COMING UP: at British Columbia (DH), Saturday, 1 p.m.; at British Columbia (DH), Sunday, 11 a.m.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: The four-game series in Vancouver between UBC and OIT will feature Live Video through UBC's Playsight Stream Service, with Live Stats available through OIT's SIDEARM Stats Portal.
 
ROAD WARRIORS: With the venue change of the Feb. 15-16 series vs. Simpson and the Feb. 28-March 1 series with Corban, the Hustlin' Owls are scheduled to play their first 24 games away from the Basin – with the home opener tentatively set for March 22 vs. College of Idaho. Two seasons ago, Tech was in a similar situation, as weather forced the Owls to play their first 26 games on the road – but the club persevered and claimed the Cascade Conference regular-season title.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – BRITISH COLUMBIA: The competition climbs to another level this weekend, as Tech travels to Canada for a key 4-game series at UBC. The T-Birds (12-8, 7-2 CCC) have played a difficult preseason schedule, with six of their eight losses coming at the hands of a Top-25 opponent – but bring a 6-game win streak into the series. UBC averages 8.5 runs a game, with the team combining for 87 extra base hits (including 28 home runs), recording a .318 team batting average. Corner infielders Trent Lenihan (.375 7 HR 21 RBI) and Aaron Marsh (.314 2 HR 15 RBI) are veteran leaders, with outfielder Jonny McGill (.427 7 HR 19 RBI) and second baseman David Krahn (.367 3 HR 11 RBI) off to tremendous starts. On the hill, returners Ryan Heppner (2-0 3.68 ERA, 29 K), Ryan Beitel (3-1 6.45 ERA) and Dan Orfaly (2-1 5.49 ERA) are key to the T-Birds success. UBC holds a 95-34 series edge, but the teams have split the last 14 meetings – with Tech winning 3-of-5 match-ups last season.
 
BEST STARTS: The Hustlin' Owls head to Vancouver with a 15-5 overall record – the best 20-game start in program history. The current club has outdistanced themselves from the 2022 and 1982 squads that began 13-7, with the 2023 starting 12-8 and last season's club beginning 11-9. The quick start propelled Tech to the No. 21 ranking on the first NAIA BoChip power index – their highest ranking ever.
 
SHARP DEFENSIVELY: OIT had a perfect weekend in the field, committing no errors in 136 defensive chances. The Owls have committed just 11 errors in 20 games, with the .984 fielding percentage no only tops in the Cascade Conference, but the No. 1 defensive mark in the NAIA.
 
DOUBLE-DIGIT HIT RECORD: The Owls recorded 10-or-more hits in the first two games of the Warner Pacific series – extending their string of double-digit hit games to eight (before the run was snapped in Game 3 of the series). It marked the first time an OIT team recorded the feat in program history – surpassing the run of 7-straight games with 10-or-more hits established four times. The offensive success has led Tech to average nine runs per game and post a .325 team batting average.
 
MORE ON THE BASES: Tech continued to use speed on the basepaths to their advantage – stealing nine bases in the 4-game series. For the season, the Owls are 65-of-76 in steal opportunities, led by Ka'ala Tam, who leads the CCC (and ranks No. 16 in the NAIA) with 16 stolen bases, with Julien Jones adding 10.
 
BARRY CONTINUES HIT PARADE: Offensively, leadoff hitter Patrick Barry continued to set the table for the OIT offense, finishing the series 7-for-18 with two doubles, two walks, two stolen bases and four runs scored. The shortstop extended his school-record hit streak to 36 with hits in all four games, including his sixth 3-hit game of the year and his 11th multi-hit game.
 
ALL-TIME NORTHWEST HIT STREAKS: Patrick Barry's 36-game hit streak broke not only OIT's school record, the Cascade Conference record and the Northwest small-college record, but is now the longest hit streak in Northwest college baseball history. Barry surpassed the 32-game hit streak of Western Oregon's Grant Glover in 2011, the 31-game hit streak Oregon State's Jeff Brauning in 1989, the 30-game hit streak of LC State's Justin Fuller in 2004, along with 28-game streaks by Washington State's Shawn Stevenson in 1998 and C of I's Dustin Garcia in 2003. The NAIA's all-time hit streak record is 54 games, set by Tommy Stewart of Southern Arkansas in 1995, with the NCAA hit streak record set at 60 games, set by Division III Salve Regina's Damian Constantino in 2003.
 
HORNER CONTINUES POWER SURGE: Tyler Horner continued a big start to the 2025 season, hitting a pair of home runs in the series at WPU – with his nine homers this season tops in the league and No. 8 in the NAIA. The senior was 6-for-18 in the series, extending his hit streak to 11 games (and on-base streak to 30 games), with his three RBI on the weekend pushing his league-leading total to 29.
 
CCC HOME RUN RECORD CHASE: The all-time Cascade Conference home run record is in jeopardy – as four players are within striking distance of C of I standout Greg Schelhaas' mark of 39 homers from 1996-99. OIT's Tyler Horner moved into third-place on the list as his career total reached 36 – one behind former first-round draft pick, Beau Mills, of LC State. LC's Charlie Updegrave has hit 31 career homers, Bushnell's Jordan Wilson has hit 30, with LC's Dominic Signorelli sitting at 29.
 
OTHER HIT STREAKS: Both Matthew Ortiz and Ka'ala Tam enter the trip to Canada on hit streaks – Ortiz recording hits in 9-straight games and Tam posting hits in 7-in-a-row. Ortiz was 6-for-15 in the series, with two doubles and five RBI – including a sacrifice fly, which tied the OIT single-season record (giving Ortiz the NAIA lead in sacrifice flies). Tam was 6-for-15 with double and two RBI and two stolen bases – with the senior leading the CCC with 17 swipes on the year.
 
WILLIAMS DOMINATES IN PORTLAND: The Owls got an impressive start in Game 1, as Tim Williams handcuffed WPU for eight innings – limiting the Knights to two hits, walking none and striking out eight in the 3-0 win. It marked Tech's first 8-inning stint of shutout ball by a pitcher since Patrick Arman equaled the feat during the 2023 CCC Tournament. For the season, Williams has struck out 30 batters against four walks in 32.2 innings, recording a perfect 3-0 record.
 
SOLID STARTS: Tech got quality starts from both Landon Cheney and Carson Glavich in Portland – both earning victories. Cheney allowed one run in six innings of work, striking out four – his third-straight start allowing two earned runs or fewer. Glavich held WP to two earned runs on six hits, fanning three – his third-straight start allowing two runs or less.
 
CLOSING THE DOOR: Riley Cronin pitched three shutout innings to close out Game 4 – striking out three – recording his leaguing fourth save of the year and moving with one save of OIT's career record. The Owls also got solid appearances from Caleb Randolph, Brian McClelland and Alex Rodriguez – Randolph striking out three in two shutout innings to earn a Game 2 save, with McClelland and Rodriguez combining for four shutout innings to keep Tech close in Game 3.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE: The three other CCC series last week ended in sweeps – as LC took four games from Eastern, UBC rolled past C of I and Bushnell swept Corban. This week, along with Tech going to UBC, Warner Pacific heads to Eastern, LC State hosts Corban, with Bushnell traveling to C of I.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS: Batting Average – Patrick Barry (OIT) .463, Will Hudler (BU) .460, Jonny McGill (UBC) .438, Julien Jones (OIT) .388, Jack Ingraham (CI) .388; Home Runs – Tyler Horner (OIT) 9, Julien Jones (OIT) 7, Jonny McGill (UBC) 7, Trent Lenihan (UBC) 7; RBI – Tyler Horner (OIT) 29, Charlie Updegrave (LC) 24, Matthew Ortiz (OIT) 22, Trent Lenihan (UBC) 20, Julien Jones (OIT) 20; Stolen Bases – Ka'ala Tam (OIT) 16, Fran Gross (CRB) 13, Cannon Morgan (CI) 10, Julien Jones (OIT) 10; Strikeouts (Pitcher) – Jordan Williamson (LC) 35, Josephan Gonzalez (CRB) 32, Tim Williams (OIT) 30, Ryan Heppner (UBC) 29.
 
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 TOP-25 POLL: Despite a 12-4 record and their No. 21 BoChip rating, OIT was not included in both the Cascade Conference bi-weekly rating or the first NAIA Coaches' Poll of the regular-season. Undefeated LSU Shreveport holds the top spot, followed by Tennessee Wesleyan, Southeastern, Georgia Gwinnett and Cumberlands. Two preseason opponents are in the poll – No. 8 Hope International and No. 25 The Master's, with two CCC teams in the ranking, No. 24 LC State, with UBC receiving votes.
 
RECORD BOOK: Currently, 10 players rank among the Top-25 in the OIT career record book. Tyler Horner currently holds the all-time record for home runs (36), RBI (171), hits (248), doubles (54) and walks (94), No. 4 in hit by pitches (32), No. 6 in games started (178), No. 7 in at bats (693), No. 8 in games played (179), No. 9 in triples (7), ranking No. 13 in runs scored (109), with Matthew Ortiz holding the record for sacrifice flies (21), ranking No. 2 in hits (242), No. 3 in stolen bases (53) and RBI (148), No. 4 in runs scored (145), No. 6 in at bats (706) and walks (74), No. 7 in doubles (43), No. 8 in games started (173), No. 9 in triples (7) and games played (173) and No. 11 in sacrifice hits (9). Ka'ala Tam is No. 2 in stolen bases (60), No. 6 in sacrifice flies (8), No. 8 in hit by pitches (28), No. 9 in home runs (16), No. 11 in runs scored (111), No. 13 in RBI (97) and walks (62), No. 15 in sacrifice hits (8), No. 17 in games played (155), No. 18 in at bats (471), No. 19 in games started (127), ranking No. 21 in triples (5) and hits (136); Julien Jones is No. 2 in hit by pitches (41) and sacrifice flies (12), No. 5 in stolen bases (37), No. 6 in home runs (20), No. 8 in RBI (110), No. 9 in triples (7), No. 10 in runs (112), No. 13 in doubles (32), No. 16 in hits (147), No. 24 in at bats (413), ranking just outside the Top-25 in walks (46). Korrey Siracusa holds the mark for hit by pitches (45), ranking No. 16 in walks (59) and No. 20 in runs scored (96); Riley Cronin is No. 2 in saves (11) and No. 19 in pitching appearances (41); Tim Williams is No. 5 in saves (5); Dane Bradshaw is No. 18 in stolen bases (28), Bronson Chapple is No. 20 in wins (9), with Patrick Barry No. 20 in stolen bases (24).
 
NEXT WEEK: The Owls are scheduled to open the home schedule next Saturday-Sunday (March 22-23), hosting College of Idaho in a 4-game weekend series.