurst Field in the program's NCAA era.
 
ON TO THE NEXT THOUSAND: Utah Tech played in its 1,000th NCAA-era ball game last Friday night when Trailblazers took the field at UT Arlington.  
      The Trailblazers have played to a 560-442-1 (.559) record all-time as the program competes in its 20th NCAA-era season. 
      That record includes a 127-197 (.392) mark in the program's current Division-I era, and a 69-96 (.418) record in Western Athletic Conference play.  
 
10W vs. P4: 10 of Utah Tech's 127 D-I wins have come against Power-4 programs, including its road win at Big 12 member BYU back on April 20. 
      Prior to this season, the Trailblazers had posted two wins over P4 opponents in each of the last two years, including in-state victories over both Big 12 opponents BYU (10-3; 3/17/25) and Utah (12-8; 3/25/25). 
      Utah Tech also collected 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 10 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 five of its last 38 games go into extra innings, including last Sunday's 8-5 loss in 11 innings at UT Arlington, and 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 back in March.
      The Trailblazers are 8-14 in extra inning affairs during their current Division I era, including a 5-4 mark since the start of the 2025 campaign.
      In all, Utah Tech is 40-28 (.588) in 68 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 27 extra inning games overall.
 
AIN'T LIFE GRAND: Utah Tech blasted three more grand slams during its April eight-game homestand to bring its season total to a school-record six through 52 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 the series opener vs. Azusa Pacific (4/10).
      Junior 2B Kyle McDaniel accounted for the sixth slam in the fifth inning vs. Washington State (4/15). McDaniel, who also belted a grand slam in March 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: Thanks to drawing six walks at Utah on Tuesday afternoon, Utah Tech set a new single-season record for walks drawn with 295 through 52 games.
      Utah Tech's 295 walks this season, which ranks the team 12th in Division I, broke the previous record of 294 set in 2019. 
      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 in March, and drew a combined 14 walks and five HBPs at UTA last weekend. 
      The Trailblazers have been plunked by a school record 96 pitches this season (t-33rd NCAA), which shattered the previous record of 71 set in 2014. Junior 3B Ryan Kroepel leads the team with 15 HBPs, which is one off the school single season record (16 - Logan Porter, 2018).
      Kroepel also drew a walk at Utah on Tuesday, his 43rd of the season, which pulled into a tie atop the program's single season list with former Trailblazer Yuto Kata, who was issued a school record 43 walks in 2012.
 
IN THE NCAA RANKS: In addition to walks drawn and HBPs, Utah Tech is currently ranked seventh nationally in sacrifice bunts (51), 11th in and OB% (.426), 38th in batting (.303), t-25th in base hits (531), and 55th in walks allowed/9IP (3.89).
 
TRAILBLAZER PLAYER QUICK HITS
AROUND THE HORN
* - Junior 1B Miller Durham, who went 2-for-2 with an RBI at Utah on Tuesday afternoon, returned to action at UTA last weekend, starting all three games at DH and batted .182 (2-for-11) with two intentional walks, three RBI and one run scored. 
* - Durham saw his season-long 10-game hit streak stopped in the CBU series opener (4/24), though he came back with a 3-for-3 night with two doubles and one RBI in game two (4/25).
* - Miller, who has reached base safely in 24-straight games, was named University Credit Union WAC Player of the Week on April 20 after he batted a combined .636 (14-for-22) with three extra-base hits, four RBI and nine runs scored to help lead the Trailblazers to a 4-1 record the week prior.
* - Durham recorded at least two hits in all five of those games, including a pair of three-hit games at Utah Valley (4/17-18), before posting his second four-hit game of the season in series finale (4/19). 
* - Durham also went 2-for-3 with three runs scored in each of Utah Tech's two home midweek games against both UNLV (4/14) and Washington State (4/15). 
* - Durham is Utah Tech's top hitter with a .375 average and co-leads the team with seven home runs, and has 32 RBI to his credit in 38 starts this season. 
* - Durham posted .538 average in the Azusa Pacific series last month, highlighted by a 4-for-5 day in the finale with a homer and three RBI.
* - Junior 2B Kyle McDaniel began the 2026 season as the 12th-rated second baseman by D1Baseball.com.
* - 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 McDaniel has reached base safely in 25 of his last 27 games, and in 38 of his last 42 starts overall ... he has done so with at least one base hit in 27 of those games, including 21 of his last 25 starts, with three three-hit outings, and a career high four hits in the opener vs. Azusa Pacific (4/10).
* - McDaniel has pounded out at least two hits in 23 of his 52 starts this season out of the lead-off spot, which included a 3-for-6 day with his first of two five-RBI days of the season at CSU Bakersfield (2/18).
* - McDaniel went 2-for-4 with a triple, homer and a career-high six RBI in the win over Washington State (4/15) ... he also his safely in all three games vs. Tarleton State two weeks ago with a pair of two-hit games, highlighted by a 2-for-4 night with his sixth HR of the year and three RBI in G1 ... McDaniel hit .455 in the series with team highs of four runs scored and four walks. 
* - 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.
* - McDaniel begins the week t-fifth on Utah Tech's single season list in walks (40) and t-eighth in hits (73), and is ranked in the top-10 all-time in walks (3rd - 107), stolen bases (4th - 30), doubles (T4th - 39), hits (5th - 195), OB% (t-8th - .442), at-bats (5th - 592), total bases (7th - 277), and runs (t-6th - 126). 
* - Junior SS Petey Soto Jr. has been named as a semifinalist for the 2026 College Baseball Foundation's Brooks Wallace National Award for the nation's top Division I shortstop. 
* - Soto Jr. is on an absolute tear batting in the nine-hole of the Trailblazer line-up ... he managed to extend his two career-long streaks, a 16-game hit streak and a 36-game on-base streak, during the first two games of the CBU series last month ... however he saw those streaks come to an end the series finale (4/26). 
* - Soto Jr. as hit safely in 36 of his last 43 starts overall, and is hitting at a .374 clip (58-for-155) over this stretch with a combined 15 XBHs and 40 RBI, and is 11-of-13 in stolen base attempts. 
* - Soto Jr. hit a combined .333 (4-for-12) last weekend at UT Arlington, against which he recorded two hits in each of the final two games after going hitless in last Friday's opener.
* - Soto Jr. belted his fifth homer of the season in the third inning at Utah on Tuesday afternoon. 
* - Soto Jr. batted a combined .455 (5-for-11) in the Tarleton series two weeks with two RBI and a co-team high four runs scored. 
* - Soto Jr. hit .308 (4-for-13) in the Sac State series to begin WAC play (4/2-4), highlighted by a 2-for-4 night with his first collegiate grand slam and a career-high six RBI in G2 (4/3). 
* - Soto Jr. enters play this week t-5th in program history in career stolen bases (25-for-33).
* - Junior 3B Ryan 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 began the season ranked as the 18th-rated third baseman by D1Baseball.com, and has been included on both the 2026 NCBWA Midseason Stopper of the Year watch list and John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award national semifinalist list.
* - In addition, Kroepel was tabbed as a Perfect Game College Midseason Third Team All-American as a two-way player back on April 1, and 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. 
* - Kroepel has reached base safely in career-best 36-straight games, which now stands as the program's third-longest on-base streak in the NCAA era. 
* - Over this current stretch, Kroepel as reached base with a base hit in 26 of those occasions, including 13 of his last 14 starts ... he also has 13 multi-hit efforts and 25 RBI over that stretch, including a 3-for-5 night with his third career triple, two RBI and two runs scored vs. UNLV (4/28). 
* - Kroepel led Utah Tech with a .667 average (4-for-6), seven total walks and five runs scored in the CBU series last month, and he reached base safely in 11 of his 13 plate appearances overall. 
* - Kroepel begins the week ranked in the top-10 all-time in OB% (3rd - .456), batting (8th - .344) and HBPs (T9th - 21).  
* - Kroepel has also recorded 10 saves and is 1-1 on the mound in 16 appearances this season ... Kroepel's 10 saves leads the WAC and ties him for EIGHTH in the current NCAA Division I rankings. 
* - Kroepel tied a career high with three strikeouts in 2.1 innings of two-hit scoreless relief in Sunday's series final at UT Arlington.
* - Kroepel picked up two saves in games one and two in the UVU road series, and enters the final week of the regular season tied for third on Utah Tech's single season saves list, and tied for second place (18) all-time in program history in career saves. 
 
FROM POLE TO POLE
* - Sophomore LF Finnegan Stewart as hit safely in 18 of his last 24 games, during which he has batted .353 (35-for-99) with nine two-hit games, one three-hit game, and two four-hit outings, including a 2-for-5 effort with an RBI at Utah last Tuesday.
* - Stewart tied career highs with four hits and four RBI in last Saturday's G2 win at UT Arlington. 
* - Stewart saw his 10-game hit streak snapped by an 0-for-5 in G2 at Utah Valley (4/18) ... all he did after that was go 4-for-4 with a school single-game record tying two triples, one double, three RBI and a career high four runs scored in the series finale (4/19), and went 2-for-4 one night later in the win at BYU (4/20). 
* - Stewart became the first Trailblazer in the program's brief NCAA D-I era with two triples in one game, and just the second player in the program's near 20-year NCAA era overall with two triples in one game.
* - Stewart has 31 total RBI over this current 24 game stretch and 13 XBH, including his seventh homer of the season, a two-run shot vs. Tarleton State (5/2).
* - Freshman CF Mays Madsen has been on a heater in his own right over his last 11 games, during which he is hitting at a .289 clip (13-for-45) with 12 RBI and nine runs scored. 
* - Madsen has pounded out at least two hits in six of his last 16 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 home win vs. Washington State (4/15).
* - Madsen batted .300 (3-for-10) in his three starts vs. Tarleton State, with two of those hits and his two RBI in the series coming in last Friday's series opener. 
* - Junior RF Hudson Manwaring was named WAC Player of the Week on Monday after he batted a combined .714 (10-for-14) with two doubles, five RBI and three runs scored in three starts at UT Arlington last weekend.
* - After going 2-for-3 in Friday's series opener, Manwaring went 4-for-5 and drove in a career-high five run, highlighted by a bases clearing three-run double, in the Trailblazers 16-4 game two victory on Saturday afternoon.
* - Manwaring followed that up with four more hits in Sunday's finale with another double and two runs scored.
* - Then for good measure, Manwaring went 4-for-5 at Utah on Tuesday afternoon, his third-straight, three-hit game, and finished with two RBI and three runs scored.  
* - Manwaring has hit safely in eight-straight games, and in 16 of his last 19 starts overall with 12 multi-hit outings ... he is now 36-for-78, (.461) over this current stretch, and he has raised his season batting average 117 points to .342 heading into the ACU series this weekend.. 
* - Manwaring has swiped eight of his team-high 15 stolen bases over the last 17 games, and he begins the week t-third on Utah Tech's single season steals list (15-for-19). 
 
BEHIND THE PLATE
* - 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.
* - Johnsen followed that up by hitting at a .455 clip (5-for-11) a week later in three starts vs. Azusa Pacific, 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 (4/15). 
* - Johnsen saw his career long 28-game, on-base streak snapped at UT Arlington last weekend, against which he was held off the base paths in all three games.
* - Johnsen has hit safely in eight of his last 12 games, and in 25 of his last 31 starts overall.
* - Senior catcher Andrew Pyle went 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI-triple, his second career three-bagger, in the series finale at Utah Valley (4/19) ... in fact his triple came right after Stewart's second triple of the game.
* - Pyle doubled and recorded his second triple of the season, and the third of his Blazer career, in last Saturday's win at UT Arlington. 
 
THE ROTATION
* - Senior RHP Tyler Ray recorded his fourth win of the season in the series opener at UVU (4/17)... Ray struck out a career high seven a scattered four runs on five hits over 5.2 IP. 
* - Ray was the hard-luck loser in last Friday's opener at UT Arlington ... Ray tied his career high with seven strikeouts and surrendered only four hits and two runs (one earned) over seven solid innings. 
* - Fellow senior RHP Dakoda West earned his sixth victory of the season in G2 at UTA last Saturday ... West fanned seven and scattered eight hits and four runs in five innings of work. 
* - West tied a career high with eight strikeouts over 4.2 innings at UNLV (3/21).
* - Senior RHP Ryan Martinez got the starting nod in Sunday's finale at UTA, where he struck out one and surrendered four hits and three runs (two earned) in 3.1 innings but did not figure in the decision. 
* - Martinez collected his sixth win of the year as he was credited with the decision in the UNLV (4/28). 
* - Martinez also picked up the win vs. Washington State (4/15) after he tossed 2.1 innings of one-hit scoreless relief with a strikeout.
 
OUT OF THE PEN
* - Sophomore reliever Talan Kelly earned his sixth win of the season (6-0) in the series finale vs. Azusa Pacific (4/12).
* - 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), 17 of Utah Tech's 29 pitching decisions have been recorded by the Blazer bullpen 
* - Senior LHP Brock Roundy made two appearances out of the pen in the UVU series and fired 3.2 innings of two hit scoreless relief with three strikeouts.
* - Roundy has recorded 10 strikeouts over his last nine outings, including four punch outs in 1.2 innings vs. UNLV (4/28). 
* - Utah Tech also got brilliant work from the RHP duo of Ethan Gardner and Easton Brooks at BYU back on April 20 ... Gardner fanned three over three hitless innings to earn the victory, while Brooks fired two innings of no-hit relief with four punch outs to close out the win.
* - Brooks collected his second three-inning save of the season in last Saturday's win at UT Arlington, against which struck out two and allowed only two total base runners. 
 
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: The 2026 Western Athletic Conference Baseball Postseason Tournament will be held next week, May 20-23, at Hohokam Park in Mesa, Ariz.