Braxton Ipson is in his fifth season as a member of the Trailblazer Baseball coaching staff, and his second year as the program’s recruiting coordinator. Ipson also leads all infield defense and serves as the team’s third base coach while assisting in all aspects of the program including team offense, team academics, hitting, baserunning, and fundraising.
The 2026 season was another big step forward for the Utah Tech program. Ipson helped guide the team to a 35-win season. The most wins for the program in its division 1 era. The season was also the second year in a row that the team had improved its win total by 10+ games (10 in 2025, 11 in 2026). An overall 21-game improvement since being hired as an assistant coach in 2024.
Prior to the start of the 2026 campaign, Trailblazer infielders Kyle McDaniel and Ryan Kroepel were tabbed as Top 50 players at their respective positions by D1Baseball.com. McDaniel was voted #12 among second baseman and Kroepel #18 among third baseman. Kroepel also garnered 2026 WAC Preseason Player of the Year honors as voted on by coaches in the league.
That 2026 season was a banner year for the Utah Tech offense as they led the WAC in OBP (.429), HBP (107), and walks (338). While finishing second in the conference in overall batting average (.309). The Trailblazer bats also finished top 25 in the country in multiple categories including: runs per game (7.7/T#25), batting average (.309/#19), total hits (618/#12), OBP (.429/#8), and walks (338/#7). Ipson also helped guide first baseman Miller Durham to the WAC batting title in 2026 as Durham posted a .406 average. That also placed Durham in the NCAA’s top 10 (#8) in hitting and top 50 (#41) in overall on-base percentage (.490).
The postseason honors came rolling in for the Trailblazers in the summer of 2026 as the team had 5 All-WAC selections including first-teamers in McDaniel, Kroepel, and Ty Johnsen. Meanwhile Durham and Petey Soto Jr. were selected to the All-WAC second team. Utah Tech was the only team in the conference to have their entire infield selected to the all-conference team.
Kroepel, who served as the team’s primary third baseman and closer in 2026 was named as one of the nation’s five finalists for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award. In addition, Kroepel was named NCBWA District 8 Player of the Year, and earned NCBWA Third Team and College Baseball Foundation All-America honors.
Kroepel also rewrote the program’s record book in walks (51) and HBP’s (17) on offense, while leading the conference in saves (10) on the mound.
Soto Jr. was also selected to the WAC All-Defensive team as the shortstop. The Trailblazer middle infielders finished first and second in the WAC for defensive assists (McDaniel/163, Soto/158).
The infield has been a bright spot for the Trailblazer’s under Ipson. During the 2025 season, Utah Tech co-led (with UCLA) all of Division-I in the country for double plays per game (1.00/game), and finished t-fourth in the country for total double plays with 55 in 55 games.
That season also saw two of the four Trailblazer starting infielders receive All-WAC Honors with Kroepel being named to the First Team as the Trailblazer’s primary third baseman and McDaniel being named to the Second Team as the Trailblazers' primary second baseman.
The duo finished third (Kroepel - .3671) and fourth (McDaniel - .3666) in the WAC in batting, while McDaniel closed the season breaking the Utah Tech NCAA-era school record by reaching base safely in 41-straight games.
Utah Tech has increased their win totals each year since Ipson’s arrival, including a 10-game improvement from 2024 to 2025 and an 11-game improvement from 2025 to 2026. The 2025 campaign also featured the Trailblazer’s first WAC Tournament bid in its brief D-I history. Along with that came the program’s first Division 1 postseason victory on May 20th as No. 8 seed Utah Tech knocked off No. 5 seed CBU 6-5 in 11 innings in the opening round of the WAC Tournament.
Since joining the staff in 2023, the Trailblazer’s have also picked up six wins against Power 5 opponents including wins against Oklahoma State, BYU, Utah, and Washington State.
Ipson returned to Utah Tech after serving two seasons as an assistant baseball coach at his prep alma mater, Dixie High School. The Flyers finished second and third, respectively, in those two seasons and saw 14 players go on to play college baseball across the country.
Ipson played four seasons for then-Dixie State, starting in 48 of 88 games. He finished his career with 16 extra-base hits, including five home runs and 41 RBI, along with a career .980 fielding percentage while primarily playing first base. Ipson was also a three-time academic all-conference selection, including earning academic all-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honors in 2019 and 2020.
A native of St. George, Ipson graduated from Dixie State with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 2020. In June 2024, Ipson earned his Master’s degree in Sports Management from Louisiana State University. He and his wife, Clara, are the parents of three children – sons Britain & Archie, and daughter Scarlett.
