VANCOUVER, B.C. – Strong starting pitching and an impressive season debut from
Julien Jones helped Oregon Tech sweep a Sunday doubleheader at the University of British Columbia.
The Hustlin' Owls (12-5) extended their win streak to six – sweeping a doubleheader at UBC for just the second time in program history.
Jones finished the afternoon 6-for-10 with two doubles a homer and five RBI, with
Patrick Arman and
Lalo Barraza producing quality starts.
"This team continues to progress each week, which is good to see," said OIT head coach
Jacob Garsez. "Today, we received two competitive outings by our staff and our offense was relentless. It was great to get Julien into our line-up."
Tyler Horner hit a first inning solo homer in Game 1 to stake Tech out to an early lead, but the T-Birds (9-9) answered in the third, as Mike Fitzsimmons gapped an RBI double and Brandon Hupe singled him home to give the hosts the lead.
OIT returned the favor in the fifth – as the Owls tied the score on a
Sean Tobin sacrifice fly, with a
Korrey Siracusa RBI single giving Tech the lead for good. An inning later,
Ian Peters clubbed a 2-run homer to extend the margin to 6-2, with an RBI single from
Matthew Ortiz and an RBI double from Jones in the ninth capping the scoring.
Arman earned his third-straight win, throwing six innings of 7-hit ball, without allowing an earned run. Siracusa was 3-for-4, with Horner, Ortiz and Jones all recording two hits.
Game 2 was all OIT – as Barraza took a shutout into the seventh inning, holding the T-Birds to five hits and one run in his seven strong innings, earning his fourth win of 2023.
A 2-out second inning error on a ball hit by Siracusa allowed a pair of OIT runners to score – and opened the floodgates. Ortiz followed with an RBI single, Horner roped an RBI double and Jones lined an RBI base hit to extend the lead to 5-0.
Jones extended the lead to 8-0 in the fourth with a 3-run homer, with
Ka'ala Tam capping the big day with a 2-run single in the eighth.
Jones finished 4-for-5 with four RBI, with Horner and Ortiz each going 2-for-5 in the win.
OIT closes out the series tomorrow with an 11 a.m. doubleheader.
