Oregon Institute of Technology Athletics

COMING UP: vs. College of Idaho (DH), Saturday, 12 p.m.; vs. College of Idaho (DH), Sunday, 11 a.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
WATCH LIVE / LIVE STATS: The 4-game series with College of Idaho will be streamed through the Owls Sports Network with Mike Safford calling the play-by-play, while Live Stats are available online through the OIT SIDEARM Stats Portal.
 
CAN WE GET A HOME GAME?: Weather in the Klamath Basin over the past month has wreaked havoc on the Owls practice and game schedule at Steen Sports Park – as the team has been forced to move four home games, along with practices, from the venue. The team is optimistic that field conditions will allow the weekend series with C of I to be played locally – as OIT has played the first 26 games of the 2023 season on the road – with 14 games still on the home schedule over the month of the campaign.
 
LATEST HOME OPENER: The March 25 home opening day is not the latest date OIT has opened their home schedule – as the Owls have opened their home season in April on three occasions – the latest on April 14, 2012. Playing on Bocchi Field at Steen Sports Park was key to Tech's success last season – as the squad finished the year 15-6 on their own diamond – the more home wins in program history.
 
OWLS OPEN CONFERENCE PLAY WITH SWEEP: Tech continued their recent dominance of Eastern Oregon, running their win streak against the Mountaineers to 19 with a 4-game sweep in Walla Walla. OIT outscored EOU 32-13 in the series – including rallying for wins in Game 1 and Game 4. It marks the fourth 4-0 start to a conference season in program history, joining the 1990, 2010 and 2022 teams in the exclusive club. The Owls head into the weekend on a 5-game win streak – their second win streak of the season of 5-or-more games.
 
RUNS EQUAL WINS: Big offensive days have propelled OIT into the win column this season, as the Hustlin' Owls are 12-0 when scoring 7-or-more runs in a game and are 11-1 when recording 10-or-more hits in a game. Leads have been secure for Tech in 2023, as the squad is 14-0 this season when leading after six innings and 13-0 when leading after the seventh or eighth innings.
 
PITCHING THE KEY: The Owls have received outstanding work from their pitching staff in 2023, as OIT leads the circuit with a 4.18 team ERA. Tech has allowed five earned runs or less in 8-straight starts and 20-of-21 outings, with the squad recording a 32-to-13 strikeout to walk ratio in the EOU series. Depth is key, as 11 different pitchers have made 5-or-more appearances, with eight arms throwing more than 10 innings this season.
 
SOLID STARTS: Starting pitching continues to pave the way for the Owls – as Patrick Arman, Lalo Barraza, Cody Dubray and Brendan Talonen have put the team in position to win. Arman allowed three runs and struck out five in six strong innings of Game 1 – earning his fourth-straight win and posting his fifth-straight start of 5-plus innings. Barraza limited EOU to three hits and one run in five innings, earning his league-leading fifth victory of 2023 and ran his string of 5-plus inning starts to seven. Dubray matched a season-high in Game 3 with eight strikeouts and ranks No. 3 in the CCC with 35 strikeouts on the year, while Talonen allowed just two earned runs in five innings of Game 4, striking out six.
 
PEN PUTS UP ZEROS: The OIT bullpen locked down the four victories in Walla Walla, as Ryan Poling, Riley Cronin and Braeden Bellum continued their outstanding seasons. Poling was the workhorse, tossing six innings between two games, allowing two hits, one walk and five strikeouts – extending his string of scoreless innings pitched to 12.1. Cronin was extended to four innings for the first time this season, as the junior earned the Game 4 victory – retiring 12 of the 13 batters he faced – lowering his ERA to 1.26. Bellum threw two clean innings in Game 2 of the series, striking out a pair, dropping his ERA to 1.98.
 
LATE INNING OFFENSE: Tech has been dominant in the final three innings of games – including each of the games in the EOU series. The Owls have outscored foes 73-19 over the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, including a 26-4 edge in the seventh inning alone – while outscoring the Mountaineers, 17-3, in the final three frames of the recent series.
 
PETRILLA HAS BIG WEEKEND: First baseman Bryce Petrilla had his best series of the 2023 in Walla Walla – including two crucial hits that turned a pair of games. The junior was 5-for-13 with five runs batted in – including a 3-run double late in Game 2 that provided key insurance runs, while connecting on a game-tying 2-run homer in the seventh inning of Game 2.
 
SIRACUSA CONTINUES TO LIVE ON BASE: Designated hitter Korrey Siracusa continued to be a thorn in the side of the opponent, as the transfer reached base in 13-of-21 plate appearances in the EOU series. The sophomore was 7-for-14 at the plate with seven runs scored – adding three walks and three hit-by-pitches. Siracusa leads the Owls with a .509 on-base percentage – fueled by 11 hit-by-pitches and 16 walks – taking his .354 batting average and 8-game hit streak into this weekend's series.
 
THE OUCH FACTOR: For the second time this season, an OIT player was hit by a pitch three times in a game – as Julien Jones wore a pitch 3-times in Game 1 at EOU. It was the fifth time in program history a player has been hit by a pitch 3-times, including Riley Cronin, who achieved the feat earlier in the year at Corban. Jones had a .500 on-base percentage in the Eastern series, going 4-for-14 with five RBI – including the go-ahead home run in Game 4 – adding five hit-by-pitches and one walk.
 
ORTIZ KEY IN THE CLUTCH: Infielder Matthew Ortiz finished the weekend 6-for-17 at the plate, driving in four runs – pushing his team-high total to 25 – ranking No. 5 in the CCC. The sophomore has seven multi-RBI games this year – including three 3-RBI efforts – and takes a 6-game hits streak into the C of I series.
 
SKIPPER TO FACE ALMA MATER: The weekend matchup against College of Idaho pits Hustlin' Owls head coach Jacob Garsez against his alma mater – as Garsez was a middle infielder for the Coyotes from 2007-09, playing in 87 games and posting a .273 career batting average. The two teams have split the last 32 meetings – including a C of I series sweep last year in Caldwell – but the Idaho squad has controlled the all-time series, 107-38, dating back to 1987. However, 24 of the 38 OIT wins in the series have come in the Basin.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – COLLEGE OF IDAHO: Longtime C of I head coach Shawn Humberger has his best squad since consecutive national tournament appearances in 2016 and 2017, as the Yotes (18-7, 4-0 CCC) bring a 9-game win streak to Klamath. The Idaho nine are offensive minded, posting a league-best .324 batting average and score nine runs per game, thanks in part to first-team All-American Jonah Hultberg (.460 4 HR 32 RBI), along with returners Alex McFarland-Smith (.371 1 HR 24 RBI) and Skyler Sadora (.341 4 HR 26 RBI). The pitching staff hold a team ERA of 6.09, led by a pair of 2-way players in Kirby Robertson (.298 3 HR 12 RBI; 3-1 4.62 ERA) and Kris Kirkpatrick (.333 1 HR 18 RBI; 2-0 2.81 ERA), along with former Skyline Conference Player of the Year and Hidden Valley star, Nate Vidlak (1-0 4.22 ERA). The Coyotes are a combined 14-1 on their home diamond, but are 2-6 away from the Treasure Valley.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: The opening weekend of CCC play saw C of I record their first sweep of UBC since 2001, while OIT continued their dominance of Eastern Oregon with a 4-game sweep. Corban stole a road game at LC State, while Bushnell dropped 2-of-3 against Lewis & Clark. This weekend, along with OIT and C of I meeting in a first-place battle, LCSC heads to UBC and EOU heads to Bushnell.
 
20-WIN SEASONS: Tech heads into weekend play with a 17-9 overall record – three wins away from the 13th 20-win season in program history (joining the 1981, 1982, 1989, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2018, 2021 and 2022). The Owls have had two 30-win seasons – in 2009 and 2022.
 
RECORD BOOK: Three players are currently ranked among the Top-25 in the OIT career record book. Patrick Arman sits at No. 4 in wins (14) and in strikeouts (166), No. 5 in pitching starts (31), No. 7 in innings pitched (207.1) and No. 20 in complete games (4); Cody Dubray is No. 6 in strikeouts (138), No. 19 in wins (9) and No. 20 in pitching appearances (37); with Riley Cronin No. 6 all-time in saves (4).
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Owls head to Idaho next weekend to open the month of April with a 4-game series at No. 3-ranked Lewis-Clark State.