COMING UP: vs. Western Oregon (DH), Saturday, 11 a.m.; vs. Western Oregon (DH), Sunday, 11 a.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: The 4-game series with Western Oregon will be streamed live on the Owls Sports Network, with Mike Safford on the call. Live Stats will be provided through the OIT SIDEARM Stats Portal.
 
MULTIMEDIA: Photos from the 2024 season, including the preseason Media Day photo shoot, are posted online via the OIT Baseball Flickr Page, while highlight clips posted online via the new OIT Baseball YouTube Channel.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – WESTERN OREGON: OIT opens up the home schedule this weekend against the 2-time defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champs, Western Oregon, as the Wolves (3-5) are coming off 3-straight Division II regional tournament appearances. WOU opened the year with doubleheader losses to Westmont and San Francisco State, but rebounded with a series win over Eastern Oregon. The in-state rival is averaging seven runs per game, thanks to All-GNAC first baseman John Oleson (.364 2 HR 8 RBI), All-GNAC outfielder Curran Mitzel (.310 0 HR 6 RBI), along with second baseman Zach Valdez (.407 0 HR 6 RBI) and catcher Collin Irwin (.379 0 HR 3 RBI). On the mound, All-West Region pitcher Dylan Chalmers (1-1 3.72 ERA) is the reigning GNAC Pitcher of the Year, with Jacob Memmott (1-0 2.45 ERA) and Devin Bell (1-0 3.60 ERA) both off to quality starts in 2024.
 
HISTORY VS. THE WOLVES: Western and Tech were conference rivals from the start of the baseball program in the 1950s through 1982 – part of the Oregon Collegiate Conference and Evergreen Conference (full records from prior to 1979 are unavailable), before the Owls moved to the Timber-Prairie Athletic Conference in 1983. The two teams have not met on the diamond since 2002, with WOU holding a 23-18 series lead.
 
AGAINST THE DIVISION II: The series against Western has the Owls squaring off against members of the NCAA Division II – just the fourth series vs. the D-II since 2015. OIT holds a 19-53 mark against Division II opponents since 1979 – with the bulk of the games against teams from the California Collegiate Athletic Association. In addition, Tech has played 79 games against current NCAA Division I opponents – picking up nine wins since 1979 – including victories over Oregon State, Gonzaga, Nevada and Portland.
 
CHAPPLE NEAR PERFECT, WINS CCC HONOR: A dominant performance from Bronson Chapple on Friday afternoon earned the right-hander Cascade Conference Pitcher of the Week honors. The junior recorded Tech's first complete game shutout since 2019 and the Owls first 1-hit shutout since baseball returned in 2002 – taking a no-hit bid into the sixth inning. Chapple walked just one batter and struck out eight, earning his first win in an OIT uniform, while pushing his CCC-leading strikeout total to 22.
 
SHUTOUTS AND ONE-HITTERS: Since OIT reinstated the baseball program in 2002, the Owls have recorded two no-hitters and three one-hitters – including Bronson Chapple's masterpiece. Tom Nix tossed a no-hitter in 2004 vs. Simpson and Josh Strom threw a no-no vs. Simpson in 2006, while the Owls recorded combined 1-hitters in 2011 and 2023. The complete game shutout was the fifth for the Owls in the last 13 years, as Marc Heron tossed a 2-hit shutout in 2015, Adam Kandra tossed a pair of shutouts in 2015, with Logan Nousen defeating UBC with a 2-hit shutout in 2019.
 
ARMAN BREAKS STRIKEOUT MARK: With his third strikeout in the opener against UAV, senior right-hander Patrick Arman established a new OIT career record for strikeouts. The punch out was the 201st of his career, surpassing the previous mark of 2000, set by Trask Telesmanich from 2017-21. Arman is in reach of another school record – needing to throw four innings to set the program mark for innings pitched.
 
LONG RELIEVERS EARN WINS: Solid performances out of the bullpen secured wins for the Hustlin' Owls in California, as Tim Williams and Riley Cronin each provided quality outings. Williams earned the Game 3 victory, throwing three innings of 3-hit ball, holding UAV to just one earned run in the 11-7 win. Cronin followed in Game 4, throwing the final three-plus innings, limiting the Pioneers to three hits, striking out a pair, in the 6-4 victory.
 
VERGARA LEADS THE OFFENSE: The lone player to record hits in all four games at UAV was center fielder Alonzo Vergara – as the junior extended his hit streak to a team-best five games. On the trip, Vergara finished 6-for-14 with three runs scored, adding a home run and two RBI – improving his batting average to .342.
 
ORTIZ TIES HITS RECORD: Infielder Matthew Ortiz broke out of a 1-for-23 slump in a big way, going 5-for-6 with four RBI in the Owls Game 3 win over UAV. The junior became the first player in program history to record two 5-hit games and the first since Julien Jones had five hits against UBC in 2023. Ortiz added four stolen bases in the game – one of five players to record 4-or-more steals in a game (Kai Fong holds the record with five stolen bases against Simpson in 2017).
 
USING THEIR SPEED: Tech used prowess on the base paths to their advantage in California, combining to swipe 17 bases in 17 chances at Antelope Valley – including nine in the Game 3 win, the fifth time an Owls team has recorded 9-or-more steals in a game. For the year, OIT is 36-for-40 in stolen base chances, leading the CCC in steals – with Kyle Norton (8-for-8), Dane Bradshaw (6-for-7), Matthew Ortiz (6-for-8) and Patrick Barry (5-for-5) leading the way.
 
SOLID DEFENSE: The Owls have played stellar defense through the first 12 games of the season – ranking No. 12 in the NAIA with a .980 fielding percentage. OIT has made just seven errors on the year – with shortstop Patrick Barry recording 30 chances without an error, with right fielder Julien Jones posting four outfield assists.
 
SUCCESS AT STEEN: After playing their first 12 games on the road, OIT makes their home debut this weekend against Western. Since moving their home diamond to Steen Sports Park in 2022, the Hustlin' Owls have a combined 24-11 home record, including a 9-5 mark last season. Last year, the Owls played their first 26 games on the road, before making their home debut on March 25.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Last week, British Columbia had a great swing through California – including a 3-game sweep of nationally-ranked Hope International. Both Corban and Bushnell split against Division III programs, while Eastern Oregon lost 3-of-4 at Western Oregon and Northwest Nazarene swept a series with College of Idaho. This week, the CCC starts the first of three weekend of non-conference series – as UBC is at Bushnell, LC State is at C of I and Corban travels to EOU.
 
NAIA RECOGNIZES OIT: For the first time in program history, the Hustlin' Owls received votes in the preseason NAIA Top-25 poll, earning eight voter points from the 20 conference raters. Last season, OIT received votes in the Top-25 poll for the first time since the sport returned to the school in 2002, earning 30 voter points in the April 5 ballot. Two other CCC schools are in the Top-25, as Lewis-Clark State is ranked No. 3 and British Columbia received votes. In addition, two preseason opponents are in the Top-25 – No. 5 LSU-Shreveport and No. 22 Central Methodist (Mo.). OIT was picked third in the CCC Preseason Poll, trailing LC State and UBC, just ahead of both College of Idaho and Bushnell.
 
RECORD BOOK: Eight OIT players begin the season ranked in the Top-25 of the Owls Top-25 career record book. Patrick Arman holds the school record for wins (18) and strikeouts (201), ranking No. 2 in pitching starts (41) and innings pitched (267.2) and No. 6 in pitching appearances (51); Cody Dubray is No. 4 in strikeouts (179), No. 7 in pitching starts (29), No. 8 in pitching appearances (47), No. 14 in wins (10) and No. 15 in innings pitched (153.0); with Riley Cronin No. 4 in saves (5). Matthew Ortiz is No. 2 in sacrifice flies (10), No. 3 in stolen bases (37), No. 11 in RBI (96), No. 13 in hits (153), No. 17 in doubles (28) and at bats (469), No. 19 in triples (5), No. 20 in runs scored (86), No. 23 in games started (115) and No. 25 in games played (115); Tyler Horner is No. 8 in home runs (15), No. 10 in RBI (97) and walks (64), No. 11 in hit-by-pitches (21) and doubles (33), No. 15 in hits (152), No. 18 in at bats (445), No. 21 in games started (118), No. 23 in games played (118) and No. 24 in sacrifice flies (5); Korrey Siracusa is No. 2 in hit-by-pitches (29); Ka'ala Tam is No. 9 in stolen bases (31) and No. 19 in hit-by-pitches (16), with Julien Jones is No. 12 in triples (6).
 
LOOKING AHEAD: Tech continues their 8-game homestand, welcoming Eastern Oregon to the Basin for doubleheaders on March 2 and March 3.