Oregon Institute of Technology Athletics

COMING UP: at British Columbia (DH), Saturday, 1 p.m.; at British Columbia (DH), Sunday, 11 a.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
LIVE LINKS: The 4-game series at British Columbia will have Live Video and Live Stats available for fans unable to head to Canada. Live Video will be provided through UBC's Playsight Account, with Live Stats through the NAIA's PrestoStats Portal.
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE HEADING INTO FINAL WEEK: Two of the four berths in the Cascade Conference Championships have been determined, as Lewis-Clark State has claimed the regular-season title and will host the tournament in Lewiston, May 9-11. College of Idaho secured a berth with a series split with Eastern Oregon, while British Columbia, Corban, Bushnell and OIT all are in the mix for the final two spots. Tech can clinch the postseason berth by completing a 4-game sweep at UBC this weekend and remains in the mix by winning 3-of-4 – but needing a Corban loss at EOU or a UBC loss to EOU (in a potential make-up game). A series split with UBC would clinch the T-Birds a postseason spot, with OIT needing Corban to drop two games at EOU and Bushnell to lose two games at LC State, to earn a bid. The winner of the 4-team tournament earns an automatic berth to the NAIA National Championships (if LC State wins the title, the tournament runner-up earns the berth).
 
POSTSEASON HISTORY: OIT is searching for their ninth postseason appearance since the program returned in 2002, posting a 5-16 all-time mark in the playoffs. Tech advanced to the NAIA Region I Tournament in 2004, 2005 and 2006 – placing third in both 2005 and 2006 – while qualifying for the NAIA West Grouping Tournament in 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2017 – placing third in 2009 and finishing as the runner-up in 2010. Last season, the Owls reached the CCC Tournament for the first time in program history.
 
30-WIN SEASONS: With their win on April 16 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.
 
RECORD-SETTING HOME SEASON: OIT closed out their first season at Steen Sports Park with a 15-6 overall record – the most wins and best win percentage on their own diamond in program history. Tech also established a new mark by winning 10-straight home games from mid-March through mid-April.
 
SO CLOSE AGAINST A TOP-5 FOE: Squaring off against a Top-5 opponent, the Hustlin' Owls played inspired baseball – holding the lead in three of the four games of the series – but eventually saw Lewis-Clark State sweep the set. Tech was tied with LC at 3-3 in the seventh of Game 1, lost an extremely tight 2-1 decision in Game 2, while dropping the series finale in extra innings, 6-4.
 
DAILY SETS HOME RUN MARK: A long solo homer over the center field wall in Game 2 was a record breaker for senior Dalton Daily, as the second-year OIT player hit his 15th home run of 2022. His total surpassed the previous single-season mark of 14 home runs, established first in 2009 by Ryson Mauricio and again last season by Daily.
 
KEELEAN TIES TRIPLES RECORD: Senior outfielder Kaleb Keelean had a solid series against LC State, going a combined 6-for-16 – including a 4-hit game in the series opener. Keelean added a triple in the series finale – his seventh triple of 2022, equaling the single-season OIT record first established in 2011 by Trenton Smith.
 
DUO CLOSING IN ON STRIKEOUT HISTORY: The single-season strikeout record is in jeopardy this weekend, as both Dylan Grogan and Cody Dubray are in reach of the mark. Both players head to Canada with 74 strikeouts on the year – chasing the mark of 76 strikeouts from Josh Strom in 2009. The duo are only the fourth and fifth OIT pitchers to record 70-or-more strikeouts in a season.
 
ORTIZ RECORDS LONGEST HIT STREAK IN FOUR YEARS: Second baseman Matthew Ortiz recorded a hit in each of the first three games of the LC State series – extending his hitting streak to 15 games before seeing it snapped in the final game of the weekend. The 15-game streak was the longest by an OIT player since Alex Poltz recorded a hit in the final 22-straight games of the 2018 season.
 
CONFERENCE NUMBERS: Five OIT players rank among the Top-5 in the CCC stat rankings – including Kaleb Keelean, who leads the league in triples (7), while ranking No. 3 in walks (29). Dalton Daily is No. 2 in home runs (15) and No. 5 in RBI (50); Matthew Ortiz is No. 3 in both hits (76) and stolen bases (16), with both Cody Dubray and Dylan Grogan No. 2 in wins (7) and No. 3 in strikeouts (74).
 
CROSSING THE BORDER: Earlier this season, the Owls recorded their first-ever series win at Menlo College, with Tech needing their first-ever series win in Vancouver against British Columbia, to be in position to earn a playoff spot. OIT has a 9-45 all-time mark at UBC, splitting a series with the T-Birds in Canada during the 2005 and 2017 seasons.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – BRITISH COLUMBIA: The regular-season ends at Tourmaline West Stadium, meeting a UBC (23-22, 10-9) team that has won 9-of-12 games, including a series win at Corban and a road win at Division I Seattle University. The T-Birds have a quality line-up, led by sluggers Ty Penner (.369 10 HR 44 RBI) and Brandon Hupe (.291 10 HR 34 RBI), along with the duo of Noah Orr (.333 0 HR 29 RBI) and Nathan Shute (.303 2 HR 32 RBI). The pitching staff is led by Ryan Beitel (3-3 4.92 ERA) and Shane Laforest (5-3 5.37 ERA), along with closer Vicarte Domingo (1-0 4.11 ERA, 5 saves). The two teams met in Klamath Falls last month, with the teams splitting the 4-game series.
 
SINGLE-SEASON RECORD BOOK: Six OIT players have cracked the single-season Top-20 record book (since 2003) – as Dalton Daily has established a new home run (15) record, while ranking No. 5 in sacrifice flies (4), No. 6 in RBI (50) and runs scored (49) and No. 12 in at bats (207). Kaleb Keelean has tied the triples (7) record, while ranking No. 2 in hit-by-pitches (16), No. 6 in walks (29) and No. 12 in runs scored (45); Matthew Ortiz is No. 3 in hits (76), No. 7 in stolen bases (16), No. 9 in at bat (210) No. 10 in run scored (46) and No. 18 in doubles; Tyler Horner is No. 17 in RBI (40) and No. 18 in doubles (15); with both Dylan Grogan and Cody Dubray each No. 3 in strikeouts (74) and No. 4 in wins (7). In addition, the Owls have set a single-season team record for triples (18).
 
CAREER RECORD BOOK: Eight Hustlin' Owls have cracked the career Top-20 record book (since 2003) – including Kaleb Keelean, who holds the record for hit by pitches (38) and is No. 5 in triples (8), No. 6 in stolen bases (30), No. 9 in walks (65) and No. 15 in runs scored (94), with Dalton Daily No. 2 all-time in home runs (29), No. 7 in RBI (102), No. 11 in doubles (31), No. 12 in runs scored (97) and No. 18 in hits (18). Michael Tarakhchyan is No. 5 in games played (202), 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), No. 12 in at bats (509) and games played (163) and No. 17 in hits (132); Patrick Arman is No. 5 in wins (10), No. 6 in strikeouts (129) and No. 7 in innings pitched (163); Spencer Dahlke is No. 5 in appearances (49); Dylan Grogan is No. 7 in strikeouts (122) and No. 12 in wins (9); with Cody Dubray No. 9 in wins (9).