COMING UP: at La Sierra, Sunday, 2:30 p.m.; at Westcliff, Tuesday, 6 p.m.; vs. Bethesda (at HIU), Wednesday (2/5), 11 a.m.; at No. 2 Hope International, Wednesday (2/5), 2 p.m.; at No. 2 Hope International (DH), Friday (2/7), 11 a.m.; at The Master's, Saturday (2/8), 11 a.m.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: All seven games during the Hustlin' Owls trip to California will feature Live Stats through OIT's SIDEARM Stats Platform, with Live Video links posted online through the OIT Baseball Homepage.
 
MULTIMEDIA: Photos from the 2025 season, including the Owls Media Day session, are posted online via the OIT Baseball Flickr Page, with highlight clips and videos from the season will be posted on the OIT Baseball YouTube Channel.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – LA SIERRA: OIT opens the season Sunday afternoon against La Sierra, as the Eagles (19-19 in 2024) are in their final season as members of the California Pacific Conference (moving next year to the Great Southwest Athletic Conference). LSU must replace their top hitter from last season—Anthony Thomas (.379 10 HR 34 RBI), but return all-star infielder Stephen Chavez (.333 2 HR 31 RBI), along with outfielders Bobby Benevidez (.308 1 HR 11 RBI) and Colin Mitchell (.240 3 HR 13 RBI). On the mound, starter Kyle Schelling (3-2 5.06 ERA) is back, along with Nico Masucci (2-3 7.31 ERA) and Henry Parada (1-1 5.21 ERA). The teams last met during the 2020 season, when the clubs split a pre-COVID doubleheader.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – WESTCLIFF: Game 2 of the trip is under the lights at Westcliff, as the Warriors (3-1) opened the new season with a strong performance at the Coach Calderone Classic in Arizona - defeating No. 25 ranked MidAmerica Nazarene. Outfielders Micah Wallette (.286 1 HR 22 RBI) and Nick Malvini (.271 4 HR 31 RBI) return from last season's 22-23 club, along with infielders Zane Parmenter (.336 0 HR 24 RBI) and Ian Avalos (.292 2 HR 30 RBI). Catcher Kolby Wagatsuma (.333 1 HR 21 RBI) works with two quality arms - lefty Eddie Rios (8-4 3.28 ERA, 110 K) and righty Camden Cooper (5-3 4.99 ERA). It is the first ever meeting between the schools.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW—BETHESDA: Tech will play a doubleheader next Wednesday, starting with a match-up against Bethesda University of California, a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association. The Flames (0-4) opened the season dropping 4-straight at OUAZ, with the team coming off a 10-37 campaign. BUC returns their top-four run producers - designated hitter Aidan Bustillos (.256 0 HR 19 RBI), infielder Miguel Santos (.330 0 HR 13 RBI) and outfielders Fabian Trujillo (.253 0 HR 13 RBI) and Ryan Pruett (.200 3 HR 16) - along with pitchers Jeremiah Duran (4-6 6.02 ERA) and Larry Salgado (0-4 11.45 ERA). The Owls last played the Flames in 2016.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW—HOPE INTERNATIONAL: A split 3-game series against the defending NAIA national champions await the Owls, as OIT meets No. 2-ranked Hope International on Wednesday and Friday. The Royals (45-16 in 2024) hit .327 as a team with 88 home runs, but have to replace 7-of-8 position players, including NAIA World Series MVP J.J. Cruz (.426 17 HR 85 RBI) - returning only outfielders Amari Bartee (.343 9 HR 41 RBI, 21 SB) and Mario Tostado (.236 1 HR 19 RBI). Top pitchers Trey Seeley (11-3 3.73 ERA, 135 K) and Josh Landry (5-2 5.06 ERA) return for the Great Southwest Athletic Conference club, along with reliever Boom Ward (0-1 2.83 ERA). It marks the first time the two teams have met on the diamond.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW—THE MASTER'S: The week in the Los Angeles metro closes next Saturday vs. The Master's, as the Mustangs (23-19 in 2024) look to improve on a 8-16 record in the Great Southwest Athletic Conference from 2024. TMU returns 5-of-9 regulars from their everyday lineup, including catcher Ty Beck (.299 9 HR 38 RBI) and the infield tandem of Cason Brownell (.283 3 HR 23 RBI) and Kobe Katayama (.254 2 HR 20 RBI), along with two pitchers from their rotation—J.T. Friesen (2-3 6.43 ERA) and Carson Knapp (4-6 4.11 ERA). The Owls and Mustangs have met seven previous times, with TMU traveling to Klamath Falls in 2021, sweeping a weekend series from Tech.
 
SEASON OPENERS: Since the 1979 season, the Owls are 10-26 in their season opening game – winning back-to-back games during the 2006-07 and 2017-18 seasons. From 1979-86, Tech began the year exclusively against NCAA Division I competition, including a 6-5 victory over Oregon State in 1986. Last season, OIT was swept in a 4-game series against now NCAA Division II foe Jessup – all by three runs or less.
 
ANOTHER PRESEASON, ANOTHER TRIP TO CALIFORNIA: Preseason games in California is a staple for the OIT squad, as the Owls have made the trip south for 29-straight seasons (1986-91, 2002 to the present). It marks the 19th-straight year that the Owls season opener is in the Golden State, including the 2017 season in which Tech played their first 19 games south of the Oregon border. During the last 28 years, the Owls have played a combined 325 games in California, recording a 122-203 overall record.
 
PRESEASON POLL: The Owls were picked third by the Cascade Conference coaches in the 2025 CCC Preseason Poll, released in October. Defending regular-season champ, Lewis-Clark State claimed seven first-place votes, followed by British Columbia, OIT and tournament champ, Bushnell. Both LC State (No. 7) and UBC (No. 24) were ranked in the preseason NAIA Top-25.
 
CHANGES IN THE CASCADE CONFERENCE: The league added an eighth team during the offseason, as Warner Pacific will offer baseball for the first time since 1990. The league will play a 37-game schedule – three 3-game series to start (creating an unbalanced schedule), followed by a 4-game round-robin schedule against all opponents. The Top-5 teams in the final standings will earn bids to the CCC Championships, to be played at the regular-season champion.
 
NEW SKIPPER: Ricky Walker was named interim head coach of the Hustlin' Owls in August after the departure of Jacob Garsez to Sonoma State. Walker, who served as OIT's pitching coach for the past four seasons, was previously the manager for three seasons at Barstow CC in California.
 
SEASON PREVIEWS:  Part 1 – Pitching Staff     Part 2 – Position Players
 
RECORD BOOK: Heading into 2025, nine players currently rank among the Top-25 in the OIT career record book. Matthew Ortiz holds the record for sacrifice flies (14), ranking No. 2 in stolen bases (49), No. 6 in RBI (127), No. 8 in at bats (628), runs (127) and hits (212), No. 9 in doubles (37) and triples (7), No. 11 in games started (153), No. 12 in walks (62), No. 14 in sacrifice hits (8) and No. 16 in games played (153), with Tyler Horner No. 2 in walks (83), No. 3 in home runs (27) and RBI (142), No. 5 in doubles (48), No. 7 in hits (217) and hit by pitches (27), No. 10 in at bats (610) and games started (158), No. 14 in triples (6), No. 15 in games played (159) and No. 19 in runs (94). Ka'ala Tam is No. 3 in stolen bases (44), No. 9 in sacrifice flies (7), No. 10 in hit by pitches (23), No. 13 in home runs (13), No. 17 in runs scored (96), No. 20 in games played (136), No. 21 in triples (5) and sacrifice hits (7), No. 23 in at bats (404) and No. 25 in games started (108), with Julien Jones No. 3 in hit by pitches (30), No. 4 in sacrifice flies (9), No. 9 in triples (7), No. 13 in home runs (13) and RBI (90), No. 17 in stolen bases (27), No. 20 in doubles (26) and No. 25 in runs scored (81). Korrey Siracusa holds the mark for hit by pitches (39), ranking No. 20 in walks (51) and No. 22 in runs scored (88); Riley Cronin is No. 3 in saves (7); Tim Williams is No. 5 in saves (5); Dane Bradshaw is No. 19 in stolen bases (24), with Bronson Chapple No. 20 in wins (9).
 
AFTER THE TRIP: Tech will return home (Feb. 15-16) after the 7-game stretch, hosting Simpson University for a 4-game weekend series at Steens Sports Park.