KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. –
Brendan Talonen provided Oregon Tech a key start when they needed it, throwing six shutout innings, as the Owls salvaged the final game of a 4-game series with Corban to split the weekend set at Steen Sports Park.
Ka'ala Tam finished the day 5-for-7 with four runs scored for the Hustlin' Owls (25-13, 12-4 CCC), as OIT earned a 12-2 victory in the nightcap after the visitors held off a late rally for a 3-2 victory in Game 1.
"This is a hard game and our conference is good," said OIT head coach
Jacob Garsez. "We earned the right to be relevant, but have to recognize that we haven't just won games, we've won games with discipline and toughness."
Talonen dominated the Warriors (10-24, 4-12) line-up, limiting the opponent to three singles – without allowing a runner to reach third base. The right-hander retired the final 10 batters he faced in earning his fourth win.
"Brendan was light out," Garsez said. "I am proud of the work he's put in and it was a nice job by our guys rebounding in Game 2."
OIT scored four first inning runs and never looked back – loading the bases with no outs – with
Bryce Petrilla lining a 2-run single to put the Owls on the board.
Dane Bradshaw added a sacrifice fly and
Brodie Marino blooped an RBI single to cap the inning. The lead grew to 7-0 in the third on an
Adam Jacques RBI single, with a sixth inning Petrilla RBI double and a Tam 2-run homer extending the margin to 11-0.
Corban cracked the scoreboard in the seventh on a 2-run homer from Chris Grayson, but Tech ended the game due to the mercy-rule in the bottom of the inning – as
Tyler Horner lined a walk-off RBI single.
Tam, Petrilla, Jacques and
Julien Jones all had 2-hit games in the victory for OIT – as the Owls secured their fifth 25-win season in program history.
Game 1 was dominated by Warriors starter Nate Martin, as the righty threw eight innings of 7-hit ball, striking out four. He left with a 3-1 lead – as Corban scored a fourth inning run on a double-play ball and two sixth inning runs on bases-loaded walks.
OIT cut into the margin in the seventh as
Alonzo Vergara doubled and scored on a
Sean Tobin bad-hop RBI single.
In the ninth, the Owls made it interesting – loading the bases on singles from Tam, Petrilla and Vergara with no outs. Reliever Jaren Childs survived the rally – striking out Horner, getting Jones to ground into an RBI fielders' choice and fanning
Korrey Siracusa with the tying run at third to end the game.
Tam was 3-for-4, with Horner and Vergara each adding two hits. Reliever
Dylan Huddle had his best performance of the season, throwing three shutout innings, striking out three. Brad Pellkofer led the Warriors with a 3-for-4 game.
Tech holds a one-game lead over British Columbia in the CCC standings heading into next weekend's 4-game series at Bushnell, with doubleheaders set for Friday and Saturday.
