KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.— Oregon Tech (23-23, 18-14) claimed a 2nd place finish in the CCC regular season on a
David Palmer pinch-hit walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th. Needing a sweep to claim the 2-seed, Tech won 5-1 and 12-11 after Corban (21-27, 16-16) nearly pulled off an improbable game 2 comeback. The walk-off from Palmer was truly a storyline as it was the junior's first RBI of the season.
Following the Sunday sweep, Tech head coach
Jacob Garsez remarked, "Great team day. Trask set the tone on the mound in game 1 and Jesse's bulldog mentality closed it out. Game 2 offered more excitement than we wanted at the end, but we had some big time at bats from guys off the bench, including David's walk-off hit. We have progressed well and look forward to a week of quality practice leading into a competitive weekend."
Game Three: Oregon Tech 5 Corban 1
In game 3 of the regular season-finale series, Tech got an absolute gem out of senior
Trask Telesmanich.
In his final start and outing at Kiger Stadium, the senior went 6 innings allowing only 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 7 batters. The outing was strong enough to pick up his 6th victory of the season to move his record to 6-3.
In game 3, all the scoring on the afternoon came in the 5th inning.
After Jackson Arnsdorf and Telesmanich threw 4 consecutive scoreless innings a piece, the stalemate would be broken.
Morgan Hostetler homered on a ball deep over the centerfield wall in the top of the 5th to grab his Warriors the early 1-0 lead.
After Corban couldn't add anything else, Tech would break the game open in the bottom half.
Tech grabbed 5 runs, only 1 earned capitalizing off of multiple Corban errors. After Arnsdorf threw the ball past first on a sac bunt attempt which kick started the Tech rally, ending his day on the mound.
After Tech grabbed 2 runs,
Dalton Daily homered with 2 outs to put Tech up 5-1 on a 3-run HR.
The 6th to 9th inning would be dominated by the bullpen as Tech pitcher
Jesse Dunham picked up the save throwing 3 scoreless innings in relief.
Tech was led at the plate by
Micah Jio who had 2 of the Owls mere 3 hits in game 3.
The victory for Tech ended a 10-game winning streak for Corban.
Game Four: Oregon Tech 12 Corban 11
In game 4, Tech denied Corban's incredible comeback attempt to clinch a 2nd place regular season finish in the CCC.
Tech grabbed a 4-3 lead on an
Ian Peters' home run in the 4th inning, and rode that lead all the way until the 9th.
Along the way, a
Kaleb Keelean 3RBI triple was a highlight to Tech grabbing an 11-4 lead after 8 innings.
In the top of the 9th is when disaster struck for Tech. Tech had to use 3 pitchers as an insane 2-out rally saw Corban plate 7 runs to tie the game up at 11.
Corban hit 4 doubles off of Daily and Talonen which forced Tech to bring on
Cody Dubray who got a backdoor strike out to get out of the inning.
In the bottom of the 9th, Tech drew a lead-off walk then Keelean singled to right. Corban decided to intentionally walk
Micah Jio with 2 outs to load the bases which brought up Palmer.
Palmer ripped a 2-strike ground ball up the middle that was snagged by Aidan Bunn but he couldn't make the throw from his knees in time, which was good enough to win the game.
Palmer was hitting .065 with 0 RBIs coming into the at-bat making the hit and RBI even more special for the junior transfer from Blue Mountain Community College.
The one out Dubray got was good enough to pick up the win making him 2-0 on the season,
Tech was led at the plate by
Dalton Daily who was 3-4 with 2 RBIs, and also drew a walk.
Also on Sunday, Oregon Tech honored seniors
Trask Telesmanich,
Josh Davis and
Zack Stockton (pictured).
Tech will travel to the conference tournament in Lewiston where they will play on May 8th and 9th in a round-robin format at LC-State.
Tech will play Corban in game 1 at 10:00 AM on May 8th. (Tech leads the season-series 7-5)
Tech will then play #5 Lewis-Clark State (38-4. 30-2) in game 2 at 1:00PM on the 8th as well.
(Lewis-Clark State leads the season series 7-1)
Corban and LC-State will then face off in game 3 at 4:00PM.
Should Tech finish in the top 2 of the round-robin format, they will advance to the NAIA opening round and CCC Conference Championship.
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