COMING UP: at Carroll College (DH), Friday, 11 a.m. (MDT); at Carroll College (DH), Saturday, 11 a.m. (MDT)

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: Live Video of the 4-game series at Carroll College will be carried online via Carroll's YouTube Channel, with Live Stats for all games will be available through OIT's SIDEARM Sports Portal.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – CARROLL: The final road trip of the regular-season has Tech take the 830-mile drive from the Basin to Helena, Mont., facing a Carroll College team that is in position to clinch a postseason berth. The Fighting Saints (17-19, 10-11 CCC) have lost 5-of-7 – but in that stretch, claimed a key 3-0 victory over Eastern Oregon – riding a team batting average of .277 and 21 home runs, with the pitching staff recording a solid 4.24 ERA. The pitching tandem of Kennedy Venner (9-10 2.86 ERA) and Abbie Amend (5-6 4.66 ERA) lead Carroll in the circle, while a veteran offensive line-up is paced by third-baseman Kenna Thomas (.369 6 HR 22 RBI), catcher Alyssa Lybbert (.342 0 HR 14 RBI), first-baseman Kaitlynn Ayers (.329 4 HR 13 RBI) and shortstop Morgan Sunchild (.327 4 HR 25 RBI). OIT swept the series in 2023 and hold a 26-6 all-time series lead – but are just 9-4 in Montana, with the only sweep on the Saints home field coming in 2020.
 
PATIENCE AT THE PLATE: The top offensive team in the CCC continued to put up big numbers against Warner Pacific, combining for 40 hits in the series – including 10 doubles. More importantly, OIT drew 10 walks and struck out just one time, improving their team batting average to .367 – No. 2 in the NAIA.
 
STEALING FRENZY: OIT recorded a season-high six stolen bases in Game 4 of the series with WPU – their highest stolen base total since swiping seven bases at Corban in 2022. Tech finished 13-for-13 in stolen base chances in the series, with three players currently recording double-digit steals on the season – Nita Cook (15), Zoe Allen (14) and Kaila Mick (12)
 
DEFENSIVE MINDED: The Owls continue to play stellar defense, recording a Cascade Conference best .976 fielding percentage through 40 games. OIT ranks No. 5 in the NAIA with the current mark just off the school-record .977 fielding percentage set by the 2022 team.
 
COOK EXTENDS HIT STREAK TO 21: Sophomore Nita Cook continued to live on base, hitting safely in all four weekend games – extending her team-best hitting streak to 21 games. The 21-game run by the second baseman is tied for the second-longest in program history (joining Lisa Erwert and Shauna Collins with 21-game hit streaks), with Cook trailing only the 40-game hit streak from Ali Graham in 2018. Cook finished the weekend 6-for-11 with two doubles, a triple, four runs scored and four stolen bases – upping her batting average to .437 and posting a league-best 48 runs scored.
 
MICK CLOSING IN ON RECORDS: Shortstop Kaila Mick continues her monster season at the plate – going a combined 5-for-14 with two doubles, two RBI, three runs scored and three stolen bases in the Warner Pacific series – heading into the Carroll series with a league-best .504 batting average. Mick surpassed the 300-hit mark for her OIT career and currently sits 15 hits away from breaking Southern Oregon's Kelsey Randall's all-time Cascade Conference hits record and 10 runs scored from breaking College of Idaho's Haley Loffer's runs scored mark.
 
MORE WITH THE BATS: Tech got production throughout the lineup, as Zoe Allen, Addison Kachnik, Mckenzie Staub and Puakea Milbourne each had a strong series. Allen finished the weekend 6-for-14 with a double, three runs scored and three RBI, with Kachnik going 4-for-8 with her first home run of the season and four RBI. Staub was 5-for-9 with a double and four RBI, while Milbourne took over the CCC RBI lead, going 5-for-11 with two doubles, four runs scored and six RBI – pushing her season total to 48.
 
SCHMIDT CONTINUES RUN: Kacie Schmidt continued her stellar string of starts, finishing the weekend 2-0 with a 0.57 ERA in three appearances – dropping her team-leading ERA to 1.39 – while running her personal win streak to 14 games. The junior recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts in a Game 1 win – the most by an OIT pitcher since Sarah Abramson fanned 14 against Cottey in the 2022 NAIA Tournament – while limiting WP to one hit in a Game 3 win. Over her last 45 innings of work, Schmidt has a 0.39 ERA, holding opponents to 22 hits and striking out 48 batters.
 
BACK-TO-BACK SAVES: OIT pitchers did not record a complete game in the Warner Pacific series – with the Lady Owls recording three saves in a series for the first time in program history. Last Friday, Alli Parker was the benefactor – tossing a 1-2-3 inning in Game 1 to earn the save, while striking out four batters in an inning and a third to pick up a save in Game 2. It was the first time since 2015 vs. Concordia that the Owls posted saves in consecutive games. In Game 4, it was Kacie Schmidt, who entered following an hour-long lightning delay, working out of a bases-loaded, 2-out jam, recording the final seven outs in order for her third save of the season.
 
30-WIN SEASONS: Tech heads into the weekend with a 33-7 record, securing their 12th-straight 30-win season. The Lady Owls have recorded 22 seasons with at least 30 wins, recorded 11 seasons with at least 40 wins, while logging 50-or-more wins each of the last two years (recording a school record 54 wins in 2023).
 
HOME COOKING: The Lady Owls improved to 17-0 record at Stilwell Stadium with their sweep of Warner Pacific, recording their 15th-straight Cascade Conference home series win. Since the all-turf facility opened, Tech has a stellar 98-13 record on their own diamond – including wins in 75 of the last 79 home games.
 
TECH CLIMBS TO NO. 4: The Lady Owls climbed one spot to No. 4 in the latest NAIA Top-25 coaches' poll, released April 3. It is the second-straight poll that OIT has moved up one spot – trailing unanimous No. 1 Our Lady of the Lake, No. 2 Oklahoma City and No. 3 Central Methodist. Three other CCC teams are in the poll – No. 10 Southern Oregon, No. 15 Eastern Oregon and No. 19 College of Idaho – with preseason opponents Jessup (No. 8) and Hope International (No. 12) also in the poll. The Owls were rated No. 3 in the second NAIA West ARC rating, which determines seeding and at-large bids to the NAIA Championships – trailing only Jessup and EOU – ahead of HIU and SOU, while boasting the second-best strength-of-schedule in the NAIA.

PLAYOFF SPOT CLINCHED: With their win on April 13 at UBC, the Lady Owls clinched a spot in the 6-team Cascade Conference Championships – their 13th-straight playoff appearance and their 28th postseason appearance in the last 31 years. OIT has advanced to 9-straight NAIA National Tournaments and made 4-straight trips to the NAIA Softball World Series. The CCC regular-season champion will host the CCC Championships, set for May 3-5, while the Owls have placed a bid to host the Opening Round of the NAIA National Championships, with the host selection to be made on May 1.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Four teams are within one game of first-place in the Cascade Conference with two weekends remaining in the regular-season, as Eastern Oregon and OIT hold a half-game lead on College of Idaho, with Southern Oregon a game back. Last week, C of I swept Providence, while EOU took 3-of-4 at Carroll, SOU took 3-of-4 from UBC and Bushnell won 3-of-4 with Corban. This week, Southern heads to C of I, Providence is at UBC, Corban is off to Warner Pacific, Bushnell travels to EOU, with OIT making the trek to Carroll.
 
RECORD BOOK: Eight players currently sit inside the OIT career Top-25 record book (career records do not include the 2020 COVID shortened season), led by Kaila Mick, who ranks among the Top-25 in 14 categories – holding the school record for games played (225), games started (225), at bats (748), runs scored (233) and triples (21), ranking No. 2 in stolen bases (74), doubles (61), walks (85), and hits (304), No. 4 in hit-by-pitches (32) and RBI (181), No. 7 in sacrifice flies (9), No. 20 in home runs (17) and No. 24 in sacrifice hits (10). Jayce Seavert holds the hit-by-pitch record (57), is No. 2 in sacrifice flies (12), No. 12 in RBI (128), No. 14 in doubles (38), No. 18 in sacrifice hits (12), No. 21 in walks (47), No. 22 in runs scored (116), No. 23 in triples (5) and in home runs (16), ranking just outside the Top-25 in hits (155); Lexi Klum is No. 3 in triples (12), No. 11 in sacrifice hits (13), No. 16 in RBI (113), No. 18 in stolen bases (26), No. 24 in runs scored (108), ranking just outside the Top-25 in hits (154), doubles (29) and home runs (15); Zoe Allen is No. 5 in stolen bases (47), No. 7 in sacrifice hits (15), No. 16 in walks (50), No. 17 in runs scored (121), ranking just outside the Top-25 in hits (155); with Nita Cook No. 11 in sacrifice hits (13), No. 12 in triples (7) and No. 14 in stolen bases (33). In the circle, Mckenzie Staub is No. 3 in games started (93) and strikeouts (409), No. 4 in wins (74), innings pitched (525.1) and appearances (114), No. 7 in shutouts (11) and No. 8 in saves (3) and complete games (38); Kacie Schmidt is No. 3 in shutouts (16), No. 6 in saves (4), No. 7 in strikeouts (350), wins (48) and appearances (92), No. 8 in games started (56) and No. 9 in complete games (34) and innings pitched (375.1); with Alli Parker No. 8 in saves (3).
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Lady Owls close out the regular-season next weekend at home, hosting College of Idaho for a 4-game series on April 26-27.