Utah Tech University Athletics

Utah Tech's offensive woes continued as the Trailblazers were turned away by Tarleton State in the middle game of their three-game home WAC series, 8-4, on Saturday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field.
 
The Trailblazers (29-18/6-5 WAC) managed only three base hits over their first five offensive frames, and all three of those base runners were subsequently erased on Tarleton State defensive double plays in the second, fourth and fifth innings.
 
Meanwhile senior righthander Dakoda West (L, 5-4) struck out four and kept the high-powered Texan offense at bay through the opening four innings of his start.
 
However Tarleton State (30-16/10-4 WAC) solved West in the fifth and sixth, touching him up for a pair of runs in both of those stanzas, to jump out to a 4-0 advantage.
 
Utah Tech loaded the bases to begin the home sixth and was able to push across two run to cut the deficit in half at 4-2.
 
The Texans answered the Blazer rally with two runs of their own in the seventh, and two more in the eighth, to stretch their lead to 8-2.
 
The Trailblazer got two of those runs back with one out in the home eighth thanks to Finnegan Stewart's seventh home run of the season. 
 
Unfortunately Utah Tech could draw no closer as Tarleton State kept the Blazers off the scoreboard the rest of way to cinch away the road series clinching win.
 
Eight of the nine Trailblazers in the starting lineup collected at least one base hit as Utah Tech finished with nine hits on the day. Kyle McDaniel went 2-for-4 with a run scored out of the lead-off spot, while Stewart drove in three of the Blazers' four total runs. 
 
Utah Tech will look to salvage one game from Tarleton State and avoid the home sweep in the series finale on Sunday at 11 a.m. (MT).