COMING UP: vs. Pacific (DH), Sunday, 12 p.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: Sunday's doubleheader will be carried live on the Owls Sports Network with Mike Safford on the play-by-play, while Live Stats will be available through OIT's SIDEARM Sports Portal.
 
MULTIMEDIA: Photos from the 2024 season, including the Softball Media Day, have been posted online via the OIT Softball Flickr Page, while highlight clips posted online via the new OIT Softball YouTube Channel.
 
EARLIEST HOME OPENER: Over the last 30 seasons, the Lady Owls have opened the season at home just twice – hosting Willamette in 1996 and Corban in 2004 – with the February 4 date against Pacific the earliest game ever played in the Basin. Over the past four seasons, Tech has opened their home schedule in February – playing three games vs. College of Idaho in 2020, playing 4-game series vs. Northwest in 2021 and 2022, while playing a 3-game series with Corban last season – starting on Feb. 24. OIT will take an 11-game home win streak in the month of February into Sunday's contest.
 
ALTERNATE SITE: OIT has Lithia & Driveway Fields in Medford available on standby this Sunday in case inclement weather forces a site change to the doubleheader with Pacific.
 
OPENING DAY: Dating back to the 1994 season (OIT had a softball program from 1976-93, but have incomplete records from those seasons), the Lady Owls are 16-14 on Opening Day, including a 4-game win streak from 1995-98.
 
EARLIEST STARTS: OIT will open the 2024 season on Feb. 4, marking the third-earliest starting date in program history. During the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, the Owls began the year on Feb. 1 – dropping a doubleheader at Pacific University, while last season, the squad split a Feb. 2 doubleheader at Ottawa in Arizona. Tech has played February games every season since 2005, with the latest starting date occurring in 1994, as the squad traveled to Humboldt State (now Cal Poly Humboldt) on March 20.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – PACIFIC: The season opener features old district rivals, as Pacific makes the trek to the Basin for the first games under new head coach Shelly Prochaska. The Boxers (7-29 in 2023) had a major roster overhaul, as their top four hitters, along with their top two pitchers are not back this season. Of the returners, infielders Samantha Madsen (.256 1 HR 12 RBI), Carli Zanassi (.188 2 HR 13 RBI) and Chloe Knepp (.182 3 HR 10 RBI; 0-0 9.00 ERA in 13 IP). Pacific has a bevy of new student-athletes on the roster – including three Clark CC transfers – outfielder Sydney Carter (.289 0 HR 4 RBI), third baseman Addison MacPherson (.398 10 HR 30 RBI) and pitcher Haleigh Colfelt (4-15 8.46 ERA; .286 0 HR 9 RBI).
 
HISTORY VS. THE BOXERS: The Sunday doubleheader marks the 21st and 22nd meetings between the schools, dating back three decades. OIT and Pacific last played in 2022, with the Owls earning a doubleheader sweep in Forest Grove. The clubs met in the 1994, 1995 and 1998 regional tournaments – with the Boxers eliminating Tech in 1994 and 1995, while the Owls returned the favor in the 1998 regional semifinals.
 
AGAINST THE NORTHWEST CONFERENCE / DIVISION III: Pacific competes in the Northwest Conference, part of the NCAA Division III – an 8-team softball conference – with all eight teams former members of the NAIA (moved to the D-III following the 1998 season). The Owls have a combined 36-16-1 all-time mark against Division III foes – posting winning records against eight of the 10 teams they've faced (only losing records are against Chapman and Linfield).
 
OIT TOPS THE PRESEASON NAIA TOP-25: For the third time in program history, Oregon Tech has earned the No. 1 ranking in the Preseason NAIA Softball Top-25 Coaches' Poll, released in November by the national office. The Lady Owls, coming off a school-record 54-win season and a trip to the NAIA national championship game, were the unanimous selection by the 19 conference raters. Previously, OIT earned top-billing in the preseason NAIA poll in both 2012 and 2022, with the ranking the ninth time the Lady Owls have earned a No. 1 ranking. It is the Owls fifth-straight polling period as the No. 1-ranked team and the 20th-straight week in the Top-10. Southern Oregon was ranked No. 2, followed by Cumberlands, Georgia Gwinnett and Marian. Two other Cascade Conference teams were in the poll – No. 13 College of Idaho and No. 24 Eastern Oregon. Interestingly, OIT was picked to win the CCC title in the annual league coaches' poll, but not a unanimous pick – receiving seven of the 10 first-place nods. SOU took two first-place votes and finished second, while C of I took the final first-place vote and was third.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: More than half the CCC will open the season this weekend – with teams going three different directions. College of Idaho has played two series in Arizona (sweeping Park Gilbert, dropping a pair to Arizona Christian), with the Yotes joined in the desert by Bushnell and Carroll, playing a round-robin tournament against OUAZ, Benedictine Mesa, Vanguard, Embry-Riddle and ACU. Both Eastern Oregon and Southern Oregon have headed to Sacramento for games against Jessup and Simpson, while Providence will play inside the Minot Dome in North Dakota, meeting Dakota Wesleyan, Minot State and Concordia-Morehead.
 
EXPERIENCED LADY OWLS SEARCHING FOR THIRD-STRAIGHT CCC CROWN: Coming off a school-record 54-win season, their second-straight CCC regular-season title, the third-straight CCC Tournament title and fourth-straight trip to the NAIA Softball World Series, the Lady Owls are hungry heading into 2024 – after falling in the NAIA national title game for the second time in three seasons. Unlike last season, when the club had to replace five starters – Tech returns 11 players from last season's record-setting squad – including seven starting position players and their entire pitching staff. The entire infield is back, led by 2-time All-America shortstop Kaila Mick (.387 4 HR 48 RBI, 25 SB) and a trio of sophomores – third baseman Addison Kachnik (.284 5 HR 34 RBI), second baseman Nita Cook (.336 2 HR 35 RBI, 18 SB) and gold-glove first baseman Puakea Milbourne (.320 3 HR 37 RBI). OIT must replace All-America right fielder Maggie Buckholz, but both left fielder Zoe Allen (.385 1 HR 29 RBI, 22 SB) and center fielder Lexi Klum (.341 2 HR 44 RBI, 9 3B 15 SB) were All-CCC picks. All-Americans Kacie Schmidt (29-2 1.76 ERA, 195 K) and Mckenzie Staub (24-7 1.90 ERA, 143 K) anchor a deep pitching staff, with 2-time All-CCC catcher Jayce Seavert (.301 0 HR 44 RBI) among the top defensive backstops in the NAIA.
 
RECORD BOOK: Heading into the 2024 season, seven players currently sit inside the OIT career Top-25 record book (records do not include the 2020 COVID shortened season), led by Kaila Mick, who ranks among the Top-25 in 14 categories – No. 2 in stolen bases (62) and triples (13), No. 3 in runs scored (188), No. 4 in hit-by-pitches (28), No. 6 in walks (70), No. 8 in hits (237), No. 9 in doubles (46), No. 11 in RBI (134), No. 13 in at bats (615) and sacrifice flies (7), No. 16 in games started (185), No. 22 in sacrifice hits (10), No. 23 in games played (185) and No. 25 in home runs (14). Jayce Seavert holds the hit-by-pitch record (49), is No. 2 in sacrifice flies (11), No. 20 in RBI (108), No. 22 in home runs (16) and sacrifice hits (10), while ranking No. 25 in runs scored (106), doubles (31) and triples (4); Lexi Klum is No. 7 in triples (10), No. 16 in sacrifice hits (11) and No. 22 in stolen bases (22); Zoe Allen is No. 13 in stolen bases (33) and No. 22 in sacrifice hits (10); with Nita Cook No. 16 in sacrifice hits (11). In the circle, Mckenzie Staub is No. 4 in wins (61), No. 6 in appearances (94), games started (75), innings pitched (455.1) and strikeouts (358), No. 7 in shutouts (10) and No. 8 in complete games (36); with Kacie Schmidt No. 11 in shutouts (9), No. 12 in strikeouts (228), No. 14 in wins (31) and appearances (65), No. 15 in complete games (20) and No. 18 in games started (38).
 
LOOKING AHEAD: Tech will head to Arizona next week, playing three doubleheaders – at OUAZ (Feb. 8), vs. Hope International (Feb. 9 at ACU) and at Arizona Christian (Feb. 10).