COMING UP: vs. Carroll (DH), Saturday, 2 p.m.; vs. Carroll (DH), Sunday, 12 p.m.
COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
SCHEDULE CHANGE: Due to extreme winter weather in the Klamath Basin, the Oregon Tech-Carroll weekend series has been pushed back 24 hours – now to be played on Saturday and Sunday – to allow an extra day to clear the Stilwell Stadium surface.
WATCH LIVE / LIVE STATS: All home OIT softball games will be streamed live online via the
Owls Sports Network with Mike Safford on the call. All games will feature Live Stats through the
OIT SIDEARM Stats Portal.
INTO THE TOP-5: A 12-5 start to the season, coupled by tough starts by multiple Top-10 teams, allowed OIT to climb two spots to No. 5 in the first regular-season NAIA Top-25 Coaches Poll of 2023. Mobile (Ala.) holds the No. 1 position, followed by Indiana Wesleyan, Freed Hardeman, Texas A&M-Texarkana and the Owls. Three other Cascade Conference teams remained in the poll – Southern Oregon at No. 9, College of Idaho at No. 12 and Eastern Oregon at No. 21.
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. Tech takes a string of seven-consecutive Cascade Conference series wins at home into weekend play, dating back to March of 2021.
BIG SERIES WIN IN IDAHO: Facing a Top-15 team on the road in frigid conditions, the Lady Owls did what they needed to do to secure a league series victory, winning the final two counters in the set at College of Idaho to remain atop the CCC standings. It marked the third time since the CCC went to 3-game weekend series that OIT earned a road series win against a Top-25 team – having earned wins at Southern Oregon in 2018 and C of I in 2021.
TIGHT GAMES: Close games have not been kind to OIT this season, as the Lady Owls are 0-2 in 1-run affairs and 3-3 in games decided by a pair of runs. Tech is unbeaten this season in games decided by 3-runs-or-more, posting a perfect 9-0 mark.
SCHMIDT SHOULDERS THE LOAD: OIT relied on the right arm of
Kacie Schmidt throughout the C of I series, as the third-year player saw action in all four games, combining for a 2-0 record and a 1.17 ERA. Schmidt became the first pitcher to shutout C of I this season, limiting the potent attack to six hits in a nine-inning, 2-0 victory, followed by a complete-game 4-hitter in a 7-5 win in Game 3. She leads the staff with a 6-1 record and a 1.67 ERA, winning her last five decisions.
NINE-INNING SHUTOUTS: The shutout victory by
Kacie Schmidt marked the second time in OIT history a pitcher tossed a shutout when throwing 9-or-more innings. The sophomore joined All-American Brenda (Ruppel) Mick, who blanked Cal State-Stanislaus in 1998 – throwing 10 shutout innings in a 4-0 victory.
PUTTING THE BREAKS ON THE TOP OFFENSE: OIT put the clamps down on the top offensive team in the CCC – holding C of I five runs under their season scoring average, while holding the Yotes attack to a .233 batting average (25-of-107). C of I had recorded 7-or-more hits in 13-straight games, before Tech limited them to 6-or-fewer in the final three games of the series. Offensively, the Lady Owls were the first team to score more than three runs against C of I this season and the first team to post double-digit hits against the Coyotes (recording 11 hits twice in the series).
ANOTHER GREAT WEEKEND FROM SEAVERT: The Lady Owls attack was led by
Jayce Seavert, as the sophomore finished 6-for-13 with three RBI at C of I. The sophomore improved her team-best batting average to .426, while upping her on-base percentage to .530. Seavert went hitless in the series finale, ending a career-best hitting streak at 15 games – the fifth-longest hitting streak in program history behind Ali Graham (40 games in 2019), Lisa Erwert (21 games in 2006), Shawna Collins (21 games in 2013) and
Aubrie Businger (16 games in 2021). 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).
STOPPING THE RUN GAME: OIT faced a C of I offense that was 38-for-38 in stolen base attempts coming into the series. Enter
Jayce Seavert and the middle infield, as the catcher threw out 3-of-5 base stealers in the 4-game set. For the year, Seavert has thrown out 39-percent of would-be base stealers – ranking No. 8 in the NAIA.
TOP OF THE ORDER KEY FOR THE LADY OWLS: The duo of
Kaila Mick and
Zoe Allen have been a thorn in the side of opponents this season and continued the trend in Idaho. Mick was 4-for-13 with four runs scored, adding two walks and three RBI, with her two doubles pushing her season total to a CCC-best eight 2-base hits. Allen was 4-for-12 with three runs scored in the series, has reached base in 16-of-17 games this season, posting a batting average of .408 and an on-base percentage of .500.
FRESHMEN CONTINUE SOLID PLAY: It was another great weekend from the right side of the OIT infield, as second baseman
Nita Cook and first baseman
Puakea Milbourne continue to put up quality numbers. Facing Top-15 competition, Cook went 4-for-11 with two doubles and two runs scored – improving her batting average to .333 – while fielding 21 chances without an error. Milbourne also had a 4-for-11 trip at the plate, adding a double and an RBI, climbing her batting average to .309 – while running a string of defensive chances without an error to 104.
NO BUS RIDE FOR CARROLL: It is 830 miles between Helena, Mont., and Klamath Falls, Ore. – one of the longer trips for any CCC team to take. This weekend, Carroll College makes the journey to the Basin – but instead of a 14-hour bus ride, the Fighting Saints have opted for a flight to Medford and the 75-mile journey to the OIT campus.
OPPONENT PREVIEW – CARROLL COLLEGE: It has been an up-and-down start to the season for the Fighting Saints (7-8, 3-3 CCC) – opening with seven indoor games in North Dakota, being outscored 36-2 in four games at College of Idaho, before outscoring Warner Pacific 37-9 last week in a road series sweep. The Carroll offense is potent (.338 average / 5.5 runs per game), led by outfielder Jessica Nimmo (.419 1 HR 14 RBI), first baseman Kaitlyn Ayers (.417 1 HR 7 RBI) and designated player Haley Kampka (.435 1 HR 9 RBI), but the pitching staff, led by Abby Hanley (2-4 6.05 ERA) and Abbie Amend (3-1 6.80) has a team ERA of 6.92.
C OF I-CARROLL HISTORY: The two teams have played 28 previous times, with OIT holding a 22-6 series edge, including a 10-2 mark in the Basin. The Saints won the 2018 conference series with the Owls in Helena, but Tech has claimed 16 of the last 18 meetings – including a 31-0 win last season on Carroll's home diamond.
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: The Top-4 teams in the CCC preseason poll played against each other last week – with OIT and Southern Oregon earning series wins against C of I and Eastern Oregon. Carroll was the lone team to sweep their foe, dominating Warner Pacific, while Northwest took 2-of-3 from Corban and British Columbia won 2-of-3 vs. Bushnell. OIT, SOU and NU all sit atop the standings with a 5-1 mark, one game clear of EOU and C of I. This week features the first two travel partner doubleheaders – as Bushnell and Corban, along with UBC and Northwest each play on Wednesday. This weekend, Providence heads to SOU, EOU to UBC for the T-Birds home opener, WPU meets Corban, C of I treks to NU and Carroll meets OIT.
AMONG THE BEST: In his 19th season at the helm, head coach
Greg Stewart ranks No. 16 among active NAIA coaches with 657 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 1,197-638-2 – winning 65-percent of their 1,837 all-time games, including a 71-percent win percentage under current head coach,
Greg Stewart.
RECORD BOOK: Nine 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. 8 in pitching starts (55), No. 10 in pitching strikeouts (250), No. 12 in shutouts (6), complete games (22) and pitching appearances (67), No. 14 in innings pitched (304.1), ranking No. 22 in hit-by-pitches as a batter (9).
Kaila Mick ranks No. 4 in triples (11), hit-by-pitches (23) and stolen bases (43), No. 13 in defensive assists (223), No. 14 in runs scored (133), No. 18 in doubles (33), No. 20 in sacrifice hits (10) and No. 21 in hits (176);
Maggie Buckholz ranks No. 11 in walks (55), No. 16 in sacrifice hits (11) and No. 24 in home runs (14);
Jayce Seavert ranks No. 3 in hit-by-pitches (31) and No. 11 in sacrifice flies (7);
Jensen Becker is No. 10 in sacrifice hits (13) and No. 19 in triples (5);
Lexi Klum is No. 23 in triples (4); with
Kacie Schmidt No. 20 in pitching strikeouts (87).
Maddie DeVerna and
Zoe Allen are just outside the Top-25 in stolen bases (15), with Schmidt just outside the Top-25 in innings pitched (84.0) and pitching appearances (33).
LOOKING AHEAD: The Lady Owls will close out an 8-game homestand next weekend with four games against conference foe, Warner Pacific, set for March 17-18.
