By Allie Kittell
Dixie State University baseball walked away with 3-1 victory in a four-game series against the University of Hawaii at Hilo last weekend.
DSU opened the series with a 9-5 victory over visiting Hawai’i Hilo on March 29th . After getting off to a rough start for the Trailblazers, the game was tied 4-4 in the sixth inning. Outfielder Jagun Levitt, a freshman general studies major from St. George, drove in two runs, finally giving Dixie the advantage. Hilo scored in the seventh and brought the score within one point; however, DSU fought back with another three runs in the eighth, bringing the game to an end.
Pitcher Jimmy Borzone, a freshman business administration major from Vancouver, Washington, earned the victory for Dixie, marking his first collegiate career win.
“It was great to start the series off with a win in front of the home crowd,” Borzone said on Thursday. “We’re all excited to come out tomorrow and ride the momentum of getting the win today.”
Things continued to look up for the Trailblazers as they played the second game of the series on March 30, coming away with a 14-12 victory. DSU wasted no time in picking up the lead and scoring eight runs in the first two innings alone. The Trailblazers kept the momentum going, scoring six more runs throughout the rest of the game to take home the win. Dixie racked up a total of 20 hits over the course of the game, and every player in the starting line-up was able to get on base.
“We have always been a team and program that strives to get everybody involved,” head coach Chris Pfatenhauer said. “That’s why we sacrifice bunt so much, we hit and run, we try and move runners along. So it’s great that all of our players were able to be involved.”
The winning streak continued for the Trailblazers during the first game on March 31, as they played the third game in the series, coming away with a 13-5 win. Pitcher Gabe Taylor, a junior criminal justice major from Pittsburg, California, earned the victory, as well as contributing five RBIs to the score.
The Trailblazers finally fell in game two of the doubleheader on March 31. Hilo was able to score six runs, placing itself in the lead and claiming the win for the final game of the series.
With the wins this weekend, DSU is now ranked seventh in the PacWest Conference standings with a conference record of 11-13 and an overall record of 15-19.
“Even though we won the first three, they took the last one from us, so we have to have that feeling for another four days until we get to play again,” Taylor said. “We are going to get after it in practice all week like we always do and prepare to play Fresno.”
The Trailblazers will take on Fresno Pacific University at Bruce Hurst Field this weekend with a four-game series April 5-7.
