ST. GEORGE, Utah — Despite hitting four home runs, BYU dropped a non-conference game to Dixie State, 7-4, on the road Tuesday at Bruce Hurst Field. 

“We had plenty of opportunities to score runs tonight but we didn’t deliver with guys in scoring position,” said BYU head coach Mike Littlewood. “We also had a few pitchers that took the mound tonight without conviction or intent and it ended up hurting us.”

After a pair of scoreless innings, Dixie State got on the board first with two runs in the third inning on three walks, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly.

BYU got a run back in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Alex Sardina that scored Collin Reuter, who had reached on a hit-by-pitch and advanced to third on a double down the first-base line by Ozzie Pratt. 

Dixie State answered with four runs in the bottom half of the fifth to increase its lead to 6-1. A walk, triple, double, followed by a home run by Kaden Hollow, accounted for the damage. 

Back-to-back Cougar home runs over the 420-foot wall in centerfield by Brock Watkins and Ryan Sepede cut the Trailblazers’ lead to three runs in the top of the sixth, but DSU got a run back in the bottom of the inning to hold a 7-3 advantage. 

After a scoreless seventh inning, BYU picked up another run in the eighth on a second home run by Sepede to pull within three at 7-4.  

The Cougars picked up another run in the top of the ninth off a solo shot by Jacob Wilk to left center, but that would be as close a BYU would get as Dixie State closed out the inning for a 7-5 win. 

The Cougars out hit Dixie State 13-9, but left 10 runners on base to the Trailblazers’ three. 
 

PROVO, Utah — BYU baseball is back in action on Tuesday, April 5 at 5:05 p.m. MDT versus Dixie State at Bruce Hurst Field in St. George. 

BROADCAST. The game will be broadcast live digitally on BlueFrame Technology pay-per-view. The radio broadcast can be heard on the BYU Sports Network—BYU Radio 107.9 FM, BYUcougars.com and BYU Cougars App.

SERIES HISTORY. Tuesday’s contest will be the 13th meeting between BYU and Dixie State and the first of two games between the two schools in 2022. The second game of the season series will be played at Miller Park in Provo on May 10.  

The Cougars are 11-1 all-time vs Dixie State, having split the two-game series in 2021. Last year, the Trailblazers won the first of two games on March 16, 5-4 in St. George and the Cougars won the second game on April 20 in Provo, 3-2. The first baseball game between the two schools was played on March 26, 1953, and ended in a 15-2 BYU victory. 

SERIES BY THE NUMBERS. 
Overall: 25-10 BYU
   H: 8-0 | A: 3-1 | N: 0-0
First Meeting: 3/28/1953 | 15-2 BYU
Last Meeting: 4/20/1921 | 3-2 BYU
Littlewood Era (2013–): 1-1
   H: 1-0 | A: 0-1 | N: 0-0

DSU REVIEW. Dixie State enters Tuesday’s game with a 13-14 overall record and is 8-4 in Western Athletic Conference play, good for second place in the West Division. The Trailblazers are coming off a four-game series at Cal Poly over the weekend where the Mustangs swept the Trailblazers 12-3, 6-0, 9-0 and 5-3. 

COUGAR REWIND. BYU played four games last week and are now 14-11 on the year and 3-6 in the West Coast Conference. The Cougars posted a midweek 9-3 victory over Pac-12 foe Washington State on Tuesday before going 1-2 versus Saint Mary’s in Moraga, California, over the weekend. 

POWER BALL. With its midweek win over WSU last Tuesday, BYU is 7-2 versus Power Five programs in 2022. The Cougars also have wins over then No. 6 Oklahoma State (8-6), Ohio State (9-6), Utah (10-3), and a program-first series sweep of Arizona State in Phoenix (4-2, 6-5, 19-3). 

ON THE HILL. Starting on the mound for the Cougars is right-handed sophomore Bryce Robison, who is 4-0 with two starts and 10 appearances in 2022. He has thrown 22 innings with 17 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.27. The Dixie State game will be a staff day for BYU’s pitching staff. 

AT THE PLATE. Offensively the Cougars are led by Mitch McIntyre Brock Watkins and Jacob Wilk. McIntyre leads the team in multiple offensive categories including at bats (93), hits (28), runs (17), doubles (7), walks (10) and OBP (.449). Watkins leads the team in total bases (43), is tied with McIntyre in hits (28) and is second in batting average (.322), while Wilk leads the Cougars in batting average (.341) and slugging percentage (.568).

WEEKEND SERIES IN PROVO. Following Tuesday’s game at Dixie State, BYU welcomes Santa Clara (17-10, 6-3) to Miller Park for a three-game weekend series. The Thursday-Friday games are set for 6 p.m. MDT, while the Saturday contest is scheduled for Noon. The Bulldogs have won six of their last 10 games, including a home win over Washington State, 9-2.