KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. –
Dalton Daily tied the Oregon Tech single-season home run mark in Game 1 and
Brendan Talonen had a masterful relief performance in the nightcap, as the Owls rallied for a pair of key Cascade Conference victories over Bushnell at Steen Sports Park.
Daily scored the go-head run in the seventh inning of a 12-11 victory in the opener, with Talonen shutting down the Beacons (9-30, 7-7 CCC) over the final five innings in a 7-6 Game 2 win. OIT established a new single-season record for home wins with their 13th victory on their own diamond, improving to 13-2 at home.
"Am really proud of how we competed today and shows the development this team is making," said OIT head coach
Jacob Garsez. "We did not play exceptionally well, but were able to get quality at bats and key outs when we needed them."
The Owls (27-14, 6-4) moved into third-place in the league standings with the wins, extending their home win streak to eight games. However, neither win was easy.
Tech jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two innings in the opener and looked to cruise.
Kaleb Keelean tripled home the first run of the game and Daily followed with an opposite field 2-run homer, his 14th of the season – tying his own club mark. The Owls added four runs in the second, keyed by a 2-run double from
Ian Peters.
Bushnell fought back in a big way – batting around for eight runs in the fourth, with Jacob Stoner lining a pair of run-scoring singles in the rally.
The Beacons would build a 11-8 lead in the seventh, before a wild play got OIT the lead.
Michael Tarakhchyan delivered a sacrifice fly to put the Owls within two, before Daily lined a double into the left field corner to score a pair to tie the score. Daily took third base on the throw home and scored the eventual game-winning run when the return throw to the bag from the BU catcher sailed down the left field line.
The visitors had a chance in the ninth, putting runners and second and third with one out. Reliever
Alex Bratton came up with a huge defensive play on a safety squeeze bunt by Jordan Wilson – shuffling the ball home to
Brodie Marino with his glove to get Dylan Carson at the plate for the second out. Marino capped the win by throwing out Carson trying to steal second to end the game.
Spencer Dahlke earned the win in relief, allowing two runs on four hits in three innings, with Bratton picking up his second save. Peters and
Mitchel Swanson each had three hits for OIT, with Marino, Daily, Keelean and
Matthew Ortiz each logging two hits. Stoner was 4-for-4 in the loss for BU, with Jeff Fripp and Noah Montoya each recording three hits.
The script flipped in Game 2, as Bushnell took a 6-1 lead in the fourth – recording 11 hits in the rally – with a Payton Hino 2-run double in the third providing the big blow.
Tech chipped away at the deficit, cutting the gap to 6-3 in the fourth on a
Tyler Horner 2-run home run and tying the score with a 3-run sixth – as Horner drew a bases loaded walk,
Alex Malcolm hit a sacrifice fly and Swanson scored on a wild pitch.
The Owls would take their first lead in the seventh, as Daily reached on an infield single and moved to second as the throw sailed into the OIT dugout. Following a ground out, Peters lined an RBI single through the drawn-in infield to make it 7-6.
Talonen did the rest, holding BU to just two hits in 5.2 innings of relief, striking out three. The righty started a ninth inning double play on a sacrifice bunt attempt to thwart a Beacons rally and fanned Hino to end the game.
Peters was 3-for-4, with Keelean and Malcolm recording two hits for OIT. Fripp and Brendan Frazier each had three hits in the loss for BU.
The two teams close out the 4-game series tomorrow with an 11 a.m. doubleheader.
