Oregon Institute of Technology Athletics

COMING UP: at British Columbia (DH), Sunday, 12 p.m.; at British Columbia (DH), Monday, 11 a.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
WATCH LIVE / LIVE STATS: The weekend series at UBC will be streamed through the T-Birds Playsight Account, with Live Stats available online through the OIT SIDEARM Stats Portal.
 
SERIES PUSHED BACK 24 HOURS: Due to snow in the Vancouver metro, the OIT-UBC 4-game weekend series has been moved back 24 hours – now set for Sunday and Monday.
 
HUGE SWEEP AT CORBAN: For the first time since 2009, OIT earned a road series sweep at Corban, winning all four games of a weekend series at Volcanoes Stadium. It was the third all-time series win against the Warriors – earning a 3-game sweep of the club in 1991 in the Basin and a 4-game road sweep in 2009. For the Owls, it marks the fifth all-time road sweep of a Cascade Conference (or NAIA Region I) opponent – winning 4-straight road games against Simpson and Corban in 2009, Patten in 2010 and Eastern Oregon in 2021.
 
BIGGEST SHUTOUT WINS: The Owls exploded for 10 eighth inning runs of Game 4, helping the club claim a 17-0 victory in the series finale. The 17-0 shutout win was the second-largest shutout by an OIT team – as the 1990 squad earned an 18-0 victory over Warner Pacific. It was the ninth time Tech has picked up a shutout win by 13-runs or more – including 13-0 win against George Fox (1985), Simpson (2004), Bethany (2009), Simpson (2015) and Saint Martin's (2002), a 14-0 win over Eastern Oregon (1990), a 16-0 win over Simpson (2006) and the 18-0 win over Warner Pacific (1990).
 
LARGEST WINNING MARGIN SINCE?: The 17-run victory in Game 4 was the tenth time an OIT team has won a game by 17 or more runs since 1979. The largest win margin by the Hustlin' Owls was 22 in a 24-2 road win over Judson Baptist in 1984, with Tech picking up 19-run decisions against La Sierra in 2015 (25-6) and Cal Tech in 2013 (22-3). OIT defeated Warner Pacific, 18-0, in 1984 and Western Baptist (now Corban), 22-4, in 1989, while recording 17-run wins against Bethany in 2010 (21-4), Simpson in 2005 (18-1), Warner Pacific in 1990 (18-1) and Southern Oregon in 1981 (22-5).
 
BATS COME ALIVE: After a tough series at Saint Martin's, the Hustlin' Owls offense found its rhythm at Corban in a big way – combining for 51 runs on 53 hits in the series sweep – with the team batting average for the season climbing 38 points in the four games. OIT had eight doubles, two triples and two homers in the series, taking advantage of 15 walks, 14 hit by pitches and 20 Corban errors. Tech finished the weekend hitting .379 with runners in scoring position.
 
STEALING BAGS: The Owls continued to use speed to their advantage, stealing 11-of-12 bases at Corban – improving their season base stealing percentage to 88-percent (29-of-33). On the flip side, the OIT catchers did a solid job against the top base-stealing team in the conference – throwing out five base stealers in the series – with the group combining to throw out 38-percent of runners attempting to steal on the year.
 
HORNER EXTENDS HIT STREAK: Sophomore Tyler Horner extended his hitting streak to seven games with a knock in all four games of the Corban series – the lone OIT player to hit safely in every game of the set. Horner finished the series 8-for-15 with a double and five RBI, adding four walks and scoring a team-high six runs – going 3-for-3 with runners in scoring position. Horner leads the team with five multi-hit games (including two 3-hit games).
 
CAREER WEEKEND FOR TOBIN: Last season, shortstop Sean Tobin saw limited action – recording just three hits on the year. Fast-forward to 2023, where Tobin has been the Owls everyday shortstop – including a breakout weekend at Corban – going a combined 7-for-17 with four runs scored and a pair of stolen bases. Tobin has been key defensively, recording 21 clean chances in the series and has 44 total defensive chances on the season without an error.
 
TAM CONTINUES BIG 2023: Outfielder Ka'ala Tam has had a great start to the season, leading the squad with a .429 batting average. The sophomore had a big series in the Valley, going 8-for-15 with a double, his third home run of the year, adding six RBI. Tam finished 4-for-4 in the series opener – his first career 4-hit game.
 
OTHERS WITH THE STICKS: OIT received quality production up and down the line-up, including senior Ian Peters who had four doubles as part of a 6-for-13 series. Matthew Ortiz made the most of his 4-for-16 weekend, recording six RBI and adding three walks; Chad Leonard was 3-for-6 with a double, triple and two RBI; with Matthew Lehrbach going 2-for-5 with a triple and four RBI.
 
STARTING PITCHING EXTENDED: Tech received their best collective starting pitching of the season at Corban, as each of the four starters completed at least five innings and earned three of the four weekend wins. Patrick Arman was outstanding in the opener, tossing a season-high 6.2 innings, limiting the Warriors to one earned run and three hits, striking out seven. Lalo Barraza earned his staff-high third win of the year, throwing five innings of three-run ball, striking out four, while Cody Dubray worked five innings, allowing two earned runs on two hits, striking out eight. Brendan Talonen put an exclamation mark on the series, working seven shutout innings in the series finale, allowing just three hits on the afternoon.
 
FROM THE PEN: The bullpen was solid throughout the series with Corban, limiting the Warriors to three earned runs and seven hits over 11.1 innings – adding seven strikeouts. Headlining the group was left-hander Drake Aboud, as the transfer logged his first save in an OIT uniform, throwing four shutout innings in the Game 2 victory. Ryan Poling made a pair of appearances, allowing a combined two runs on two hits in four innings, with Braeden Bellum allowing a run on two hits, while striking out two, in two innings of work.
 
CANADA BOUND: Tech makes the longest trip in the Cascade Conference this weekend, the nearly 600-mile jaunt to Vancouver, B.C., for a series against British Columbia. The long road swing has been difficult for the Owls over the years, posting a 9-51 all-time record at UBC – looking to snap a 9-game losing skid at Tourmaline West Stadium. OIT has never won a series in Canada – posting series splits in 2005 and 2017.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – BRITISH COLUMBIA: The Thunderbirds (9-7) opened the year with a tour of California and Arizona – including a win over Arizona Christian – but dropped 3-of-4 at Lewis-Clark State and split a series at Bushnell last weekend. UBC ranks No. 2 in the league with 17 home runs and has a solid .294 team batting average – thanks to the play of outfielder Jonny McGill (.341 1 HR 11 RBI), third baseman Aaron Marsh (.314 4 HR 11 RBI) and shortstop Mike Fitzsimmons (.279 3 HR 8 RBI). On the mound, brothers Sean Heppner (1-1 1.74 ERA) and Ryan Heppner (3-1 2.65 ERA) have led the pitching staff. Last season, the T-Birds won 6-of-8 against OIT and hold an 88-27 all-time series edge.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Lewis-Clark State got back on the right foot, sweeping a 4-game home series with College of Idaho – rallying for wins in two of the four games. UBC traveled to Bushnell, with the two teams splitting the series in Springfield. This week, Eastern Oregon heads to LC State, Corban meets rival Bushnell, with Tech making the journey to UBC.
 
SCORING STREAK REACHES 120: OIT extended a school-record scoring streak – dating back to the 2020 season - to 120 games during the 4-game series at Corban. The Owls didn't wait long to score in the series – scoring runs within the opening three innings in all four games.
 
ROAD WARRIORS: Playing away from the Basin is nothing new for the Owls, as OIT will spend the first 19 games of the 2023 away from the friendly confines of Steen Sports Park. Tech will return home on March 11, opening a 4-game non-conference series with Bushnell. Tech will also host College of Idaho, Corban, UBC and Simpson as part of an 18-game home schedule. The 19-game road trip is not the longest in program history, as the 2018 team played the first 35 games of the season on the road.
 
RECORD BOOK: Three players are currently ranked among the Top-25 in the OIT career record book. Patrick Arman sits at No. 5 all-time in strikeouts (153), No. 7 in pitching starts (28) and in wins (12), No. 9 in innings pitched (190.1) and No. 20 in complete games (4), Cody Dubray is No. 11 in strikeouts (123), No. 19 in wins (9) and No. 25 in pitching appearances (34), with Riley Cronin No. 6 all-time in saves (4).
 
LOOKING AHEAD: Weather permitting (as five inches of snow fell in the Klamath Basin this week), Tech will open their home schedule next Saturday and Sunday with a 4-game non-conference series vs. Bushnell.