Oregon Institute of Technology Athletics

COMING UP: vs. University of Providence (DH), Friday, 2 p.m.; vs. University of Providence (DH), Saturday, 11 a.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
LIVE LINKS: The 4-game series with the University of Providence will have Live Video and Live Stats for fans unable to get to Stilwell Stadium. Live Video will be provided through the OIT Stretch Portal with Mike Safford calling the action, with Live Stats via the OIT SIDEARM Stats Portal.
 
RARE BYE WEEKEND: Following a Wednesday doubleheader with rival Southern Oregon, OIT had the weekend off – the first time Tech has had a weekend off since the Cascade Conference moved to their current scheduling format in 2017. With the CCC featuring 11 teams, the 10-week schedule allows for 10 of the 11 teams to receive a bye weekend (Warner Pacific is the lone team to play 10-straight weekends).
 
30-WIN SEASONS: 2022 marks the 22nd time in program history that the Lady Owls have won 30 games or more in a season and the 11-straight season with 30-or-more wins (not including the COVID-shortened 2020 season). OIT has posted nine 40-win seasons, including last year, when the Owls set a new school mark with 48 wins en route to a national runner-up finish.
 
BEST STARTS: OIT heads into the weekend with a 34-7 record, one of seven teams in the NAIA with 34-or-more wins. It equals the second-best 41-game start in program history, as the 2006 team opened the season with a 37-4 mark, while the 2021 team began the season with an identical 34-7 record.
 
LEADING THE LEAGUE: With three weeks left in the regular-season, the Lady Owls lead the Cascade Conference with a 19-2 record, two-games ahead of College of Idaho, three games clear of Eastern Oregon and four games ahead of Southern Oregon – with OIT holding a head-to-head tiebreak on C of I and SOU. Each of the four teams have tough games ahead – as next weekend, Tech heads to EOU and C of I plays host to Southern. The regular-season champ will play host to the CCC Championships, May 6-8.
 
POSTSEASON BERTH CLINCHED: The Owls have secured a postseason berth for an 11th-straight season and will be one of six teams to compete in the CCC Championships. Since 2002, OIT has claimed four CCC Tournament titles (2006, 2011, 2012, 2021) and will be searching for their eighth-straight bid to the NAIA National Championships.
 
WALK OFF WINNER: For the fourth time during the 2022 season, the Lady Owls won a game on a walk-off hit – as Jayce Seavert roped an RBI single into the left-center gap to defeat Southern Oregon, 5-4. Seavert's heroics joined back-to-back walk-offs earlier in the season against Northwest University (a Lexi Klum walk-off 2-run homer and a Mckenzie Staub walk-off RBI single) and a Kaila Mick walk-off single in a March home win over College of Idaho.
 
JANTZI KEY IN SOUTHERN WIN: Leading the Owls in last Wednesday's win over Southern was Kennedy Jantzi, going 3-for-4 with a key 3-run first inning triple. The first-baseman is hitting .363 on the season, ranking No. 2 in the CCC in RBI (42) and No. 4 in the circuit in hits (49).
 
MICK CONTINUES BIG YEAR: Shortstop Kaila Mick had a pair of multi-hit games against SOU – logging two hits in the Game 1 win and posting a 3-for-3 day in the nightcap – her 20th and 21st multi-hit games of 2022. Mick leads the CCC and ranks No. 3 in the NAIA in runs scored (51), while ranking No. 2 in the CCC (and No. 10 in the NAIA) in hits (58) – while leading OIT with a .413 batting average.
 
DOUBLE-DIGIT K'S: Sarah Abramson continued her banner senior season by picking up her 20th win of the year against Southern, striking out 10 batters in the extra inning victory. Abramson logged her fifth double-digit strikeout game of the year and the 22nd double-digit strikeout game of her career. She pushed her career strikeout total to 743 – that number climbing to 811 when counting the COVID-shortened 2020 season – second only to College of Idaho's Nickayla Skinner (911) on the Cascade Conference's all-time strikeout list.
 
QUALITY START FROM STAUB: Despite taking a 2-1 loss in the non-conference game vs. SOU, Mckenzie Staub recorded her 11th quality start of the season. The right-hander went six innings, allowing just one earned run on five hits, striking out four – her eighth start of 2022 allowing five hits or less.
 
ARMANTROUT CLIMBS UP THE RECORD BOOK: Fifth-year senior McKenna Armantrout continues to climb the OIT all-time record book – heading into the weekend with 231 career hits (No. 10 in program history) and No. 2 in games played (201). Including numbers from the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Armantrout has played in 222 career games and has recorded 253 hits in an Owls uniform.
 
NATIONAL NUMBERS: As a team, the Lady Owl lead the NAIA in sacrifice flies (14), rank No. 2 in hits (394), No. 3 in runs scored (302) and are No. 4 in RBI (262) and pitching shutouts (14).
 
BATTLE OF THE FALLS: The University of Providence makes the 862-mile drive from Great Falls, Mont., to Klamath Falls – a 15-hour adventure – which is nothing new this season for the Argos. UP began the year with 22-straight road games – as their first two scheduled home series (vs. Bushnell and Southern Oregon) were turned into road games due to weather in the Electric City.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – PROVIDENCE: It has been a rough 2022 season for the Argonauts (2-26, 1-19 CCC) – starting the year with 21-straight losses, with the team allowing 10-or-more runs 12 times and opposing teams hitting at a .377 clip. UP has righted the ship, picking up wins in each of their last two series, thanks to the play of outfielders Taylor Mathews (.367 1 HR 11 RBI) and Karlie David (.293 0 HR 12 RBI), along with third-baseman Sirena Rosalez (.362 0 HR 5 RBI). Five pitchers have shared duties in the circle for the Argos, with Carter Thornton (1-13 6.07 ERA) the top option.  UP is searching for their first win in Klamath Falls, having lost all six previous meetings on OIT's diamond.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE: Weather in the Northwest, coupled with Easter Sunday, could affect the five series in the CCC. Three match-ups have series playoff implications – including Carroll at Southern Oregon, Eastern Oregon at Northwest and College of Idaho at British Columbia – with all six teams in the No. 2 through No. 8 spots in the standings.
 
NEXT WEEK: Tech takes their final road trip of the regular season, traveling to La Grande for a Friday-Saturday series at Eastern Oregon.