Oregon Institute of Technology Athletics

COMING UP: vs. No. 5 Lewis-Clark State (DH), 11 a.m.; vs. No. 5 Lewis-Clark State (DH), 11 a.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
LIVE LINKS: The weekend series with Lewis-Clark State will have Live Video and Live Stats available for those unable to make it to the Klamath Basin. Live Video will be available through the OIT Stretch Live Portal and Live Stats through the OIT SIDEARM Stats Portal. The game will also be carried live in the Lewis-Clark Valley on 950 KOZE-AM with Brian Danner calling the action, with his play-by-play also on the OIT video stream.
 
RECORD BOOK UPDATED: A full record book of single-game, single-season and career statistics (for both players and teams) of all Oregon Tech baseball games from 2003-21 has been posted online on the OIT Baseball Homepage. The OIT sports information office is searching for game-by-game and cumulative statistics for the 2002 season, along with any marks from the original era of Tech baseball that ended in 1991 – contact Mike Safford with any information.
 
BEST START EVER: The Owls head into weekend play with a 30-17 record – the best 47-game mark since the baseball returned to play in 2002. Prior to this season, OIT started the 2009 season 28-19 and began the 2010 season with a 25-22 mark.
 
30-WIN SEASONS: With their win on Saturday at Corban, the Owls picked up their 30th win of the season, the second-time since 2002 that Tech has won 30 games in a year. In 2009, OIT logged 33 wins, en route to the NAIA West South Division title and a trip to the semifinals of the NAIA West Championships.
 
HOME WIN STREAK ON THE LINE: OIT ran their win streak at Steen Sports Park to 10 with their sweep of Bushnell on April 9-10 – 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).
 
SENIOR WEEKEND: This weekend marks the final regular-season home games for nine Hustlin' Owl senior student-athletes. Kaleb Keelean, Alex Malcolm, Michael Tarakhchyan, Spencer Dahlke, David Palmer, Dalton Daily, Dylan Grogan, Jacob Miller and Mitchel Swanson will be honored in an on-field ceremony between games on Sunday afternoon.
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE WITH TWO WEEKS LEFT: Just two weekends remain in the Cascade Conference regular-season, with no team yet to clinch a spot in the 4-team tournament. Both Lewis-Clark State and College of Idaho are tied in the win column with 12 victories (though C of I has played five more games than LC), with OIT and Bushnell at nine wins (though BU has played four additional games than Tech) and both Corban and British Columbia with seven wins. The postseason picture will clear up a bit this weekend – as UBC heads to Corban for an important series, while C of I closes out their CCC schedule at home vs. Eastern Oregon, with OIT hosting LCSC. Next weekend, the OIT at UBC set may become a de facto playoff series, while BU makes their first ever trip to LC and Corban heads to EOU. The regular-season winner will play host to the CCC Championships, May 9-11.
 
GROGAN DOMINANT IN SALEM: OIT rode the right arm of Dylan Grogan to a Game 3 win at Corban, as the senior had a near perfect outing out of the bullpen. Grogan tossed five shutout innings, allowing just two base runners, striking out seven batters in notching his seventh victory of 2022. It was the tenth time this season that he posted 5-or-more strikeouts – with his 70 strikeouts among the Top-5 in the CCC.
 
MILLER POSTS CAREER HIGHS: Senior Jacob Miller got the ball in the series finale and recorded his longest outing in an OIT uniform. The righty allowed pitched 7.1 innings – allowing just two earned runs over his first seven frames, while striking out a career-high eight batters.
 
HORNER RECORDS FOUR 2-HIT GAMES: Headlining the OIT offense against Corban was first-baseman Tyler Horner, who was a combined 8-for-16 with three RBI in the series. The freshman logged two hits in each of the four games, including three doubles – extending his season-best hitting streak to seven games.
 
ORTIZ EXTENDED HITTING STREAK: Also extending his hitting streak was second baseman Matthew Ortiz, who pushed his run to 12 games with hits in all four games. The freshman was 9-for-20 in the series with two RBI – including his 11th 3-hit game and his 22nd multi-hit game of 2022. Ortiz leads the Owls with a .374 batting average, 15 doubles and 73 hits.
 
CONFERENCE NUMBERS: As a team, OIT leads the CCC in stolen bases (78) and triples (16), ranking second in batting average (.287), fielding percentage (.964) and home runs (38). Individually, Kaleb Keelean tops the CCC in triples; Dalton Daily is No. 2 in home runs (14) and No. 4 in RBI (46); Matthew Ortiz is No. 2 in hits (73) and No. 4 in batting average (.374) and stolen bases (14); Cody Dubray is No. 3 in strikeouts (73) and No. 5 in ERA (2.89); with Dylan Grogan No. 4 in strikeouts (70).
 
TOP-25 TEAM HEADS TO THE BASIN: Lewis-Clark State makes the trek to Klamath Falls as the No. 5 ranked team in the NAIA. It marks the eighth time an OIT team has faced a Top-5 opponent on the diamond – facing No. 5 UBC in 2006, No. 1 ranked LCSC and Chico State in 2007, No. 4 ranked UBC in 2010, No. 1 ranked Linfield and No. 3 ranked LCSC in 2014 and No. 2 ranked LCSC in 2016. Tech has three all-time wins against a Top-10 opponent – defeating No. 7 ranked LCSC in 2018, No. 7 ranked Menlo in 2017 and No. 9 ranked LCSC in 2012.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – LEWIS-CLARK STATE: The Warriors (41-4, 12-3 CCC) opened the season 34-1, including a 28-game win streak – but have split a road series at Corban and dropped their first home game of the season last Friday against College of Idaho. LC leads the league with a .331 team batting average and are averaging nearly 10 runs per game. The offense is led by outfielders Sam Linscott (.392 6 HR 50 RBI, 22 SB) and Aiden Nagle (.339 10 HR 51 RBI), along with first-baseman Luke White (.356 15 HR 51 RBI) and shortstop Riley Way (.337 5 HR 43 RBI). On the mound, Trent Sellers (9-0 1.39 ERA, 92 K) has been dominant, as have fellow starters Eric Chavarria (6-1 4.42 ERA) and Dawson Day (6-0 1.67 ERA). The teams have met 76 times since 2003, with LC holding a 70-6 series record.
 
RECORD BOOK: Seven Hustlin' Owls have cracked the career Top-10 record book (since 2003) – including Kaleb Keelean, who holds the record for hit by pitches (38) and is No. 5 in triples, with Dalton Daily No. 2 all-time in home runs (28) and No. 7 in RBI (100). Michael Tarakhchyan is No. 5 in games played (198), No. 6 in stolen bases (30) and hit by pitches (23), ranking No. 7 in runs scored (129); Alex Malcolm is No. 2 in hit by pitches (29); Patrick Arman is No. 5 in wins (10), No. 6 in strikeouts (124) and No. 9 in innings pitched (157); Spencer Dahlke is No. 5 in appearances (47); with Dylan Grogan No. 7 in strikeouts (118). Six individual single-season records are in jeopardy of being broke – runs scored (55), hits (89), triples (7), home runs (14), pitching wins (8) and strikeouts (76).
 
NEXT WEEK: OIT closes out the regular-season with a crucial 4-game weekend series at British Columbia.