The Utah Tech Trailblazers began their home schedule on Friday with two wins, defeating UC Davis 14-11 on a walk-off home run and beating CSU Bakersfield 12-2 in five innings at Karl Brooks Field.
With these victories, Utah Tech (4-8) extended its winning streak to four games. The team scored a combined 26 runs and recorded 29 hits across both contests, with 13 of those hits going for extra bases.
Kinley Pappas and Baylee Howley led the offensive effort. Pappas contributed a double, triple, RBI, and two runs scored in the first game and added three hits and three RBIs in the second. Howley went 3-for-3 with two doubles, two RBIs, and three runs scored against UC Davis, then added a double, triple, four RBIs, and one run scored against CSU Bakersfield.
Lakaiya-Braessia Kahahawai-Kekona had a single, double, home run, four RBIs, and scored a career-high four runs versus UC Davis. Gabi Giroux went 2-for-2 with a single and home run while scoring a personal best of three runs in the win over CSU Bakersfield.
In the circle against UC Davis (7-5), Sauren Garton pitched the first 4.1 innings allowing only three runs with two strikeouts before Delaney Wright took over for two innings. Sophomore Cemryn Pickett secured her first win of the season by recording the final two outs in the seventh inning.
Against CSU Bakersfield (1-11), sophomore Lexie Wilson threw all five innings for her second win of the season while limiting the Roadrunners to five hits and two runs.
During the game against UC Davis, Utah Tech built an early lead but saw it erased when the Aggies rallied for six runs in the seventh inning to go ahead 11-10. The Trailblazers tied it on an RBI triple by Pappas before Kahahawai-Kekona hit a walk-off three-run homer to secure the victory.
In their matchup with CSU Bakersfield, Utah Tech responded to an early deficit by scoring seven runs in the bottom of the first inning. They continued to add to their lead throughout the game before closing out a 12-2 win in five innings.
The Trailblazers are scheduled to continue play at the Lyman Classic on Saturday afternoon against UC Davis at 3 p.m. followed by CSU Bakersfield at 5:30 p.m., both games at Karl Brooks Field.
