Oregon Institute of Technology Athletics

COMING UP: at Corban (DH), Friday, Noon; at Corban (DH), Saturday, Noon

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
LIVE LINKS: The weekend series at Corban will feature Live Video (PPV - $7.95 per game) and Live Stats for those unable to make it to the Willamette Valley through Corban's Stretch Internet Portal with Jarett Thoren calling the action.
 
BEST START EVER: The Owls head into weekend play with a 29-14 record – the first time the team has been 15 games over the .500 mark since baseball returned in 2002. Prior to this season, OIT started the 2009 season 24-19 and began the 2010 season with a 23-20 mark.
 
WIN STREAKING: The 4-game sweep of Bushnell ran Tech's win streak to six games – their longest win streak of the season. It is OIT's longest win streak since winning 7-in-a-row in 2018 – joining the mark set by the 2006, 2007 and 2010 teams. The longest win streak by an Owls team was an 11-game run during the 2009 season.
 
HOME WIN STREAK TO DOUBLE DIGITS: OIT ran their win streak at Steen Sports Park to 10 with their sweep of Bushnell – the longest home win streak in program history. The 2022 club surpassed the previous mark of 8-straight home wins in 2009, with the 15 home wins the most by an Owls team (the 2018 team was 12-7 at home).
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE WITH THREE WEEKS LEFT: Three weeks remain in the Cascade Conference baseball season – with all for playoff spots still up in the air. Lewis-Clark State leads the circuit with a 9-2, with Oregon Tech a game and a half back at 8-4. College of Idaho, who has yet to have their bye weekend, is at 11-5, while British Columbia is 5-6, Bushnell (who hasn't had their bye) at 7-9 and Corban at 4-8. LCSC finishes the season with games vs. C of I, OIT and Bushnell, C of I meets LCSC and Eastern Oregon, UBC meets Bushnell, Corban and OIT, Bushnell faces UBC and LCSC, Corban has dates with OIT, UBC and Eastern, with the Owls traveling to Corban and UBC and host EOU.
 
DAILY TIES HOME RUN MARK: With a 2-run home run in Game 1 of the Bushnell series, Dalton Daily tied the OIT single-season home run record, clobbering his 14th longball of the season. Daily, the only OIT player to record two double-digit home run seasons, equaled the mark he set in 2021, along with the record first established by Ryson Mauricio in 2009. The senior moved into second-place on the career home run list (28) – second only to the 38 home runs hit by Mark Kane in the early 1980s. Daily is tied with Luke White of Lewis-Clark State for the league lead in homers and ranks No. 4 in RBI (45).
 
UNDERCLASSMEN HAVE KEY SERIES: A trio of underclassmen were crucial to the Owls success against Bushnell, as Brody Marino, Matthew Ortiz and Tyler Horner made key contributions. Marino was a combined 7-for-17 with a double and four RBI – extending his hitting streak to nine games, improving his batting average to a season-high .296. Ortiz continued his stellar season, going 6-for-17, adding three walks, while pushing his hit streak to eight games. Horner smashed his six home run of the season in the Game 2 come-from-behind win and ranks second on the club with six homers and 36 RBI.
 
KEELEAN LIVES ON BASE: Outfielder Kaleb Keelean had a big series against Bushnell, reaching base in nine of his 18 plate appearances. The senior went 5-for-13 in the series, including an RBI triple in Game 1, while adding three walks during Game 3. Keelean is hitting .324 on the year with 33 RBI and is tied for the league lead with six triples.
 
BRATTON SOLID OUT OF THE PEN: The Owls got a pair of stellar relief appearance from Alex Bratton in the Bushnell series, locking down his second and third saves of 2022. The right-hander worked out of a jam in the ninth inning of Game 1 – assisting on a play at home plate to cut down the tying run – while retiring the final eight batters of Game 3. Bratton has allowed just two earned runs over his last 10.2 innings of work, lowering his ERA to 2.13.
 
STRIKEOUT MARK IN JEOPARDY: With three starts (plus potential postseason games) remaining, the OIT single-season strikeout mark is in sight for both Cody Dubray and Dylan Grogan. Dubray heads into the weekend with 68 strikeouts and Grogan with 63 – both among the Top-10 in the CCC. The single-season record is 76, set by Josh Strom in 2009, with John Schulz fanning 75 during the 2019 season.
 
A TWO-HITTER: Three OIT pitchers combined on a 2-hitter in Game 3 of the Bushnell series – with starter Cody Dubray picking up his seventh win of the year. It marked sixth 2-hitter spun by Owls pitchers since 2011 and the first since Logan Nousen tossed a complete game 2-hitter at British Columbia in 2019. The last one-hitter by the Owls was in 2011, as Matt Bellando and Mike Mastroianni defeated Corban, 8-0, in 2011.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:  The Owls are 23-4 this season when scoring 6-or-more runs, while posting a 22-5 mark when allowing 5 runs or less. Tech is a perfect 25-0 in 2022 when leading heading into the ninth inning and are 22-2 when they outhit their opponent.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – CORBAN: OIT heads to Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer for a key 4-game set against Corban, as the Warriors (17-18-1, 4-8 CCC) are coming off back-to-back series splits against Lewis-Clark State and College of Idaho. Pitching has been the key to Corban's success, as 2021 CCC Pitcher of the Year Zack Simon (5-3 0.95 ERA) headlines the staff, with Nate Martin (4-3 2.28 ERA) and Mason Shaw (3-3 5.55 ERA) part of the rotation. The Warriors bats are hitting .258 as a team, led by outfielder Kyle Clay (.326 2 HR 17 RBI), catcher Keenan O'Brien (.309 1 HR 10 RBI) and shortstop Estenio Sede (.286 0 HR 23 RBI). The two teams have met 113 times since 2003, with Corban holding a 58-55 series edge – including a 4-2 non-league win in February.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: Tech returns to the Klamath Basin next weekend, closing out their home schedule with a 4-game weekend series vs. Lewis-Clark State.