Oregon Institute of Technology Athletics

COMING UP: at No. 13 College of Idaho (DH), Friday, 1 p.m. (MST); at No. 13 College of Idaho (DH), Saturday, 11 a.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
WATCH LIVE / LIVE STATS: The 4-game series at College of Idaho will feature Live Video (PPV) and Live Stats via the Yotes Digital Network.
 
WIN STREAK TO SEVEN: A dominant weekend performance by the Lady Owls extended the OIT win streak to seven games – the 11th-straight non-COVID season that Tech has posted a win streak of six games or more. During that run, the Owls won 10-or-more games three times during the 2012 season alone, while in 2019, 2021 and 2022, the squad had a pair of 10-or-more game win streaks.
 
BEST STARTS: OIT heads into the weekend with a 10-3 record – the tenth time the Owls have won 10 of their first 13 games of a season. The 1996, 1997 and 2015 teams join the 2023 club with a 10-3 start, the 1998, 2007 and 2012 squads began 11-2, the 2006 and 2013 teams opened 12-1, while in 2021, Tech won their first 20 games of the season.
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Since the opening of John & Lois Stilwell Stadium in March of 2019, OIT has a 56-11 all-time record in the facility. Last year, the Lady Owls were near unbeatable, going 23-2 on their own diamond, the most home wins in a single-season in program history.
 
OFFENSE BREAKS OUT: The bats came alive for the Lady Owls in the 3-game series vs. Corban, as OIT combined for 37 hits in the series – including an 18-hit outburst in the series opener, the most since recording 19 hits in a road win at Carroll last season. Tech outscored Corban 38-5 in the series, helped by 19 walks and five hit-by-pitches, while striking out just two times.
 
FRESHMEN HAVE BIG SERIES: The Owls three freshmen infielders were instrumental in the conference opening sweep – as Nita Cook, Puakea Milbourne and Addison Kachnik had their best weekends of the season. Cook was 5-for-7 with a double and six RBI, scoring five runs and stealing three bases – including her first career game with four RBI. Milbourne hit the first OIT home run of the season in Game 1 of the series, finishing the series 5-for-9 with four runs scored and six RBI, with Kachnik adding a homer of her own, going 2-for-5 with four RBI, adding four walks and four runs scored.
 
SEAVERT EXTENDS HIT STREAK: With hits in all three games of the series, catcher Jayce Seavert extended her hitting streak to 12 games – the longest hit streak by a Lady Owl since 2021 (Aubrie Businger – 16 games). The sophomore was 5-for-9 against Corban, scoring three runs, adding four RBI – improving her season batting average to .415. Seavert is chasing a school-record 40-game hit streak by Ali Graham during the 2019 season, while Lisa Erwert (2006) and Shawna Collins (2013) recorded 21-game hitting streaks.
 
MORE FROM THE VETERANS: The Owls got huge offensive lifts from their experienced players up and down the line-up. Kaila Mick was 5-for-12 with four runs scored and four RBI, with Lexi Klum going 5-for-7 with five runs scored and four RBI. Maggie Buckholz improved her team-leading on-base percentage to .567, going 3-for-7 with five runs scored and five walks, with Jensen Becker going 3-for-7 with four runs scored and two RBI.
 
SPEED AND MORE SPEED: OIT finished 13-for-13 in stolen base attempts in the Corban series, improving to 35-of-39 in steal chances this season. Four Lady Owls have 5-or-more stolen bases – as both Lexi Klum and Jayce Seavert lead the way with six stolen bases, with both Kaila Mick and Nita Cook recording five.
 
PITCHERS DOMINATE THE CIRCLE: The Tech pitching staff was equally impressive during the series, holding Corban to just nine hits over the 15 innings – walking just three batters and striking out 23. Mckenzie Staub earned two of the three victories – pitching nine innings, allowing two earned runs and four hits, striking out 14 – including a 1-hit shutout in the Game 3 win. Kacie Schmidt was equally impressive, throwing four innings of 2-hit ball in the Game 2 win, striking out seven – her third-straight start with 7-or-more strikeouts.
 
TOP-25 MATCH-UP: The 4-game series at College of Idaho marks the Owls first games against an NAIA Top-25 squad this season. Over the past two years, Tech holds an impressive 21-11 against nationally-ranked opponents, including a 10-4 mark during the 2022 campaign.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – COLLEGE OF IDAHO: The first road series of the Cascade Conference season starts at College of Idaho, as the Yotes (14-0, 3-0 CCC) are off to their best start in program history. C of I has outscored their opponents 116-15 through 14 games, recording a .355 team batting average and a perfect 38-for-38 clip in stolen base chances. All-America shortstop Haley Loffer (.500 7 HR 16 RBI) leads the NAIA in home runs, with second-baseman Kaylee MacDannald (.513 2 HR 11 RBI) and first-baseman Tanner Higgins (.450 2 HR 15 RBI) experienced returners from a team that lost in the championship game of the 2022 Chickasha Opening Round Bracket. The Coyotes have two of the top pitchers in the West in seniors Katie Wilfert (7-0 0.72 ERA) and Hannah McNerney (6-0 1.08 ERA).
 
C OF I-OIT HISTORY: The Owls hold a 71-30 series lead against C of I, including a 27-13 record in Caldwell – with each of the last 18 meetings between the schools featuring both teams ranked in the Top-25. OIT takes a 9-game win streak in the series to Idaho – including a win in the 2021 NAIA national semifinals and wins in the 2021 and 2022 CCC Tournament championships games.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Each of the five opening Cascade Conference series finished in 3-0 sweeps – as OIT, C of I, Southern Oregon, Eastern Oregon and Northwest all sit atop the league standings. Along with the big match-up between Tech and C of I, Southern Oregon travels to Eastern Oregon for a Top-25 showdown, Northwest is at Corban, Carroll heads to Warner Pacific, with British Columbia meeting Bushnell.
 
AMONG THE BEST: In his 19th season at the helm, head coach Greg Stewart ranks No. 16 among active NAIA coaches with 655 career wins and is one of 18 active NAIA coaches with 600-or-more career victories. Stewart, the 8-time CCC Coach of the Year, ranks No. 18 on the all-time NAIA wins list.
 
NEARING 1,200 WINS: The Lady Owls are on pace to reach a team milestone in 2023, as the squad looks to surpass the 1,200-win mark in program history. Tech heads into the weekend with an all-time record of 1,195-636-2 – winning 65-percent of their 1,833 all-time games, including a 71-percent win percentage under current head coach, Greg Stewart.
 
RECORD BOOK: Six members of the Lady Owls currently rank among the Top-25 in the OIT career record book, led by Mckenzie Staub, who is No. 7 in wins (42), No. 10 in pitching starts (53) and pitching strikeouts (248), No. 12 in shutouts (6) and complete games (22), No. 13 in pitching appearances (65), No. 14 in innings pitched (295.1), ranking No. 22 in hit-by-pitches as a batter (9). Kaila Mick ranks No. 4 in triples (11) and in hit-by-pitches (23), No. 5 in stolen bases (42), No. 14 in defensive assists (214), No. 15 in runs scored (129), No. 20 in sacrifice hits (10), No. 23 in hits (172) and No. 24 in doubles (31); Maggie Buckholz ranks No. 11 in walks (55) and No. 24 in home runs (14); Jayce Seavert ranks No. 3 in hit-by-pitches (29) and No. 11 in sacrifice flies (7); with Jensen Becker No. 19 in triples (5) and Lexi Klum No. 23 in triples (4). Both Maddie DeVerna and Zoe Allen are just outside the Top-25 in stolen bases (15).
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Lady Owls return home on March 10 to open an 8-game homestand, playing consecutive weekend series against Carroll and Warner Pacific.