As the calendar flipped from March to April, four different Utah Tech University sports teams competed this past week.
Men’s golfer David Liechty claimed first place at the Seattle University Redhawk Invitational, while baseball opened Western Athletic Conference play with a series win.
Men’s golf
Teeing off March 30-31 at the Seattle U Redhawk Invitational at Chambers Bay Golf Course, Utah Tech men’s golf finished 10th at the 14-team event.
Freshman David Liechty put on a show at the 54-hole event, taking home first-place honors while shooting a 16 under par for his second title of the season.
Liechty also tied a pair of program records in the tournament, equaling the lowest-ever 36-hole (-10) and 54-hole (-16) scores.
Men’s golf now wraps up the spring season April 6-7 at the University of California, Santa Barbara Gaucho Invitational.
Baseball
Trailblazer baseball played four games during the week, finishing with a 2-2 record.
First, Utah Tech finished a six-game road swing March 30, falling to Saint Louis University in a pitchers’ duel, 3-2.
The Trailblazers then began WAC play, hosting the defending regular season conference champion California State University, Sacramento, April 2-4.
Sacramento State would jump out to an early 4-0 advantage in the April 2 contest, but four UT runs – highlighted by a Ty Johnsen two-run single – in the bottom of the third inning evened the score.
The Hornets answered with a two-run home run in the fourth to retake the lead, 6-4, before a Finnegan Stewart solo shot in the home half of the frame pulled the Trailblazers within one, 6-5.
Then, with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Utah Tech rallied with a pair of RBI base hits from Kace Naone and Kyle McDaniel to take a 7-6 lead.
Ryan Kroepel then moved from third base to the pitcher’s mound, closing out the ninth for his seventh save of the season to secure the series-opening victory.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” head coach Chris Pfatenhaur said after the late-inning victory.
“Just the grit they showed, and the fight. We’re a club that there’s been some years recently in the past that we don’t come back in that game. That’s a testament to our guys and how much they care about it and how much they compete,” he added.
Utah Tech then swatted the Hornets April 3, winning 13-3 in a seven-inning run-rule.
Having secured the series win, UT looked to complete the sweep April 4, but fell 13-11.
The Trailblazers trailed the game 12-2 through the top of the sixth, but mounted a furious late rally to make it close.
Utah Tech would tally a pair of runs in both the sixth and eighth innings, cutting the deficit to 12-6.
After Sacramento State added a run in the top of the ninth to make it 13-6, the Trailblazers would send 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the frame, scoring five runs to make it 13-11.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Petey Soto Jr. came to the plate with a chance to complete the comeback, but he would fly out to center field to end the ballgame.
With the series win vs. the Hornets, Utah Tech is now 20-12 overall and 2-1 in WAC action.
UT returns to the diamond this week by hosting a three-game series vs. Azusa Pacific University April 10-12.
Softball
Trailblazer softball was in action for a three-game WAC series April 3-4, suffering a sweep at the hands of California Baptist University.
UT suffered an 8-0, five-inning run-rule defeat to open the doubleheader April 3, before dropping game two, 6-3.
Utah Tech looked to salvage a win in the series April 4, tying the game in the top of the seventh at 2-2.
The Lancers would walk it off in the bottom of the frame, securing a 3-2 win and sending the Trailblazers to their fourth straight loss.
UT now sports a 13-24 overall record, with a 3-6 WAC mark.
The Trailblazers will be back in action with three more California road games this week.
First, they’ll battle the University of San Diego April 6 before facing Cal State University, Bakersfield in a doubleheader April 7.
Track
Women’s track and field traveled to Las Vegas to compete in the UNLV Rebel ELITE April 3-4, finishing atop the team points leaderboard with 95.
UT recorded 32 top-8 finishes and 16 top-3 finishes over the two-day event.
Zoie Adcox took first in the 800-meter with a time of 2:20.59, while Averie Perriton claimed the top spot in the 3000-meter with a time of 10:26.59.
The track team is in action next April 16-18 at both the Azusa Pacific Bryan Clay Invitational and the University of La Verne Leopard Invitational.
You can find the remainder of the UT Athletics schedule for the school year here.
This article was originally written for Utah Tech’s student newspaper, Sun News Daily.
Photo credit: Utah Tech Athletics.
