COMING UP: at Corban (DH), Friday, 11 a.m.; at Corban (DH), Saturday, 11 a.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
SCHEDULE CHANGE: With snow covering the Klamath Basin and Steen Sports Park currently unplayable, Corban and OIT have flipped the site of their weekend series. The teams will play in the Valley this weekend, with Corban keeping their 4-game CCC series intact, while the teams will meet April 11-12 in Klamath – with OIT keeping their 3-game CCC series (and a non-conference game) on the ledger.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: Live Stats of all games will be available through OIT's SIDEARM Stats Portal, while all Cascade Conference games will be broadcast live on the Urban Edge Network. The Corban series is played at Roto Rooter Park in Keizer – with parking costing $5.00 per day.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – CORBAN: The Owls open up the 37-game Cascade Conference schedule this weekend with a 4-game series at Corban. The Warriors (2-8) are coming off a 14-36 season in 2025, with the current club losing consecutive series to Warner Pacific and Simpson, following a 0-3 trip to Arizona. The Salem school is hitting .284 as a team and is tied with Tech atop the Cascade Conference leaderboard with 28 stolen bases, but the pitching staff has an 8.13 ERA and allowed more walks (55) than strikeouts (50). Outfielders Chase Elliott (.364 1 HR 7 RBI, 8 SB), Lucas Mertlich (.350 1 HR 7 RBI) and Sean Shaffer (.293 1 HR 7 RBI) lead the Corban offense, along with first baseman Peyton Rickard (.368 0 HR 4 RBI) and shortstop Isaac Bateman (.302 1 HR 9 RBI, 6 SB). Starting pitchers Jack Kovanen (0-3 3.09 ERA) and Brady Sprague (0-1 4.63 ERA) have thrown the most innings, with righties Tanner Martinez (0-0 1.93 ERA) and Eddie Gould (0-0 2.45 ERA) the top bullpen options. OIT holds a 93-72 all-time series lead, including three consecutive 4-game series sweeps.
 
SPLIT AT THE MASTERS: Facing a perennial NAIA power in a 4-game series, a team that had seven wins in eight all-time meetings against OIT, the Hustlin' Owls had an uphill climb in their set at The Master's. Tech was up to the challenge – splitting the 4-game series and were a couple pitches away from completing a series sweep. In the opener, the Owls bolted to a 12-2 lead, but watched as the potent Mustangs offense rallied, scoring four runs in the eighth inning to steal a 13-12 decision. OIT answered in Game 2, scoring 10 runs in the middle innings of a 16-8 win, but TMU hit three homers in Game 3, including a 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run walk-off bomb to rally for a 4-3 win. OIT salvaged the series finale, riding stellar pitching and capitalizing on mistakes to earn a 10-2 win – finishing the 10-day road trip with a 7-3 record.
 
BEST 10-GAME START: The 7-3 start to the season for the Hustlin' Owls equals the best 10-game start in program history.  Twice before, OIT has claimed seven wins in their first 10 games – in 2015 and during the 2025 season.
 
BATS REMAIN SCORCHNG HOT: The Owls offense continues to hum along, putting up big numbers in California after a dominant performance during their stay in Arizona. Tech has posted 9-or-more hits in all 10 games this season, while averaging 9.9 runs per game – scoring 10-or-more runs six times. As a team, OIT has a .328 batting average, with the club posting a .364 average with runners in scoring position.
 
HIT STREAKS: Three OIT players have recorded a hit in every game this season – as Jacob Cook heads into the Corban series with a 7-game hit streak, while both Cal Pickhardt and Nick Gimino each have hit safely in 10-straight games. Cook was 4-for-12 against TMU, driving in three runs and scoring four, with the senior first baseman boasting a .400 batting average and a .543 on-base percentage. Pickhardt upped his batting average to .444 with a 6-for-13 series, scoring four runs, hitting a homer and driving in four – while tying Cook for the team lead with eight walks. Gimino continues to lead the team in batting average (.459) after a 6-for-15 series, including a go-ahead 2-run homer in Game 3.
 
SHARP CONTINUES GREAT START: The Owls got a great series from transfer Andrew Sharp, who extended his consecutive games reached base streak to 10. The senior, who has platooned at both catcher and first base, finished 8-for-17 in the series, adding a double and five RBI – helping jump his batting average to .342.
 
STARTERS HAVE SUCCESS: Both Crew Howell and Aiden Lundquist recorded quality starts in California, eating up innings in the final two games of the series. Howell earned his first start of the season in Game 3 and limited a physical Mustangs team to just four hits and two runs in 5.2 innings of work, striking out five – and was in line for the victory when he left the game. Lundquist improved to 2-0 on the season with a Game 4 win, holding TMU to just two hits and one run over five strong innings.
 
FROM THE PEN: The Owls got solid relief performances during The Master's series from their bullpen, as Marcos Ulloa-Ford, Kaden Melzer and Landon Cheney were key to Tech's success. Ulloa-Ford made two appearances, striking out three-straight batters in a scoreless inning in Game 1, while tossing 2.2 innings of shutout relief in the Game 2 win. Melzer bridged the staff in Game 2, throwing 2.1 innings, allowing just one run and fanning two, while Cheney used his side-toss day (after starting Game 1 of the BenU doubleheader) to pitch three innings, allowing just one run.
 
DEFENSE KEY: Tech continued to play outstanding defense during the 4-game series in California, committing just three errors total against The Master's. For the season, the Owls have a solid. 976 fielding percentage, tops in the league (well ahead of second-place Eastern Oregon and Bushnell, both at .966).
 
PRESEASON RANKINGS: The Hustlin' Owls were selected a close fourth out of eight teams in the Cascade Conference Preseason Poll, released in October. Tech earned 43 voter points from the eight coaches, just behind Bushnell (45) – with British Columbia (60) and Lewis-Clark State (59) taking the top spots. UBC opens the season ranked No. 10 in the NAIA Top-25 poll, with LC at No. 21.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Headlining the CCC last week was LC State, as the Warriors dominated Texas A&M Texarkana to sweep a 4-game series, with College of Idaho taking 3-of-4 from Pacific. Both Bushnell (against Saint Martin's) and Warner Pacific (against Whitman) split 4-game sets, while Eastern Oregon was swept by Linfield. Conference play begins this weekend, with LC State traveling to British Columbia, C of I at EOU, Warner Pacific at Bushnell and Tech at Corban.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS: Tech leads the CCC in walks (52) and stolen bases (26), is No. 2 in batting average (.328) and triples (4), ranking No. 3 in runs per game (9.9) and doubles (20). Individually, Michael O'Daniel leads the CCC in triples (3); Cal Pickhardt is No. 2 in both stolen bases (6) and walks (8), while sitting No. 5 in batting average (.444); Jacob Cook is No. 2 in walks (8); Nick Gimino is No. 4 in batting average (.459); with Logan Pontecorvo No. 4 in RBI (13).
 
RECORD BOOK: Currently, two players rank among the Top-25 in the OIT career record book. Kaden Melzer No. 8 in saves (4) and Landon Cheney sits at No. 16 in wins (16) and No. 20 in pitching appearances (42).
 
NEXT WEEK: Tech will continue their road trip, heading to La Grande, Ore., for a weekend series at Eastern Oregon (Feb. 28-March 1).