The Utah Tech University baseball team wrapped up its series against the Wichita State Shockers Feb. 25, leaving the team with two wins and six losses on the season thus far. This was the second series of the season, and also the second to be played all at home.
The Blazers started off the series taking a commanding lead, winning the first game 12-4. The score was quickly up 6-1 at the end of the third inning with a flurry of Blazers home runs. Bryker Hurdsman, a freshman general studies major from St. George, hit one out of right center bringing in two batters for a total of three runs.
Utah Tech continued to expand on its lead against Wichita State in the bottom of the sixth with a grand slam from Sean Keating, a senior management major from South Jordan. Keating stood at bat just after Hurdsman was hit by the pitcher, advancing to first and filling all bases.
Keating hit it out at the same area that Hurdsman did just a few innings prior, and later closed the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, sealing the victory for the Trailblazers.
The second matchup between the two teams started the same yet ended differently. Utah Tech went up 3-1 after 5 innings but failed to score again that game. Hurdsman was once again responsible for two RBI’s in this game, proving to be a valuable asset for the Trailblazers during his freshman season.
Feb. 25 was set to be the day of the doubleheader for this series, despite many changes in the time of the first pitch due to weather conditions. The Shockers took a fast 2-0 lead after two innings, but the Blazers responded.
Utah Tech pushed forward with a slow trickle of runs, scoring one in three straight innings until they had the lead at 3-2. Wichita State then proceeded to score eight unanswered runs in the Trailblazer’s loss.
The second game of the Feb. 25 double header was more of the same with Utah Tech going scoreless for the entire game. Wichita finished the game with 10 runs and 14 hits. On the other hand, the Trailblazers finished with one hit and four fielding errors on the game.
Utah Tech will continue its season against South Dakota State March 4.
