COMING UP: at Simpson (DH), Saturday, 12 p.m.; at Simpson (DH), Sunday, 12 p.m.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: All four games at Simpson will feature Live Stats through OIT's SIDEARM Stats Platform, with Live Video through Simpson's YouTube Channel.
 
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.
 
SERIES SHIFT: Due to the brutal snowstorm and bitter cold weather in the Klamath Basin, Bocchi Field is currently unplayable – forcing the scheduled OIT-Simpson 4-game series to me moved to Redding, Calif.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – SIMPSON: OIT makes the short trip to the Sacramento River Valley for their annual series against Simpson. The Owls and Redhawks (4-11) have played every season since 2002 (minus the 2021 COVID season where SU opted out) – including the 2009-16 seasons when the two teams were conference mates in the NAIA West Grouping. A new-look SU team, coming off series losses to Corban and Bushnell, had to replace six All-Cal Pac players, with the club averaging 5.3 runs a game and recording a .244 team batting average, while the pitching staff has an 8.61 ERA. Five transfers lead the offense – outfielders Dylan Leek (.364 0 HR 4 RBI) and Mario Catalan (.306 0 HR 8 RBI), along with infielders Cayden Lee (.278 1 HR 7 RBI), Aden Munoz (.233 0 HR 4 RBI) and Alex Tolbert (.209 4 HR 14 RBI). On the hill, right-handers Gage Hoyle (3-0 2.55 ERA) and Hyunwoo Kim (1-2 6.60 ERA) are the top two starters, with sophomore Gavin Hughes (0-0 3.38 ERA) key in the pen. OIT takes a 7-game win streak in the series into the weekend, with the Owls holding a 87-30 series edge.
 
QUICK START: The Hustlin' Owls picked up three wins to start the 2025 season – victories over La Sierra, Westcliff and Bethesda. The 3-0 start was just the second time in program history that OIT won their first three games of a season – as the 2015 club opened the year, 6-0. The 2006, 2007 and 2020 teams each opened the year with back-to-back wins, followed by a loss.
 
BATS ON FIRE: Offense was the story for the Owls throughout the trip – as the squad combined for a .341 batting average in the five games. OIT recorded 10-or-more hits in four of the five games, while recording 3-or-more extra-base hits in every game – averaging 9.6 runs a contest.
 
STEALING FRENZY: Coming off a season where Tech set a school record for stolen bases, the Owls picked right up where they left off – swiping 24 bases in five games – with five different players recording 3-or-more stolen bases. OIT recorded eight stolen bases – tied for the sixth-highest total in a single game in program history.
 
WINS VS. LOSSES ON THE HILL: It was a pitching tale between the wins and losses for the Hustlin' Owls. In the three California wins, OIT allowed less than two runs and five hits per game – combining to surrender just two total extra base hits. In the two losses, the opponents averaged 13.5 runs and 14 hits per game, clubbing eight home runs, while taking advantage of 11 walks and five wild pitches.
 
HORNER CLOSES IN ON RECORDS: All-America catcher Tyler Horner started his 2025 season quickly, with the 4-year starter on the verge of shattering multiple school records. The senior was 8-for-21 on the trip, with four doubles, two homers and eight RBI – with his 29 home runs, 52 doubles and 86 walks each one off the all-time OIT records. In addition, Horner has 150 RBI and 225 hits in his career – both 11 off the Owls all-time record.
 
HIT STREAK TO 21: Shortstop Patrick Barry extended his hitting streak (dating back to last season) to 21 games – tying Matthew Ortiz for the second-longest hit streak in OIT history (record is 23, set by Alex Poltz in 2018). Barry was 10-for-20 with four doubles, three stolen bases, five runs scored and eight RBI in the Golden State – earning CCC Player of the Week honors.
 
JONES HAS BIG START: Hitting in the No. 3 spot in the order, Julien Jones was an on-base machine in California – hitting safely in all five games. The senior finished the trip 10-for-19 with seven runs scored, hitting a pair of home runs and driving in five. Jones had a .640 on-base percentage, as he was hit by five pitches, while leading the club with five stolen bases.
 
MORE FROM SENIORS: The senior trio of Matthew Ortiz, Korrey Siracusa and Keanu Mizuta each had quality trips to California. Ortiz was 8-for-22 at the plate, adding three stolen bases and four RBI, Siracusa was 6-for-16 – while breaking Tech's all-time hit by pitch record, with Mizuta going 4-for-7 with a double and two RBI.
 
DOMINANT STARTS: The tandem of Tim Williams and Isaac Hill got Tech off to a 2-0 start this season, both tossing five strong innings in their opening appearance of the year. Williams earned the victory over La Sierra, allowing just three hits, no earned runs and striking out a career-high seven. Hill followed vs. Westcliff, throwing five no-hit innings, walking three and striking out five.
 
FROM THE PEN: Tech got quality relief appearances from right-handers Alex Rodriguez and Noah Loew during the trip. Rodriguez pitched four innings, allowing just one hit, no runs and striking out one, with Loew allowing just one hit in two innings in his Tech debut, fanning two.
 
NEWCOMERS: Ten players made their OIT debut in California, with the group paced by transfer Michael O'Daniel, who finished the trip 4-for-9 with six runs scored, posting a .615 on-base percentage.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE: Every CCC team was in action last week – with Bushnell and College of Idaho picking up series wins (over Simpson and Central Washington), with Eastern Oregon splitting at Park-Gilbert and Warner Pacific debuting with a doubleheader split at Lewis & Clark. Both LC State and UBC won two games during a trip to Florida, while Corban was swept at Arizona Christian. This week, Western Oregon is at LC State, Embry-Riddle is at C of I, Bushnell hosts St. Martin's, Corban is at Pacific, with EOU at Whitworth.
 
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.
 
RECORD BOOK: Currently, 10 players rank among the Top-25 in the OIT career record book. Matthew Ortiz holds the record for sacrifice flies (16), ranking No. 2 in stolen bases (52), No. 4 in RBI (131), No. 6 in runs scored (132), No. 7 in at bats (650), No. 8 in hits (220) and doubles (38), No. 9 in triples (7), No. 11 in games started (158) and walks (64), No. 14 in sacrifice hits (8) and No. 16 in games played (158), with Tyler Horner No. 2 in walks (86), RBI (150) and doubles (52), No. 3 in home runs (29), No. 6 in hits (225), No. 7 in hit by pitches (28), No. 8 in at bats (631) and games started (163), No. 14 in triples (6) and games played (164), ranking No. 16 in runs (98). Ka'ala Tam is No. 3 in stolen bases (47), No. 9 in sacrifice flies (7), No. 10 in hit by pitches (23), No. 14 in home runs (13), No. 15 in runs scored (100), No. 17 in games played (140), No. 18 in RBI (83), No. 21 in triples (5) and sacrifice hits (7), No. 23 in at bats (420) and walks (49), No. 25 in games started (112), ranking just outside the Top-25 in hits (120); Julien Jones is No. 3 in hit by pitches (35), No. 4 in sacrifice flies (9), No. 8 in stolen bases (32), No. 9 in triples (7) and home runs (15), No. 13 in RBI (95), No. 18 in doubles (27), No. 23 in hits (126) and runs scored (88), ranking just outside the Top-25 in at bats (355) and walks (41). Korrey Siracusa holds the mark for hit by pitches (40), ranking No. 19 in walks (52) and No. 21 in runs scored (90); 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), Bronson Chapple is No. 20 in wins (9), with Patrick Barry No. 25 in stolen bases (20).
 
AFTER THE TRIP: The Owls head to Springfield next weekend for a 3-game series at Bushnell – a Friday (Feb. 21) doubleheader and a single Saturday (Feb. 22) game.