Trailblazer baseball finished its tour across the Golden State and returned to St. George for its first home series of the 2026 season.
Utah Tech University went 8-1 in games against the University of California, Riverside, California State University, Bakersfield and the University of the Pacific. They scored more than twice as many runs as their opponents during this stretch, sitting at 63 to 31.
Shortstop Petey Soto Jr. attributed the team’s strong start to motivation from last season’s unfinished business.
“I feel like losing in the WAC tournament [last year] made us hungrier to go back,” the junior recreation and sport management major from St. George said. “We just competed really early. We were prepared. I feel like when you have a close time like us… We’re just way stronger. We had way higher standards.”
Junior third baseman and pitcher Ryan Kroepel agreed, saying head coach Chris Pfatenhauer emphasized discipline among the team on and off the field.
“We’re really united this year, and I think that shows on the field when we play,” said second baseman Kyle McDaniel, a junior management major from Pahrump, Nevada.
Going into the weekend’s four-game series, McDaniel also said the team entered with the mindset to win every single game, no matter who their opponent is.
The team returned to Bruce Hurst Field Feb. 27, ready to take on the University of Northern Colorado. The Bears came into the weekend 0-8 and were on the hunt for their first win of the year.
“Last year, we split the series with [them]… and went two and two,” Kroepel, a junior finance major from Poway, California, said before the game. “If we could sweep [the series], that’d be awesome.”
Game 1
The Trailblazers opened the weekend with an 11-8 victory. The team went down 0-3 early, but a two-run home run by catcher Ty Johnsen in the third put UT right back in the game. He’d end the game as one of four Trailblazers with 2 RBIs, going two for four at the plate. Soto also contributed heavily, adding two hits, 2 RBIs and a stolen base.
UT ended the fifth inning with a five-run lead, but the Bears jumped right back in to make it 8-7 in the top of the sixth. The Trailblazers responded with three more runs in the final innings and held Northern Colorado to just one, sealing the win.
Games 2 and 3
Games 2 and 3 Feb. 27, saw two more Trailblazer wins. In the first game, pitcher Dakoda West snagged his second win of the season and recorded five strikeouts.
At the plate, first baseman Miller Durham opened up scoring for UT in the first inning with a single that brought in two runs, and another single from Johnsen put the Trailblazers up 3-0. They scored three more runs in the third and maintained their lead, staving off a three-run fifth inning by Northern Colorado. The Bears eked out one more run in the seventh before the short game ended with a 6-5 score.
UT saw more success at the plate in Saturday’s second game, notching runs in all but two innings for an 11-5 victory. Outfielder Finnegan Stewart went four for five at bat to go with 4 RBIs. Kroepel also tacked on a hit, a run scored and an RBI. McDaniel filled the stat sheet with a run, a hit, an RBI and a walk.
The Trailblazers snuffed out the UNC offense and only allowed them to score in two total innings. Pitcher Aaron Morris was able to earn his first win of the season.
Game 4
The final game March 1 began with adversity for the Trailblazers, as through the first seven innings, Northern Colorado outhit them 8-3 and had eight more at-bats. Entering the bottom of the ninth, UT was down 2-4, and third baseman Gavin Glasgow stole the win from the Bears with a walk-off grand slam, completing the weekend sweep and bringing UT to 11-1 overall. Glasgow had 5 RBIs, a career high for the senior.
The Trailblazers look ahead to a four-game series against Austin Peay State University beginning March 5. The rest of their schedule can be found here.
