Miller Durham homered twice and drove in a career high five runs as Utah Tech closed out the 2026 regular season in style by completing a three-game sweep of visiting Abilene Christian with a 19-8 victory in eight innings on Senior Day Saturday at Bruce Hurst Field.
With Saturday's win, Utah Tech improved to 33-22 overall and finished in a tie for third place in the Western Athletic Conference standings at 10-8. The victory also clinched the Blazers the third seed in next week's WAC postseason tournament.
After spotting ACU (25-29/8-10 WAC) a 2-0 first inning lead, the Trailblazers roared back with five runs of their own to jump out to a 5-2 advantage.
Utah Tech loaded the bases with one out in the frame ahead of
Finnegan Stewart, who singled home both
Hudson Manwaring and
Ryan Kroepel to knot the score at 2-2.
Gavin Long,
Andrew Pyle and
Petey Soto Jr. all followed with run-scoring singles later in the inning as the Blazers sent 10 batters to the plate to begin their afternoon.
ACU clapped back with two runs in the second, only to see the Blazers counter in their half of the frame with a three-run Durham blast down the right field line that stretched the Utah Tech lead to 8-4.
The Wildcats clawed their way back into the game in the fourth with four runs, including a two-run Brady Ladusau triple, which pulled ACU even at 8-8.
However the game did not stay tied for long as Utah Tech blew the game wide open in the home fourth, erupting for nine runs in the stanza to bolt out to a commanding 17-8 advantage.
The Trailblazers sent 15 batters to the plate and only recorded four hits in the rally, highlighted by a Durham two-run opposite field homer to left.
Kyle McDaniel also doubled in two runs, which was followed by a two-run Kroepel single.
Utah Tech was also the beneficiary of five walks issued by Wildcat pitching, two of which forced in runs, while ACU hurlers plunked two more Blazer hitters and the Wildcats committed two errors in the inning.
The Trailblazers maintained their nine-run cushion until the bottom of the eighth when with a runner on and one out,
Kace Naone ended his Senior Day, and the game, with a towering two-run homer over the left field wall.
Utah Tech finished with 12 hits and collected a WAC season-high 11 walks on the day, while five additional Trailblazers were hit by pitches.
Durham went 3-for-5 at the dish with three runs scored to go with his five RBI, while Manwaring tallied two hits and scored three runs.
Kroepel also became Utah Tech's single season record holder in both walks (45) and HBPs (17) as he reached base safely four times and scored four runs.
In all, nine different Trailblazers recorded at least one base hit and drove in at least one run, while 10 different Blazers scored at least one run.
Meanwhile four Trailblazer relievers combined to limit ACU to only five hits over the final 4.1 innings on Saturday. Sophomore righthander
Easton Brooks (W, 1-0) tossed 2.1 innings of three-hit relief with one strikeout to earn his first decision of the season.
Utah Tech will move on to play in the first round of the 2026 WAC Baseball Tournament, which begins this upcoming Wednesday, May, 20, at Hohokam Park in Mesa, Ariz.
The third-seeded Trailblazers will square off against No. 6 seed UT Arlington in the first game of Day #1 at 12 noon (MT).
