SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – Oregon Tech was one strike from a key doubleheader sweep of The Master's, but Ty Beck spoiled the Owls day with a walk-off, 2-run homer, as the NAIA squads split a twinbill a Lou Herwaldt Stadium.
 
The Hustlin' Owls (6-3) dominated the middle innings of Game 1, claiming a 16-8 win, but TMU hit three homers in the nightcap, stealing a 4-3 decision.
 
In the opener, OIT jumped out to a 5-0 fourth inning lead, as Michael O'Daniel had a RBI single in a 2-run first, Logan Macy had a run-scoring double in a 2-run second, and Andrew Sharp made it 5-0 in the fourth with an RBI single.
 
The Mustangs (6-7) batted around in their fourth to take the lead, as a bases-clearing double from Beck gave TMU a 6-5 advantage.
 
The lead was short-lived, as Aiden Corkey answered for Tech in the fifth, ripping a 3-run double into the right-center gap, to give the Owls an 8-6 lead, while the visitors blowing the game open with a 5-run sixth – helped by three hit-by-pitches, two wild pitches and an error.
 
Sharp, O'Daniel and Cal Pickhardt each had two hits for the Owls, with Marcos Ulloa-Ford throwing two and two-thirds innings of shutout relief.
 
Game 2 was the first low-scoring game in the series – as TMU got a leadoff homer from Zach Jenkins in the first, only to see the Owls Nick Gimino respond with a 2-run dinger in the second to give OIT a 2-1 lead.
 
Tech starter Crew Howell limited the Mustangs to just four hits and two runs, with the Owls extending the lead to 3-1 in the sixth on a Pickhardt RBI single.
 
The hosts cut the lead to one run in the sixth on a Drew Jack solo bomb and in the seventh, with the tying run at third with two outs, Beck hit a 0-2 pitch out of the yard for his NAIA-leading seventh home run to send the hosts home happy.
 
Both Macy and Pickhardt had multi-hit games in the loss for the Owls.
 
The two teams close out the weekend series on Saturday with an 11 a.m. match-up.