ST. GEORGE, Utah-Thursday-Saturday, Dixie State baseball (7-0) hosts Azusa Pacific, their former Pacific West Conference rival for the season-opening series at Bruce Hurst Field.
Dixie State is coached by Chris Pfatenhauer (246-125-1, .662; 298-184-1, .615 as a collegiate head coach) who is in his eighth season at the helm of the Trailblazers’ program.
The Trailblazers will go with right-handed pitcher Justin Dunham (1-0; 1.12 ERA) in the series opener.
For Friday’s games, left-handed pitcher Jack Gonzales (1-0; 2.00 ERA) gets the nod in the first game, followed by right-handed pitcher Haiden Hendricks (1-0; 2.57 ERA) and Saturday, the Trailblazers go with left-hander Tevita Gerber (2-0; 0.82 ERA).
Presently, Dixie State is led by sophomore third baseman Tyson Fisher in batting average (.519) and hits (14).
Senior catcher Cade Spurlin leads the Trailblazers in home runs (3) and RBI (9).
The 3-5 Cougars are coached by Paul Svagdis who is 564-336 (.627) as the Azusa Pacific head coach having taken over the helm in 2003.
Senior right-handed pitcher/infielder Nick Estrella is tied for the team lead in hits (8) with junior infielder Osvaldo Tovalin and sophomore infielder Tido Robles.
Estrella also has a team-best 2 home runs and is tied for the team-lead in RBI (5) with senior outfielder Griffen Herrera.
The Cougars lead the Trailblazers 19-15 all-time but Dixie State has won 12 of the last 22 overall in the series.
