Oregon Institute of Technology Athletics

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

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
WATCH ONLINE: All four games of the UBC series will be carried on the Owls Sports Network, with Mike Safford calling the action, while Live Stats will be available through the OIT SIDEARM Stats Portal.
 
TECH LEADS WILD CONFERENCE RACE: With two weeks left in the regular-season, the Hustlin' Owls control their own destiny in the race for the Cascade Conference title – with their 14-6 record holding a slim edge in the tightest race in league history. OIT holds a percentage point lead on UBC (11-5), while four teams – Bushnell (9-7), Lewis-Clark State (11-9), College of Idaho (8-8) and Corban (7-9) are separated by two games in the loss column – as the squads are looking to end an 11-year stranglehold on the regular-season title by LC Statet. The winner of the regular-season title will host the CCC Championships, set for May 6-8.
 
1 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: The Owls can clinch a spot in the CCC Championships with a victory this weekend – looking to lock down their 14th postseason appearance since 1971. OIT won the 1974 and 1982 Evergreen Conference South Division title, the 1981 Oregon Collegiate Conference title and the 2009 and 2010 NAIA West South Division crown. Tech qualified for five NAIA District 2 tournaments (1974, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1989), three NAIA Region I tournaments (2004, 2005, 2006), four NAIA West Tournaments (2009, 2010, 2013, 2017) and the 2021 CCC Championships.
 
BEST STARTS: The 27-15 start by the Hustlin' Owls is the third-best start in program history – trailing only the 1982 team that finished 28-14 and last season's team that opened 28-14. It is the fifth time a Tech team has had a .500-or-better record through 42 games – as the 2009 team (23-19) and 2010 team (22-20) joined the 1982, 2022 and 2023 teams with the stellar marks.
 
27-WIN SEASONS: With their win in Game 4 vs. Bushnell, the Owls clinched their fifth 27-win season in program history – joining the 2010 team (27 wins), 1982 team (28 wins), the 2022 team (30 wins) and the 2009 team (33 wins) in the elite club. With their win in Game 2 at Bushnell, OIT secured back-to-back winning seasons, something they had accomplished twice previously – as Danny Miles led the team to winning marks from 1975-77 and Howard Morris led the team to winning seasons in 1981 and 1982.
 
ORTIZ HAS BREAKOUT SERIES: Tech got a huge boost from Matthew Ortiz in the series at Bushnell, busting out of a 5-for-37 slump with his best weekend of 2023. The sophomore was 8-for-14 in the four games, finishing with two doubles and three RBI, adding five runs scored and three stolen bases – helping his batting average climb 26 points to .279. Ortiz currently leads the Owls and ranks No. 3 in the CCC with 39 RBI.
 
MORE WITH THE BATS: Tyler Horner extended his streak of consecutive games reaching base to 24 at Bushnell, though his hit streak was snapped at 14 games. Horner finished the series 5-for-14 with a double, triple and four RBI, walking four times – moving into the top spot in the CCC with 31 free passes. Outfielder Ka'ala Tam continued an offensive surge, going 6-for-16 with his team-leading fifth home run and six RBI. Over the past two series, Tam is 13-for-29 with a pair of homers and six RBI.
 
RUNS RECORD IN JEOPARDY: Korrey Siracusa is on the verge of breaking the single-season runs scored record, heading into the weekend with 54 runs on the year. Former All-American Ryson Mauricio holds the mark, scoring 55 runs during the 2009 season. Siracusa looks to break the hit-by-pitch record as well – as his 21 hit-by-pitches sits one behind the 2021 mark established by current coach, Kaleb Keelean.
 
BULLPEN KEY IN WINS: Both weekend wins in the Willamette Valley were keyed by quality appearances from the Owls bullpen. In Game 2, Braeden Bellum locked down Bushnell over two and a third innings – holding the Beacons to two hits and striking out six. The right-hander has allowed just one earned run over his last nine innings of work. In Game 4 Riley Cronin tossed the final four innings, limiting BU to one run in picking up his third win of 2023 to go along with a CCC-best five saves.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: OIT batters recorded a season-high 11 walks in the Game 2 win, with the Owls recording double-digit hits and runs in two games – pushing their season totals to 13 games with 10-plus runs and 23 games with 10-plus hits. Tech enters the weekend 7-6 in games decided by two runs or less, with the team 7-10 on the year when scoring five runs or less – but 20-5 when scoring at least six runs.
 
FIRST-PLACE ON THE LINE: The top-two teams in the conference meet this weekend in the Basin, as British Columbia makes the long trip south to take on the Owls. UBC is the hottest team in the circuit, winning 12 of their last 14 games and are coming off a series split at Division I Seattle University. The Canadian squad annually is one of the top teams in the Northwest – qualifying for the postseason every year since 2001 (minus the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to COVID), winning seven league tournament titles and advancing to the NAIA Championships on nine occasions. OIT split a 4-game series in March in Vancouver, but UBC holds a 90-29 all-time series edge, including a 36-18 mark in Klamath Falls.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – BRITISH COLUMBIA: Offense has been the key for the T-Birds (26-16, 11-5 CCC), as UBC ranks second in the circuit with 40 home runs on the year and ranks third in batting average (.308). Infielders Aaron Marsh (.358 8 HR 36 RBI), Mike Fitzsimmons (.354 8 HR 39 RBI) and Trent Lenihan (.306 3 HR 33 RBI), along with designated hitter Brandon Hupe (.275 4 HR 27 RBI), lead a deep and talented line-up. On the hill, the duo of Ryan Heppner (5-2 3.00 ERA) and Sean Heppner (5-3 3.14 ERA) have been key to the T-Birds success – combining for 125 strikeouts. Out of the pen, righties Daniel Orfaly (4-0 2.27 ERA) and Brendan Logan (2-0 1.38 ERA 1 SV) have been solid in leverage situations.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Corban remained alive in the postseason chase, taking 3-of-4 games from College of Idaho, while Lewis-Clark State swept a series at Eastern Oregon – as LC earned two 1-run road wins. This weekend, EOU heads to Corban, while Bushnell plays a crucial series at C of I.
 
SENIOR DAY: This Sunday, the five senior student-athletes on the 2023 OIT squad will be honored in a ceremony between games. Two-year seniors Matt Macias, Adam Jacques and Braeden Bellum will be joined by third-year senior Brendan Talonen and fifth-year senior Ian Peters in the special recognition.
 
THE STEEN FACTOR: Heading into the weekend, the Owls are 5-3 at home in 2023, improving 20-9 since moving their home field from Kiger Stadium to Steen Sports Park prior to the start of the 2022 season. During that time, OIT has four series wins, two series splits and just one series loss.
 
IN THE TOP-10: Eight players have cracked the Top-10 in the single-season record book – including Matthew Ortiz, who has tied the mark for sacrifice flies (5), with Korrey Siracusa No. 2 in both runs scored (54) and hit-by-pitches (21). Sean Tobin is No. 2 in sacrifice hits (9), Riley Cronin is No. 3 in saves (5), Lalo Barraza is No. 4 in wins (7), both Brodie Marino is No. 7 in sacrifice flies (4), Tyler Horner is No. 7 in sacrifice flies (4) and No. 8 in walks (31), with Ka'ala Tam No. 10 in stolen bases (16).
 
CAREER RECORDS: Nine players have moved their way into Top-25 in the OIT career record book. Patrick Arman is tied for the all-time wins (16) mark, ranking No. 2 in pitching starts (35), No. 3 in strikeouts (180), No. 4 in innings pitched (236.0), No. 10 in appearances (45) and No. 20 in complete games (4); Cody Dubray is No. 6 in strikeouts (155), No. 12 in pitching starts (25), No. 17 in appearances (41) and No. 19 in wins (9); Tyler Horner is No. 11 in hit-by-pitches (19), No. 16 in RBI (77), No. 19 in doubles (25), No. 21 in walks (48) and No. 23 in home runs (10); Matthew Ortiz is No. 15 in stolen bases (26), No. 17 in RBI (76), No. 21 in hits (127), No. 22 in at bats (391), No. 25 in doubles (23) and just outside the Top-25 in runs scored (68); Riley Cronin is No. 4 in saves (5); Ka'ala Tam ranks No. 16 in stolen bases (24); Sean Tobin is No. 6 in sacrifice hits (11); Korrey Siracusa is No. 9 in hit-by-pitches (21); Brodie Marino is No. 18 in hit-by-pitches (16) and Brendan Talonen is just outside the Top-25 in pitching appearances (35).
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Hustlin' Owls close out the regular-season with a non-conference home doubleheader with Simpson University next Saturday afternoon.