COMING UP: at No. 23 College of Idaho (DH), Friday, 2 p.m. (MDT); at No. 23 College of Idaho (DH), Saturday, 11 a.m. (MDT)
COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
GAME DAY INFORMATION: The series at College of Idaho will be streamed (pay-per-view, $10 per game) through
C of I's HUDL-TV platform, with Live Stats through OIT's
SIDEARM Stats Portal.
OPPONENT PREVIEW – COLLEGE OF IDAHO: OIT closes out the regular-season on the new artificial turf at College of Idaho, as the No. 23-ranked Coyotes (25-13, 14-10 CCC) are searching for their sixth-straight NAIA Opening Round bid. C of I opened the year 20-4, but are 5-9 over their last 14 games, with the team 5-9 against teams with a winning record. The squad has a .307 team batting average, paced by outfielders Kamryn Ham (.400 0 HR 18 RBI, 21 SB) and Madelyn Powell (.351 5 HR 33 RBI), shortstop Ashlynn Nixon (.365 2 HR 27 RBI) and CCC Newcomer of the Year, Lolo Walker (.245 4 HR 22 RBI). The Yotes have used six pitchers this year, combining for a 3.42 ERA – with Abbey Brooks (11-5 2.57 ERA) and Grace Neer (6-1 3.31 ERA) the top options. Tech swept the season series in 2024 and have won 18 of the last 21 meetings, holding a 80-33 series edge.
PLAYOFF PICTURE: With one week remaining in the regular-season, the Owls have secured a postseason berth for the 14th-straight season and the 29th playoff berth in program history (including 13 NAIA Tournament bids and eight NAIA World Series appearances). OIT is tied with Eastern Oregon in second-place, both teams two games back of league-leading Southern Oregon. SOU can clinch the title, host site for the CCC Tournament and an automatic bid to Nationals with wins in 2-of-3 games at EOU this weekend, while EOU clinches the crown with a sweep of Southern. For the Owls, Tech can clinch the title with a sweep of C of I and EOU winning 2-of-3 – which would leave SOU and OIT tied for first and the Owls own the tiebreaker. The regular-season champ will host the 6-team CCC Championships, May 2-5.
40-WIN SEASONS: Tech heads into the weekend with a 38-6 record, clinching their 13th-straight 30-win season earlier in the month vs. Simpson. The Lady Owls have recorded 24 seasons with at least 30 wins, while needing two victories to post their 13th 40-win campaign (sixth in a row), while logging 50-or-more wins in both 2022 and 2023.
LADY OWLS RANKED NO. 2: The 38-6 record includes wins against five different Top-25 teams (with Tech 7-5 against Top-25 foes – including two wins over No. 1 Southern Oregon and a win over No. 3 Science & Arts), helping the Lady Owls remain at No. 2 in the fourth NAIA Top-25 poll of the regular-season. SOU holds the No. 1 spot, with USAO, Cumberlands and Our Lady of the Lake rounding out the Top-5. Two other CCC teams – No. 13 Eastern Oregon and No. 23 College of Idaho are in the Top-25.
SUCCESS AT HOME: Stilwell Stadium has been a house of horrors for opponents, since the top venue in the Cascade Conference was opened in 2019. The Lady Owls are a combined 123-19 all-time on the artificial turf field, including wins in 103 of their last 114 home games. OIT finished the regular-season with a 15-3 mark on their own diamond.
STREAKING: The Lady Owls extended their win streak to 13 games with a series sweep of Carroll – Tech's longest win streak of the season. OIT has posted a double-digit win streak each of the last seven seasons, including a 19-game win streak last year, a 25-game win streak in 2023 and a 20-game win streak in both 2021 and 2022.
TECH HOLDS CARROLL IN CHECK: A dominant weekend in the circle paved the way for a 4-game sweep of playoff-bound Carroll College, as the Lady Owls limited a Saints team with a .279 batting average to three total runs and 13 hits in the series. OIT has held their opponents to 3-or-less runs in 10-straight games, including three shutouts and four games allowing just one run.
SEASON HIGHS: OIT tied a season high with 17 runs in the Game 4 win, adding 17 hits – the most by the Lady Owls since 2023. Tech also had a season-high six doubles in Game 1, adding a season-high three triples in Game 4.
MOST RUNS IN AN INNING: Game 4 of the Carroll series started with a bang, as the Owls sent 19 hitters to the plate, scoring 15 runs in the first inning. It equaled the highest single-inning run total in Stilwell Stadium history along with the second-highest single-inning output in program history. OIT previously had two 17-run innings, scoring 17 in the third inning of a 1999 win over Northwest Christian (now Bushnell) and 17 runs in the second inning of a 2022 win at Carroll.
COOK CONTINUES TO COOK: The Owls offense was led by
Nita Cook, as Tech's leadoff hitter was 9-for-13 vs. Carroll, scoring seven runs and adding four RBI. The second baseman added four stolen bases, giving her 38 for the season – four swipes away from OIT's single-season record. Cook's efforts pushed her season batting average to .400.
MILBOURNE TOPS THE CCC: Last season,
Puakea Milbourne led the CCC and ranked No. 3 in the NAIA with 67 RBI. This year, after a slow start, the junior has erupted in April, recording multiple RBI in six of the last seven games, pushing her season total to a league-best 45. Milbourne was 6-for-13 in the Carroll series, driving in a team-best seven runs.
MORE WITH THE BATS: The Owls had production throughout the lineup against Carroll, as
Gina Allen,
Marla Goodspeed,
Malia Mick and
Jayce Seavert each were key to the four wins. Allen was a tough out, going 7-for-11 with four runs scored and six RBI, adding two stolen bases, with Goodspeed finishing 5-for-11 with a double, triple and three RBI. Mick was 4-for-9 with a double, triple and four RBI, with Seavert finishing 6-for-11 with six runs scored and four RBI, adding four doubles and a triple.
GORDEN HAS CAREER WEEKEND: Game 2 starter
Jenna Gorden had a breakout weekend vs. Carroll, tossing not one, but two one-hit shutouts. The junior righty was one strike away from a no-hitter on Friday, finishing with her first complete game shutout – striking out five. A day later, Gorden held Carroll to just one hit, striking out three – becoming the ninth CCC pitcher in 2025 with multiple shutouts.
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Along with the Top-4 teams meeting this weekend (SOU at EOU, OIT at C of I), Providence travels to Carroll, with Carroll needing a win to clinch the No. 6 seed in the CCC Tournament. Corban is at Warner Pacific, while Bushnell heads to UBC.
LEAGUE LEADERS: Batting Average – Sarah Kerling (SOU) .474, Kailer Fulton (SOU) .460, Faith Moultrie (SOU) .431; Home Runs – Violet Richardson (BU) 9, Kili Makanani (WP) 5, Emily Barry (EOU) 5; RBI –
Puakea Milbourne (OIT) 45, Ari Williams (SOU) 36,
Addison Kachnik (OIT) 35; Stolen Bases – Noe Barawis (WP) 51,
Nita Cook (OIT) 38, Kailer Fulton (SOU) 34; ERA – Ayla Davies (SOU) 0.80,
Kacie Schmidt (OIT) 1.33, Kylie Parsons (EOU) 1.46; Pitching Wins – Ayla Davies (SOU) 26,
Kacie Schmidt (OIT) 20, Kylie Parsons (EOU) 12; Pitching Strikeouts – Ayla Davies (SOU) 191,
Kacie Schmidt (OIT) 162, Kennedy Venner (CAR) 105.
RECORD BOOK: Eight Lady Owls rank among the Top-25 in the OIT career record book.
Jayce Seavert holds the all-time record for hit-by-pitches (64) and sacrifice flies (19), is No. 2 in games started (242), games played (244) and defensive chances (1,209), No. 3 in doubles (56), No. 4 in defensive put outs (1,022), No. 7 in RBI (173), No. 8 in sacrifice hits (19), No. 9 in at bats (678), No. 10 in triples (9), No. 12 in runs scored (143), No. 14 in hits (221) and walks (55), No. 21 in home runs (18) and No. 22 in stolen bases (23);
Zoe Allen is No. 4 in stolen bases (64), No. 5 in sacrifice hits (22), No. 7 in walks (70) and runs scored (169), No. 12 in games played (213), No. 16 in hits (215) and at bats (577), No. 17 in games started (192) and No. 19 in triples (6);
Nita Cook is No. 3 in stolen bases (77), No. 6 in defensive assists (320), No. 8 in sacrifice hits (19), No. 10 in runs scored (149), No. 12 in triples (8), No. 15 in hit-by-pitches (12) and No. 24 in hits (180), ranking just outside the Top-25 in doubles (28);
Puakea Milbourne is No. 3 in defensive put outs (1,061), No. 4 in defensive chances (1,100), No. 9 in hit-by-pitches (16), No. 10 in sacrifice hits (16), No. 13 in RBI (139), No. 17 in home runs (20), No. 22 in hits (183), ranking just outside the Top-25 in runs scored (112), doubles (28) and stolen bases (21); with
Addison Kachnik No. 14 in defensive assists (241), No. 19 in triples (6), No. 21 in doubles (33) and just outside the Top-25 in hits (147) and RBI (92). In the circle,
Kacie Schmidt ranks No. 2 in saves (6) and pitching appearances (137), No. 3 in innings pitched (611.2), shutouts (24) and strikeouts (585), No. 4 in pitching starts (93) and wins (78), ranking No. 6 in complete games (57); while
Alli Parker is No. 4 all-time in saves (5) and just outside the Top-25 in wins (10), strikeouts (62) and pitching appearances (29);
Jenna Gorden is No. 22 in shutouts and just outside the Top-25 in pitching appearances (34), with
Carli Moore just outside the Top-25 in pitching appearances (33) and strikeouts (57).
NEXT WEEK: The Lady Owls will open up play in the CCC Championships next Friday – with the tournament bracket and seedings to be released this Saturday night.
