ATHERTON, Calif. – An offensive explosion helped Oregon Tech to their highest run total in six years, as the Owls split the opening two games of a weekend series at Menlo College.
The Owls (23-14) jumped out to a 12-0 lead after three innings and cruised to a 20-4 victory in the opener, while host Menlo used late inning heroics to steal the nightcap, 4-3.
The 20 runs in Game 1 were the most by a Tech squad since a 23-13 victory over Simpson in 2016 – with the 20 hits in the win was a season high.
"We got back to playing our type of baseball, which was great to see," said OIT head coach
Jacob Garsez. "Our offense can be very explosive, but we needed to find ways to get more base runner in the middle innings of Game 2 to extend our lead."
OIT sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning of the win – scoring eight runs. The Owls loaded the bags with one out – with a
Tyler Horner hit by pitch scoring the first run.
Brodie Marino doubled home a pair,
Michael Tarakhchyan brought home a run with a squeeze bunt and a
Mitchel Swanson RBI single made it 5-0. A
Matthew Ortiz RBI triple and a
Kaleb Keelean RBI double capped the big frame.
Tech extended the margin to 14-2 in the fifth on a Swanson two-run double, with Ka'Ala Tam doubling home a pair in a 6-run sixth to push the lead to 20-2.
It was more than enough for
Braeden Bellum and
Cruz Hamilton, who limited the Oaks (12-20-1) to just two earned runs. Bellum earned the victory, striking out four in six innings, with Hamilton tossing the final three frames, fanning six, to pick up the save.
Marino was 4-for-7 with three RBI, Swanson was 3-for-4 with four RBI and Tam went 3-for-4 with three RBI in the OIT win.
The Owls had the lead late in a scheduled seven inning Game 2, but the Oaks rallied with single runs in the sixth, seventh and a walk-off winner in the eighth, to complete the comeback.
Ortiz led off the game with a triple and scored on an
Ian Peters sacrifice fly, extending the lead to 2-0 as Marino scored on a wild pitch.
Alex Malcolm doubled home a run in the fourth to give the visitors a 3-1 edge.
However, Menlo cut the gap to 3-2 in the sixth on a Joseph Selvaggio homer, with Selvaggio doubling home the tying run with two outs in the seventh. The Oaks won it an inning later, stringing together three hits – capped by a Dane Anderson RBI single.
Patrick Arman had a no-decision for the Owls, throwing six-plus innings, allowing just two earned runs and striking out five.
"Bellum and Pat gave us two quality starts and our bullpen arms competed well," Garsez said. "Back at it tomorrow, one pitch at a time."
The two teams close out the series tomorrow with an 11 a.m. doubleheader.
