COMING UP: Season Complete
 
FIRST TRIP TO NATIONALS: Tech earned one of 15 at-large bids to the NAIA Baseball National Tournament – playing in the Lewiston Bracket of the Opening Round, one of 10 sites across the NAIA. The Hustlin' Owls earned a win in their tournament debut, riding a dominant eight inning performance from Tim Williams, along with a key 2-run Korrey Siracusa double and a Garrett Smith homer in a 4-2 victory over Dickinson State. OIT battled eventual site champ, Hope International in Game 2, getting a game-tying solo homer from Julien Jones in the sixth – but an unearned run in the seventh was the difference in a 3-2 HIU win. The Owls were eliminated by Wayland Baptist, 7-6, as WBU hit four home runs in the victory and worked out of trouble throughout – as Tech had 13 hits but stranded 10 runners.
 
RECORD-SETTING SEASON: OIT surpassed their all-time win total on April 25 in an 11-0 victory over Bushnell, finishing the season with a 39-16 record – their fourth-straight season with 30-or-more wins. The Owls slashed .322/.432/.494 – the highest batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage marks since the sport returned to Tech in 2002 – while setting new school marks for runs (493), hits (600), doubles (139), triples (19), RBI (425), walks (281), hit-by-pitches (121) and sacrifice flies (50). Pitchers held opponents to a .258 batting average, the lowest in program history, while defensively, the Owls set a new school record with a .977 fielding percentage.
 
HORNER REPEATS AS ALL-AMERICAN: Oregon Tech catcher Tyler Horner was honored as a second-team selection to the NAIA Baseball All-America Team, selected by the American Baseball Coaches Association. The senior, from Twin Falls, Idaho, joins Ryan Wilson as the only two-time All-Americans in program history, with Horner the first selected twice to either the first, second or third teams. The four-year starter ended his OIT career as the all-time leader in hits (302), doubles (69), home runs (40), RBI (208), total bases (511) and walks (122), establishing new Cascade Conference records for hits, doubles and RBI in a career. This season, Horner hit .399 with 13 home runs, 21 doubles and 66 RBI – leading the league in doubles, while ranking second in both hits and RBI – earning CCC Player of the Year honors for the second time.
 
SENIORS LEAD THE WAY: A group of 18 seniors were the offensive backbone of the club – including 2-time All-CCC performers Patrick Barry and Julien Jones, former All-CCC infielder Matthew Ortiz, along with gold glove pick, Ka'ala Tam. Barry hit .392 with 19 doubles and 41 RBI – leading the CCC with 87 hits, while Jones finished the year hitting .358 with 17 doubles, 15 home runs and 55 RBI, all career-highs – leading the CCC with 29 stolen bases. Both Barry and Jones scored 72 runs – establishing a new OIT single-season record. Ortiz capped a remarkable career by hitting .390 with 16 doubles and 52 RBI before a season-ending injury forced him to the sidelines in the postseason. Tam had a breakthrough year, hitting .318 with 15 doubles and 50 RBI, stealing 24 bases. On the hill, the duo of Tim Williams and Bronson Chapple were key down the stretch – Williams earning CCC Pitcher of the Year after going 8-1 with a 3.24 ERA, while Chapple was 4-2 with a 3.27 ERA and two saves. Both Alex Rodriguez (3-0 3.03 ERA) and Riley Cronin (2-2 4.68 ERA, 5 saves) were key out of the pen.
 
A LOOK BACK: It was a whirlwind season for the Owls, which started last August when skipper Jacob Garsez resigned to take the head job at Division II Sonoma State (a program that has since been eliminated by the university). Longtime pitching coach, Ricky Walker, took over the reins and ran with it – battling through 24-straight road games to open the year, including series sweeps at Simpson and Corban – beginning the season, 16-8. Following a back-to-back gauntlet of games vs. UBC (which advanced to the NAIA World Series) and LC State, the Owls returned home and began an unprecedented run – winning 14-straight games, finishing the year 18-2 at Steen Sports Park. Tech finished third in the CCC Tournament and fourth in the NAIA Opening Round Lewiston Bracket. The club scored 10-or-more runs a school-record 23 times – including a 17-game stretch where they scored 8-or-more runs in each contest – with only three of their 16 losses coming by five runs or more.
 
NEXT YEAR: To say Tech will look different in 2026 will be an understatement, however, the culture of the program will be crucial to the Owls success. OIT will return just one position player starter – third-baseman Logan Macy (.296 1 HR 25 RBI), along with senior two reserves in Michael O'Daniel (20 SB) and Jacob Cook (10 SB) – but will have experience on the mound in starters Carson Glavich (7-2 4.76 ERA), Isaac Hill (4-3 7.18 ERA) and Landon Cheney (5-1 7.23 ERA), set-up guys Caleb Randolph (1-0 1.21 ERA) and Noah Loew (2-0 2.57 ERA), along with closer Kaden Melzer (3-3 6.37 ERA, 4 saves) – all of which could have different roles.
 
ACADEMIC AWARDS: A pair of OIT players – Tyler Horner and Patrick Barry – were selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team and are currently on the ballot for the NAIA Academic All-America Team. Both players were joined by Drake Aboud, Dane Bradshaw, Landon Cheney, Jacob Cook, Riley Cronin, Chase Hedani, Hunter Hough, Brian McClelland, Alex Rodriguez and Korrey Siracusa as NAIA Scholar-Athletes, with Ty Blakely, Brady Culp, Jaden Domingsel, Julien Jones, Keanu Mizuta, Cooper Rathbun, Chase Southern and Ka'ala Tam joining the group as members of the CCC All-Academic Team.
 
RECORD BOOK – GAME: Two individual and five team single-game records were established in 2025, while four others were tied during the season. Patrick Barry set a new mark for at bats (8) in a record-setting 17-inning win at LC State, while tying the mark for runs scored (5) vs. College of Idaho and doubles (3) vs. Warner Pacific. Julien Jones set the new single-game home run record (3) at Simpson, while joining Tyler Horner in tying the hits (5) record. Keanu Mizuta tied the single-game doubles mark (3) at Bushnell. As a team, Tech set new marks for at bats (57), innings pitched (17), chances (70) and put outs (51) at LC, setting a new single-game home run mark (7) at Simpson, while tying the sacrifice fly (4) record at Warner Pacific.
 
RECORD BOOK – SEASON: Six different OIT players recorded marks in the Top-3 of the single-season record book – including Tyler Horner, who tied the all-time doubles (21) and walks (39) record, recorded the No. 2 mark for total bases (153) and RBI (66) and the No. 3 mark for hits (85). Patrick Barry and Julien Jones set the record for runs scored (72) in a season, with Barry No. 2 in hits (87) and Jones setting the record for hit-by-pitches (33) and ranking No. 3 in home runs (15) and stolen bases (29). Matthew Ortiz established a new record for sacrifice flies (11), with Tim Williams No. 3 in wins (8) and Riley Cronin No. 3 in saves (5).
 
RECORD BOOK – CAREER: Ten players closed their careers ranked in the Top-10 of the OIT career record book, paced by Tyler Horner, who set new school records for at bats (823), hits (302), doubles (69), home runs (40), RBI (208), total bases (511) and walks (122), ranking No. 2 in games played (213), games started (212), triples (10), defensive chances (1,247) and defensive put outs (1,041), No. 3 in slugging percentage (.621), No. 4 in hit-by-pitches (38), No. 5 in sacrifice flies (10), No. 6 in batting average (.367) and on-base percentage (.465), ranking No. 9 in runs scored (132).Matthew Ortiz set school records for runs scored (182) and sacrifice flies (25), ranking No. 2 in hits (283), doubles (53), triples (10), RBI (179), total bases (377) and walks (92), No. 3 in at bats (810) and stolen bases (64), No. 5 in games started (202), No. 6 in both sacrifice hits (12) and defensive assists (351), ranking No. 7 in games played (202), while Julien Jones set a school record for hit-by-pitches (63), ranking No. 2 in sacrifice flies (16), No. 3 in runs scored (153), No. 4 in slugging percentage (.615), home runs (28) and stolen bases (56), No. 5 in RBI (145), No. 6 in total bases (332), No. 8 in on-base percentage (.458) and doubles (43), No. 9 in triples (8) and No. 10 in batting average (.350). Patrick Barry ranks No. 2 all-time in batting average (.391), No. 4 in on-base percentage (.482), No. 7 in sacrifice flies (9) and No. 10 in stolen bases (32); Ka'ala Tam is No. 2 in stolen bases (68), No. 3 in sacrifice flies (13), No. 5 in hit-by-pitches (29), No. 6 in RBI (132), No. 7 in walks (76), No. 8 in runs scored (135), No. 9 in home runs (17) ranking No. 10 in games played (191) and sacrifice hits (10); Korrey Siracusa ranks No. 2 all-time in hit-by-pitches (51), No. 7 in on-base percentage (.465) and No. 10 in walks (71); with Dane Bradshaw No. 7 in stolen bases (35) and No. 9 in hit-by-pitches (25). On the mound, Tim Williams set a record for lowest opponent batting average (.223) and ranks No. 2 all-time in ERA (3.41); Riley Cronin tied the all-time mark for saves (12) and ranks No. 8 in appearances (52); with Bronson Chapple No. 3 in opponent batting average (.240), No. 4 in ERA (3.51), No. 7 in wins (13) and No. 10 in strikeouts (126).