KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Dominant pitching from Kacie Schmidt and Mckenzie Staub and four extra-base hits and five RBI from Kaila Mick helped Oregon Tech clinch a share of their third-straight Cascade Conference regular-season title, as the Lady Owls swept a doubleheader with College of Idaho at Stilwell Stadium.
 
The 6-2 and 5-0 wins by the No. 5-ranked Lady Owls (39-7, 23-3 CCC) lowered their Magic Number to 1 to clinch the outright CCC title and host bid for next week's CCC Tournament – needing a win in tomorrow's opener or a loss by Eastern Oregon at Southern Oregon. OIT improved to 19-0 at home this season and extended their overall win streak to 12.
 
Schmidt took a 2-hit shutout into the seventh inning of Game 1, finishing the game with 11 strikeouts in winning her 17th-straight decision, while Staub tossed her third-straight shutout in Game 2, limiting a potent C of I (31-13, 19-6) to three hits.
 
Tech used two big innings to win the opener – batting around for four second inning runs and adding a pair in the fourth. Lexi Klum led off the second with a double and scored when a throw from third baseman Lindsay Jones eluded first base on a bunt from Jayce Seavert. Following a sacrifice, Addison Kachnik scored pinch-runner Olivia Sprague with a line-drive single off the centerfield wall. Mick would plate a run with a bases-loaded walk followed by Puakea Milbourne scoring a run on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.
 
Two innings later, Zoe Allen walked with two outs, with Mick lining her school-record tenth triple of the season into the left-center gap. Milbourne followed with an RBI single to push the margin to 6-0.
 
The Yotes made it interesting in the seventh, as Lolo Walker lined her league-leading 15th homer and an out later, Katelyn Powell hit an opposite field homer to cut the margin to 6-2. C of I would get the tying run in the on-deck circle, but Schmidt struck out the final two batters to claim her 20th win.
 
Mick and Milbourne were 2-for-3 and Nita Cook and Klum each were 2-for-4 in the win, while Walker finished 3-for-3 for C of I.
 
Game 2 was a pitchers' duel between Staub and the Yotes Annie Polster through four innings – as Staub worked out of a third inning bases-loaded jam and Polster stranded runners in scoring position in the first and third innings.
 
Things changed in the OIT fifth, as the Owls got a pair of singles and a sacrifice bunt to place runners at second and third. Pinch hitter Marla Goodspeed hit a slow roller to the left side, scoring Sprague with the go-ahead run. Mick followed with the big-blow, a long 3-run homer to right and Klum scored on a C of I error to extend the lead to 5-0.
 
Staub did the rest, retiring eight of the final nine batters for the victory.
 
Mick was 2-for-4 in the win – moving six hits and one run scored away from the all-time CCC career record in both categories.
 
OIT closes out the regular-season tomorrow at 11 a.m. with Games 3 and 4 of the series – with the Owls honoring their three seniors (Klum, Staub, Mick) in a ceremony between the games.