ST. GEORGE, Utah (Interstat) — Ethan Wendel pitched five shutout innings and Rayner Heinrich homered and drove in two runs as Tarleton State defeated Utah Tech 8-4 on Saturday evening at Burns Arena.

Wendel, who allowed no hits and two earned runs while striking out two, improved to 8-2 on the season. He did not allow a hit in his five innings, departing after five scoreless frames. The Texans right-hander came off a strong start against Utah Valley on April 25, when he tossed 5.1 innings of three-hit, shutout ball.

Tarleton State collected 12 hits and took an 8-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning. Heinrich went 3 for 5 with a home run and two RBIs. Jake Tatom added a homer and two RBIs, finishing 2 for 6. The Texans (30-16 overall) scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings before breaking the game open with two more in the seventh and one in the eighth.

Utah Tech managed nine hits but grounded into three double plays, stifling potential rallies. Finnegan Stewart provided the Trailblazers’ biggest hit with a two-run homer in the eighth inning, finishing 1 for 4 with three RBIs. Utah Tech fell to 27-17.

The game was scoreless through four innings. Tarleton State broke through in the fifth when Tatom led off with a solo home run to left field. Two batters later, S. McCloud singled, advanced to third on a throwing error by the pitcher on a failed pickoff attempt and scored on a groundout by C. Lorch for a 2-0 lead.

The Texans added two more in the sixth. B. Englett singled and advanced on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout before scoring on Tatom’s double to left. Heinrich followed with an RBI single that drove in Tatom for a 4-0 advantage.

Utah Tech got on the board in the bottom of the sixth after Wendel had left the game. Reliever Jackson Elizondo entered with the bases loaded and allowed a sacrifice fly to R. Kroepel. A fielder’s choice by Stewart plated another run, cutting the lead to 4-2.

Tarleton State answered in the seventh. C. Lorch walked and scored on a groundout by S. Guerra. Englett then singled home C. McCloud, who had singled and advanced. The lead grew to 6-2.

Heinrich’s solo homer in the eighth stretched the margin to 7-2. Later in the inning, McCloud scored on a wild pitch after reaching on an error, making it 8-2.

Utah Tech’s Stewart connected for a two-run homer to left-center in the bottom of the eighth, scoring T. Johnsen, to trim the deficit to 8-4. But Anthony Treto, who pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, and the Tarleton State defense closed out the game. Treto struck out one and allowed no hits.

Trailblazers starter Dakoda West took the loss, allowing three earned runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings with four strikeouts. Four Utah Tech relievers combined for three innings of scoreless work but could not overcome the early deficit.

The most critical sequence came in the sixth inning when Tarleton State broke a 0-0 tie with Tatom’s homer and a run-scoring groundout. Utah Tech answered with two runs in the bottom half, but the Texans quickly rebuilt to a four-run lead in the seventh. The Trailblazers never got closer than four after that.

Tarleton State won the first game of the series 9-6 on Friday. The teams conclude the three-game Western Athletic series Sunday.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Utah Tech 7, Tarleton State 6, while its ELO system gave the Texans a 57.70 percent probability to win.