COMING UP: Host NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round – Klamath Falls Bracket, Monday-Thursday.
COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: MONDAY | Game 1: No. 4-seed Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) vs. No. 5-seed Florida National, 1 p.m.; Game 2: No. 2-seed Vanguard (Calif.) vs. No. 3-seed St. Thomas (Fla.), 4 p.m. TUESDAY | Game 3: No. 1-seed Oregon Tech vs. Winner Game 1, 1 p.m.; Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 4 p.m. WEDNESDAY | Game 5: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 1 p.m.; Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3, 3:30 p.m.; Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 5, 6 p.m. THURSDAY | Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 7, 1 p.m.; Game 9: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 8 (if necessary), 45 min. after Game 8.
GAME DAY INFORMATION: Live Video ($10 per game, $25 tournament pass) of the NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round will be carried online via the
Owls Sports Network – with Mike Safford calling the action – with Live Stats for all games will be available through
OIT's SIDEARM Sports Portal, with all games to be broadcast on radio in the Klamath Basin on
104.3 and 960 Sports with Josh Eldredge on the call. Ticket prices per day for the event are $10.00 for adults ($25.00 for a tournament pass), $6.00 for seniors, military and veterans, with children $3.00.
WHAT'S AT STAKE AT THE OPENING ROUND: The winner of the 5-team Klamath Falls Bracket will earn an automatic bid to the NAIA Softball World Series, set for May 23-29, at the South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus, Ga.
HISTORY OF THE NAIA OPENING ROUND: In 2013, the NAIA moved from a 32-team final site (Pool Play with eight pods of four teams and an 8-team single-elimination bracket) to a 40-team tournament with 10 Opening Round sites with four teams – with the winners advancing to the NAIA Softball World Series. This year, the tournament has expanded further, with 48 teams in the field – with eight Opening Round sites hosting five teams, while the Top-2 seeds in the tournament hosting 4-team brackets.
OPENING ROUND SITES: Along with Klamath Falls, other venues picked to host the Opening Round include Williamsburg, Ky. (University of the Cumberlands), Lawrenceville, Ga. (Georgia Gwinnett College), Indianapolis, Ind. (Marian University), Sioux Center, Iowa (Northwestern College), Oklahoma City, Okla. (Oklahoma City University), San Antonio, Tex. (Our Lady of the Lake University), Chickasha, Okla. (University of Science & Arts) and Hattiesburg, Miss. (William Carey University). Two of the sites will have a team other than the host as the No. 1-seed – as Eastern Oregon is the top-seed in Lawrenceville and Jessup is the top-seed in Hattiesburg.
OWLS RANKED NO. 5 IN FINAL POLL: The Lady Owls close the 2024 season ranked No. 5 in the final NAIA Top-25 poll of the season – as the Top-7 spots in the ranking remained in the same spot. It was the 20th-straight poll OIT has been ranked in the Top-10 and the 25th-straight poll in the Top-25.
POSTSEASON STREAK CONTINUES: 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. With the CCC regular-season title, the OIT clinched their tenth-straight NAIA National Tournament appearance, with the team looking for their fifth-straight trip to the NAIA Softball World Series.
40-WIN SEASONS: The Owls improved to 43-9 during the Cascade Conference Championships, their 12th season with 40-or-more wins. OIT has recorded 12th-straight 30-win seasons, while logging 50-or-more wins each of the last two years (recording a school record 54 wins in 2023).
HOME SWEET HOME: The Lady Owls head into the Klamath Falls Bracket with a 23-2 home record and will begin 2025 with a string of 16-straight Cascade Conference home series wins. Since the all-turf facility opened, Tech has a stellar 104-15 record on their own diamond – including victories in 81 of the last 87 home games.
TECH FINISHES THIRD IN THE CCC TOURNAMENT: After winning the 2021, 2022 and 2023 Cascade Conference Tournament titles, the Lady Owls had their streak snapped – taking third in a weather-plagued 2024 tourney at Stilwell Stadium. OIT dropped a second-round game to rival Southern Oregon and were relegated to the elimination bracket, with Day 2 postponed due to a snowstorm. Tech battled frigid temperatures to knock out College of Idaho and British Columbia, but SOU ended the Owls tournament run in the semifinals. Second-seed Eastern Oregon won their first league crown since 2016, topping Southern 6-5 in the title game. EOU, by virtue of their title, earned the league's second automatic bid to the NAIA Tournament, with both Southern and C of I earning at-large bids.
MICK TIES LEAGUE HITS RECORD: Kaila Mick continued to etch her name in record books – surpassing C of I's Haley Loffer for the CCC's all-time runs mark, heading into the NAIA Tournament with 258 career runs scored. The grad student has tied the CCC's all-time hits mark, as she and SOU's Kelsey Randall each have 336 career hits. Mick, who finished 5-for-12 with four doubles, a triple and four RBI in the CCC Tournament, leads the NAIA in triples (school record 11), while her career at bats, runs scored and hits totals each rank in the Top-10 in NAIA history.
KLUM EXTENDS HIT STREAK: Outfielder
Lexi Klum continued her last season success, combining to go 5-for-13 in the CCC Tournament, extending a career-best hit streak to 13 games. The senior heads into the NAIA Tournament with career-best numbers – a .386 average, eight homers and 51 RBI.
MORE WITH THE BATS: Tech got solid production at the top and bottom of the lineup in the CCC Tournament, as
Zoe Allen and
Malia Mick had quality weekends. Allen led the team, going 6-for-14 with three runs scored in the tournament, with Mick going 5-for-12, including her first career 3-hit game.
MILBOURNE IN ELITE COMPANY: The Owls used a mammoth 3-run home run from
Puakea Milbourne to provide the offensive in a 3-0 elimination game victory over C of I – as the sophomore pushed her team leading totals to 12 homers and 63 RBI. Milbourne becomes the 15th OIT player to hit 12 homers in a season and is the seventh player to post 63-or-more RBI. With an RBI single vs. UBC, Milbourne pushed her career RBI total to 100.
ANOTHER SHUTOUT: Battling temperatures in the 30s and wind-chills in the mid-20s,
Kacie Schmidt continued to show why she is one of the top arms in the NAIA – limiting College of Idaho to three hits in a 3-0 Sunday victory in the CCC Tournament. It marked the junior's eighth shutout of the season and the 18th shutout by the Lady Owls this season. Schmidt heads into the Opening Round six strikeouts shy of the 400 mark for her career.
PARKER TIES SAVES MARK: Tech turned to freshman
Alli Parker to close out their victory over British Columbia on Sunday, with the right-hander getting the final eight outs to log her fifth save of the season. Parker joins Jackie Imhof as the only OIT pitchers to record five saves in a season.
10-TIME COACH OF THE YEAR: The dean of CCC softball coaches,
Greg Stewart was honored as CCC Coach of the Year for the third-straight sason and the tenth time in his 20-year career at Tech. Stewart, who picked up his 700th career win in February, previously won the award in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2022 and 2023.
RECORD BOOK: Nine 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 (237), games started (237), at bats (786), runs scored (250), hits (319) and triples (24), ranking No. 2 in stolen bases (75), doubles (68) and walks (90), No. 3 in RBI (194), No. 4 in hit-by-pitches (35), No. 7 in sacrifice flies (9), No. 17 in home runs (19) 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 (133), No. 13 in sacrifice hits (13), No. 14 in doubles (42), No. 18 in triples (6), No. 19 in walks (49) and in runs scored (119) and No. 23 in home runs (16) and hits (174);
Lexi Klum is No. 3 in triples (12), No. 10 in sacrifice hits (14), No. 13 in RBI (127), No. 15 in doubles (35), No. 16 in stolen bases (30) and No. 23 in runs scored (113), home runs (16) and in hits (174);
Zoe Allen is No. 4 in stolen bases (50), No. 7 in sacrifice hits (16), No. 13 in walks (57), No. 15 in runs scored (134), ranking just outside the Top-25 in hits (167);
Nita Cook is No. 7 in stolen bases (39), No. 10 in sacrifice hits (14) and No. 12 in triples (7), with
Puakea Milbourne No. 24 in RBI (100) and just outside the Top-25 in home runs (15). In the circle,
Mckenzie Staub is No. 2 in wins (79), No. 3 in games started (98) and strikeouts (436), No. 4 in innings pitched (561.1) and appearances (121), No. 6 in shutouts (14), No. 8 in complete games (40) and No. 9 in saves (3), while also ranking No. 16 in hit-by-pitches (11) and No. 22 in triples (5);
Kacie Schmidt is No. 3 in shutouts (17), No. 4 in strikeouts (394), No. 6 in wins (53) and appearances (99), No. 7 in saves (4), No. 8 in games started (63) and No. 9 in complete games (38) and innings pitched (414.2); with
Alli Parker No. 3 in saves (5).
LOOKING AHEAD: The winner of the Klamath Falls Bracket will head to the NAIA Softball World Series in Columbus, Ga., from May 23-29.
