ST. GEORGE — Utah Tech closed out the road portion of its 2024 Western Athletic Conference slate on the wrong end of a 2-1 loss at Stephen F. Austin on Sunday afternoon at Pilgrim’s Park.
The Trailblazers (11-36 overall, 9-18 WAC), who were limited to just two Garrett Cutting singles in the early going, had chances to tie or take the lead with multiple runners on base in each of their next three offensive innings, according to a news release
The Lumberjacks (9-3, 5-22) led 2-0 through four innings after they tallied single runs in both the third and fourth frames.
However, SFA managed to keep Utah Tech off the scoreboard as the Blazers left six of the 11 total runners stranded on base in the game over that three-inning stretch.
Utah Tech broke through in the eighth, when with two on and two out, Petey Soto Jr. laced a single to left field to chase home Cutting with the Blazers’ first run and cut the deficit in half at 2-1.
But that was the only run the Trailblazers were able to push across as Caleb Rutledge got Ethan He to line out to left field to end the threat. Rutledge then went on to pitch a hitless ninth to close out the game.
The loss spoiled a solid outing from junior lefthander and Snow Canyon alumnus Carston Herman (2-5), who struck out six and scattered two runs and six hits over six innings complete.
Cutting (3-for-4) finished with a career-high three hits, while Soto went 2-for-4 at the plate to go with his RBI, as Utah Tech collected seven total hits on the day.
The two teams Utah Tech split of the first two games of its WAC road series in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The Trailblazers led wire-to-wire to take the opening game 10-, but could not complete the sweep as SFA used a trio of big innings to rally for a 12-4 win in the nightcap.
Utah Tech returns home for a Tuesday afternoon match-up against in-state foe the University of Utah. First pitch at Bruce Hurst Field is set for 4:05 p.m. The two teams meet again May 14 in Salt Lake City after the Trailblazers travel to Cal-Poly for four games May 10-12.