ST. GEORGE, Utah – Dixie State scored five runs in the seventh inning en route to claiming Sunday's finale over Utah Valley, 11-0, to sweep the inaugural Old Hammer Rivalry between the in-state foes.
UVU falls to 7-35 on the season and 5-23 in WAC play while Dixie State improves to 15-26 and 13-11 in league play with Sunday's win at Bruce Hurst Field.
Despite dropping the contest, the Wolverines managed to turn a triple play in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and nobody out in the sixth, Taylor lifted a ball to deep left that
Andrew Hacker was able to make the play for the first out. A run came in from third on a sacrifice fly, but Hacker fired the ball in to third and
Mick Madsen was able to catch Matthew Ivancich in a run down and run him back to second to catch a pair of runners at second base, as DSU's Jayden Leavitt had also moved up from first to second on the play. The umpires then called the trail runner Leavitt out, and at the same time, the lead runner Ivancich stepped off the bag thinking he was out on the play and Madsen quickly applied the tag for a rare F75 triple play.
UVU got a pair of singles from
Brandon Luna and Madsen to put two on with two out in the top of the second, but Dixie State's Ryan Hardman got Hacker to lineout to center to end the early threat and keep the game scoreless at the time.
With UVU starter
Nick Sims looking solid on the mound in the early stages of the ballgame, Dixie State managed to piece together a two-out rally in the bottom of the third to score first. Shane Taylor started the rally with a bunt single, Jake Engel followed by drawing a walk, and Lane Pritchard drove in the first run of the game with an RBI single to right. With runners on the corners and still two away, Cade Spurlin flared one to right and
Alexander Marco raced in and made a fantastic diving catch in shallow right center to save a couple of runs and keep it 1-0 score.
The Wolverines got a two-out double from Marco in the top of the fourth but couldn't manage to bring him in, as DSU's Hardman got the next hitter to groundout to end the threat. In the bottom of the fourth, the Trailblazers added to their lead with a solo home run from Tyson Fisher and later got back-to-back-to-back two-out hits to make it 4-0 with Taylor driving both runs home with a two-run double down the rightfield line.
Dixie State then tacked on a run in the fifth and another in the sixth on the sacrifice fly that resulted in the triple play.
The Trailblazers then put the game away in the seventh via the run-rule with home runs from Pritchard and Ivancich.
Hardman earned the win for Dixie State after tossing six shutout innings to improve to 1-5 on the year. Despite surrendering just two runs on four hits while striking out three,
Nick Sims was tagged with the loss for UVU to fall to 1-6.
Madsen led UVU offensively by going 2-for-3 with a double, while Marco went 1-for-3 with a double. Pritchard led DSU by going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
The Wolverines will now return home to open their final homestand of the 2021 season on Tuesday with a UCCU Crosstown Clash against neighboring rival BYU at 6 p.m. at UCCU Ballpark. UVU will then welcome WAC foe New Mexico State to town for a four-game league series Friday to Sunday, May 7-9.
