Utah Tech University Men's Baseball

Pfatenhauer begins his fourth season as head coach of the Dixie State Baseball program. Since his arrival in summer of 2012, Pfatenhauer has guided the Storm to consecutive PacWest titles and three-straight trips (four-straight overall) to the NCAA West Regionals, including serving as the host institution in 2013. Pfatenhauer won his 100th-game at DSU last season in a 2-1 victory over Cal Poly Pomona at the NCAA regionals, and has posted a 100-53 (.653) overall record, including a 73-27 (.730) record in PacWest play. Pfatenhauer brings an extensive background in various levels of baseball, as well as teaching. Prior to his arrival at DSU, he spent three season as assistant coach at the University of Nevada, Reno under longtime head coach Gary Powers. Pfatenhauer worked primarily with the infielders, served as recruiting coordinator, and was a base coach. In addition, Pfatenhauer served as an adjunct professor and liaison for the UNR School of Medicine and Sports Medicine program. For two seasons in 2008-09, Pfatenhauer was an assistant coach at Chico State (Calif.), where he worked with the Wildcat hitters, infielders and taught base running. He also served as recruiting coordinator and assisted in all aspects of the baseball program. During his time at Chico, the Wildcats played to a 77-38 record and were ranked as high as second-nationally. Defensively Chico State finished in the nation's top-15 both years and had a Wildcat infielder named to the National Rawlings Gold Glove team, while the 2009 CSU club ranked first in 15 offensive categories. Prior to his time at Chico State, Pfatenhauer spent three seasons at the College of the Ozarks (Missouri), the last two as head coach. In his three years, the Bobcats posted a record of 88-74, while the 2005 team made the school's first playoff appearances in 20 years, and the 2006 club reached a national ranking of 17th, the highest in the program's history. From 2001-04, he was the head baseball coach and taught physical education at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas, where he led the Crusaders to a 97-23 record, a pair of state titles and three Southern Nevada Championships. Pfatenhauer also had 12 players go on to play collegiate baseball. He was a two-time AA State Baseball Coach of the Year (2003-04) and garnered AA Southern Nevada Coach of the Year honors three times. During this tenure at FLHS, Pfatenhauer also coached the Las Vegas Metro Stars, a scout team for the best players in the area. Pfatenhauer is credited for starting the baseball program at the College of Southern Nevada as a club team in the summer of 1998. He led the efforts to raise the entire operation budget to field a competitive baseball team. In addition he spent time as an assistant coach at Treasure Valley Community College (Ore.) and at Glendale CC (Calif.). He also served as an assistant coach with the Durango (Nev.) American Legion program and as an instructor at the Las Vegas Baseball Academy. Coach Pfatenhauer is a 2000 graduate of UNLV, where received a Bachelor's degree in Physical Education. He went on to earn a Master's degree in Education from Southwest Baptist (Mo.) in 2007. He and his wife, Ashley, are the parents of three daughters - Cadence, Colbie and Dylan, who is currently the girl's volleyball coach at Porterville (CA) HS, after she played collegiately at Taft College.     Chris Pfatenhauer Head Coach Two-time Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year Chris Pfatenhauer begins his fourth season as head coach of the Dixie State Baseball program. Since his arrival in summer of 2012, Pfatenhauer has guided the Storm to consecutive PacWest titles and three-straight trips (four-straight overall) to the NCAA West Regionals, including serving as the host institution in 2013. Pfatenhauer won his 100th-game at DSU last season in a 2-1 victory over Cal Poly Pomona at the NCAA regionals, and has posted a 100-53 (.653) overall record, including a 73-27 (.730) record in PacWest play. Pfatenhauer brings an extensive background in various levels of baseball, as well as teaching. Prior to his arrival at DSU, he spent three season as assistant coach at the University of Nevada, Reno under longtime head coach Gary Powers. Pfatenhauer worked primarily with the infielders, served as recruiting coordinator, and was a base coach. In addition, Pfatenhauer served as an adjunct professor and liaison for the UNR School of Medicine and Sports Medicine program. For two seasons in 2008-09, Pfatenhauer was an assistant coach at Chico State (Calif.), where he worked with the Wildcat hitters, infielders and taught base running. He also served as recruiting coordinator and assisted in all aspects of the baseball program. During his time at Chico, the Wildcats played to a 77-38 record and were ranked as high as second-nationally. Defensively Chico State finished in the nation's top-15 both years and had a Wildcat infielder named to the National Rawlings Gold Glove team, while the 2009 CSU club ranked first in 15 offensive categories. Prior to his time at Chico State, Pfatenhauer spent three seasons at the College of the Ozarks (Missouri), the last two as head coach. In his three years, the Bobcats posted a record of 88-74, while the 2005 team made the school's first playoff appearances in 20 years, and the 2006 club reached a national ranking of 17th, the highest in the program's history. From 2001-04, he was the head baseball coach and taught physical education at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas, where he led the Crusaders to a 97-23 record, a pair of state titles and three Southern Nevada Championships. Pfatenhauer also had 12 players go on to play collegiate baseball. He was a two-time AA State Baseball Coach of the Year (2003-04) and garnered AA Southern Nevada Coach of the Year honors three times. During this tenure at FLHS, Pfatenhauer also coached the Las Vegas Metro Stars, a scout team for the best players in the area. Pfatenhauer is credited for starting the baseball program at the College of Southern Nevada as a club team in the summer of 1998. He led the efforts to raise the entire operation budget to field a competitive baseball team. In addition he spent time as an assistant coach at Treasure Valley Community College (Ore.) and at Glendale CC (Calif.). He also served as an assistant coach with the Durango (Nev.) American Legion program and as an instructor at the Las Vegas Baseball Academy. Coach Pfatenhauer is a 2000 graduate of UNLV, where received a Bachelor's degree in Physical Education. He went on to earn a Master's degree in Education from Southwest Baptist (Mo.) in 2007. He and his wife, Ashley, are the parents of three daughters - Cadence, Colbie and Dylan, who is currently the girl's volleyball coach at Porterville (CA) HS, after she played collegiately at Taft College.    

Rinard is entering his first year at Dixie State as a baseball assistant coach and camp director. Rinard spent last season as an undergraduate assistant coach at the University of Arizona working directly with Arizonas outfielders and hitters. He also coached first base during games and provided assistance in numerous other areas of the program, including organization of scouting reports and other information essential to the coaches and players.  Rinard played at Arizona in 2010 and 2011 helping lead the school to a pair of NCAA Regional appearances. As a junior, he hit .323 in 25 starts, scoring 18 runs with 15 runs batted in to go along with 11 stolen bases in as many attempts. As a senior, Rinard led the club with a .442 batting average in 19 starts, which included 18 runs scored and 12 runs batted in. He played in 70 total games over his two seasons. Prior to Arizona, Rinard spent two years at Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona.  In 2009, Rinard was named All-Conference hitting .350 and driving in 39 runs.  He also led the team in both hits (76) and runs scored (53).  Following the 2009 season Rinard was drafted in the 43 rd Round of the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the New York Mets. Rinard signed a free agent contract with the New York Yankees in 2011 following his career with Arizona. That summer, Rinard hit .208 with two homers, 22 runs scored and 17 runs batted in over 44 games.  Following a season in the Yankees organization Rinard played in the Frontier League in 2012 and United League in 2013, both are independent leagues. Rinard was born in South Bend, Ind., in 1988. He has two siblings, Lauren and Jeffrey. His father, Jeff, played baseball at Valdosta State.  Rinard earned his bachelors degree in general studies from Arizona in 2014.    

Braxton Ipson is in his fifth season as a member of the Trailblazer Baseball coaching staff, and his second year as the program’s recruiting coordinator. Ipson also leads all infield defense and serves as the team’s third base coach while assisting in all aspects of the program including team offense, team academics, hitting, baserunning, and fundraising.  The 2026 season was another big step forward for the Utah Tech program. Ipson helped guide the team to a 35-win season. The most wins for the program in its division 1 era. The season was also the second year in a row that the team had improved its win total by 10+ games (10 in 2025, 11 in 2026). An overall 21-game improvement since being hired as an assistant coach in 2024.  Prior to the start of the 2026 campaign, Trailblazer infielders Kyle McDaniel and Ryan Kroepel were tabbed as Top 50 players at their respective positions by D1Baseball.com. McDaniel was voted #12 among second baseman and Kroepel #18 among third baseman. Kroepel also garnered 2026 WAC Preseason Player of the Year honors as voted on by coaches in the league.  That 2026 season was a banner year for the Utah Tech offense as they led the WAC in OBP (.429), HBP (107), and walks (338). While finishing second in the conference in overall batting average (.309). The Trailblazer bats also finished top 25 in the country in multiple categories including: runs per game (7.7/T#25), batting average (.309/#19), total hits (618/#12), OBP (.429/#8), and walks (338/#7). Ipson also helped guide first baseman Miller Durham to the WAC batting title in 2026 as Durham posted a .406 average. That also placed Durham in the NCAA’s top 10 (#8) in hitting and top 50 (#41) in overall on-base percentage (.490).   The postseason honors came rolling in for the Trailblazers in the summer of 2026 as the team had 5 All-WAC selections including first-teamers in McDaniel, Kroepel, and Ty Johnsen. Meanwhile Durham and Petey Soto Jr. were selected to the All-WAC second team. Utah Tech was the only team in the conference to have their entire infield selected to the all-conference team.  Kroepel, who served as the team’s primary third baseman and closer in 2026 was named as one of the nation’s five finalists for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award. In addition, Kroepel was named NCBWA District 8 Player of the Year, and earned NCBWA Third Team and College Baseball Foundation All-America honors.  Kroepel also rewrote the program’s record book in walks (51) and HBP’s (17) on offense, while leading the conference in saves (10) on the mound.  Soto Jr. was also selected to the WAC All-Defensive team as the shortstop. The Trailblazer middle infielders finished first and second in the WAC for defensive assists (McDaniel/163, Soto/158).  The infield has been a bright spot for the Trailblazer’s under Ipson. During the 2025 season, Utah Tech co-led (with UCLA) all of Division-I in the country for double plays per game (1.00/game), and finished t-fourth in the country for total double plays with 55 in 55 games.  That season also saw two of the four Trailblazer starting infielders receive All-WAC Honors with Kroepel being named to the First Team as the Trailblazer’s primary third baseman and McDaniel being named to the Second Team as the Trailblazers' primary second baseman. The duo finished third (Kroepel - .3671) and fourth (McDaniel - .3666) in the WAC in batting, while McDaniel closed the season breaking the Utah Tech NCAA-era school record by reaching base safely in 41-straight games.  Utah Tech has increased their win totals each year since Ipson’s arrival, including a 10-game improvement from 2024 to 2025 and an 11-game improvement from 2025 to 2026. The 2025 campaign also featured the Trailblazer’s first WAC Tournament bid in its brief D-I history. Along with that came the program’s first Division 1 postseason victory on May 20th as No. 8 seed Utah Tech knocked off No. 5 seed CBU 6-5 in 11 innings in the opening round of the WAC Tournament.  Since joining the staff in 2023, the Trailblazer’s have also picked up six wins against Power 5 opponents including wins against Oklahoma State, BYU, Utah, and Washington State. Ipson returned to Utah Tech after serving two seasons as an assistant baseball coach at his prep alma mater, Dixie High School. The Flyers finished second and third, respectively, in those two seasons and saw 14 players go on to play college baseball across the country.    Ipson played four seasons for then-Dixie State, starting in 48 of 88 games. He finished his career with 16 extra-base hits, including five home runs and 41 RBI, along with a career .980 fielding percentage while primarily playing first base. Ipson was also a three-time academic all-conference selection, including earning academic all-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honors in 2019 and 2020.  A native of St. George, Ipson graduated from Dixie State with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 2020. In June 2024, Ipson earned his Master’s degree in Sports Management from Louisiana State University. He and his wife, Clara, are the parents of three children – sons Britain & Archie, and daughter Scarlett.  

Tyler Malone is in his second season as an assistant coach for the Utah Tech baseball program. Coach Malone will oversee the development of the hitters and catchers. In 2026, Coach Malone helped guide the Trailblazers to a 35-24 overall record, an 11-win turnaround from the season prior, and to a third place finish in their final season in the Western Athletic Conference. The 35 victories last season were also the program's most in its brief time as a Division I program.  The 2026 season was a banner year for the Utah Tech offense as they led the WAC in OBP (.429), HBP (107), and walks (338). While finishing second in the conference in overall batting average (.309). The Trailblazer bats also finished top 25 in the country in multiple categories including: runs per game (7.7/T#25), batting average (.309/#19), total hits (618/#12), OBP (.429/#8), and walks (338/#7). Ipson also helped guide first baseman Miller Durham to the WAC batting title in 2026 as Durham posted a .406 average. That also placed Durham in the NCAA’s top 10 (#8) in hitting and top 50 (#41) in overall on-base percentage (.490).  The postseason honors came rolling in for the Trailblazers in the summer of 2026 as the team had 5 All-WAC selections including first-teamers in infielders Kyle McDaniel, Ryan Kroepel, and catcher Ty Johnsen. While infielders Miller Durham and Petey Soto Jr. were selected to the All-WAC second team. Utah Tech was the only team in the conference to have their entire infield selected to the all-conference team.  Prior to joining the Utah Tech staff, Malone served as the Director of Player Development for Dallas Baptist University in 2025. He was also an assistant coach for the Lincoln Potters, a member of the Pacific Empire League in the summers of 2024 and 2025, where he worked with college players from some of the top programs throughout the country.  Malone played collegiately at Oregon State for Head Coach Pat Casey from 2017-19. In 2017, he was part of a Beaver team that set numerous school and conference records, including the most wins in a single season (56-6).  In 2018, Malone earned all-tournament team honors after he helped lead OSU to the NCAA Division I College World Series national championship, during which he .304 with three home runs and eight RBI over the Beavers’ eight games in Omaha. Malone was selected in the 27th round by the San Diego Padres in the 2019 June MLB Draft and experienced all minor league levels up to Triple-A as a catcher, outfielder, and first baseman.  Following the end of his professional playing career in 2023, he decided to pursue his coaching career helping with the development of PXF Athletics in Arizona, while also being part of Nelson University’s 2024 inaugural season under Head Coach Josh Milner.    Malone graduated with a Bachelor of Science History degree and a leadership minor in 2020 from Oregon State, and he is currently working on a Master of Leadership degree from DBU. A native of Roseville, Calif., Malone graduated from Woodcreek High School in 2016.  

Former Trailblazer player Jake Schulz is in his second season on Utah Tech's coaching, serving as outfield and an assistant offensive coach, and is the program's camp coordinator.  Schulz three seasons for Coach Pfatenhauer from 2020-22, where he played in 51 career games as an infielder.  Schulz wrapped up his collegiate playing career at Concordia-Irvine in 2024. He then returned to his native Arizona to begin his coaching career the following season at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. A native of Prescott, Schulz earned his Bachelor's degree in Recreation and Sports Management from Utah Tech in 2025. This past summer, Schulz served as an assistant coach with the Wausau Woodchucks of the Northwoods League, where he helped lead the team to a second half season championship. His offense also led the Northwoods League in both doubles and batting.