ST. GEORGE, Utah (Interstat) — Hudson Manwaring’s three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning broke a tie and lifted Utah Tech to a 7-4 victory over Abilene Christian on Friday night at Burns Arena in a Western Athletic Conference series.

The Trailblazers improved to 30-21 overall and evened the three-game set after a 22-12 loss Thursday. The Wildcats fell to 24-27.

Manwaring, playing center field and right field, finished 1 for 3 with a walk and three RBIs. His homer to left field came after a pair of errors allowed two runs to score and cleared the bases, turning a 3-3 deadlock into a 6-3 lead.

Utah Tech took an early 2-1 advantage in the third inning when second baseman Kyle McDaniel homered to right center, his only hit in a 3-for-4 night that included a stolen base and an RBI. Two batters later, designated hitter Myles Durham singled through the right side to drive in Manwaring.

Abilene Christian responded in the top of the fifth. Braden Regala singled to left center to score Tye Sundgren, who led off with a double. Regala later came around on a sacrifice fly by Angel Arias, tying the game at 3.

Utah Tech starter Dakoda West went four innings, allowing three hits and one earned run while striking out three. Reliever Brandon Kosel worked three innings, surrendering three hits and one earned run with four strikeouts. Ryan Kroepel tossed two scoreless innings in relief, giving up one hit and one earned run with three strikeouts to earn the win.

For Abilene Christian, designated hitter Diego Cardenas hit a solo home run in the eighth inning to cut the deficit to 7-4, his second hit of the game. He finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs and was intentionally walked once. Brett Lanman started on the mound and pitched three hitless innings, but allowed two earned runs and struck out six. Reliever Collin Adams took the loss, giving up three earned runs in three innings.

The game featured a sequence of defensive miscues. In the bottom of the sixth, a fielding error by Abilene Christian second baseman allowed runners to advance before Manwaring’s homer. Another error in the seventh on a failed pickoff attempt by Adams allowed a run to score unearned.

The teams will play the series finale Saturday.

Interstat’s game simulator projected Abilene Christian to win 6-3 prior to the game, and Interstat’s ELO system gave the Wildcats a 58.50 percent probability of victory.