COMING UP: at Simpson Round Robin (Redding, Calif.) – Thursday – vs. Park Gilbert, 1 p.m., vs. Westcliff, 3 p.m.; Friday – vs. Arizona Christian, 12 p.m., vs. Westcliff, 2 p.m.; Saturday – vs. Arizona Christian, 12 p.m., vs. Park Gilbert, 2 p.m.
COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
GAME DAY INFORMATION: The tournament will be held at the Redding Sports Complex (formerly Big League Dreams). Live Stats will be available through the OIT
SIDEARM Stats Portal, while Live Video will not be available for the event.
OPPONENT PREVIEW – PARK-GILBERT: The Lady Owls open the three-day tournament against Park Gilbert – the first-ever meeting against the Buccaneers (4-6). Park split a 4-game series with British Columbia and split doubleheaders with Arizona Christian and Simpson, riding an offense averaging 4.7 runs per game and clubbing eight home runs, with the pitching staff recording more walks (38) than strikeouts (28). The tandem of Ari Fjelsted (.471 2 HR 5 RBI) and Bri Titus (.346 2 HR 6 RBI) key the Bucs offense, along with Noelle Gumm (.250 1 HR 13 RBI) and Anna Chavez (.240 2 HR 6 RBI). Yazmine Bernal (2-3 4.31 ERA) and Grace Jump (1-2 4.70 ERA key the pitching staff.
OPPONENT PREVIEW – WESTCLIFF: Tech closes Day 1 against Westcliff, as the Warriors (5-3) have a win against Hope International and sweeps of Nelson and La Sierra – thanks to a pitching staff with a 2.72 ERA. The offense does just enough, hitting at a .222 clip, but still averaging four runs per game. Madison Mendez (.429 1 HR 6 RBI, 1-2 2.45 ERA) is a two-way standout and top player on the squad, with the trio of Jessica Guillen (.300 0 HR 1 RBI), Alyssa Patten (.273 0 HR 2 RBI) and Alyssa Lopez (.263 0 HR 5 RBI) key in the lineup. Jolene Miramontes (2-0 3.00 ERA) is the Warriors No. 2 starter. OIT and Westcliff meet for the first time in the tourney.
OPPONENT PREVIEW – ARIZONA CHRISTIAN: The Owls meet Arizona Christian for the second straight week, having swept a doubleheader on the Firestorms home field. ACU (4-4) rebounded with a sweep of Simpson, with the team heading to California with a .265 team batting average, a 4.75 team ERA and a .945 team fielding percentage. Two-way star Dayna Herrera (.591 3 HR 8 RBI, 2-1 4.20 ERA) is off to a tremendous start in 2026, with Morgan Bradford (.333 0 HR 4 RBI) and Brittany McCracken (.278 0 HR 8 RBI) lead the offense, with Alyssa Grinstead (0-2 3.79 ERA) the No. 2 pitcher. The Owls hold a 9-1 all-time series lead on ACU.
CROSSOVER EVENT: The Simpson Crossover is a 3-day tournament, pitting three CCC teams (OIT, Corban, Simpson) against three Great Southwest Athletic Conference teams (Arizona Christian, Westcliff, Park Gilbert). The CCC teams will be the home team in all games.
CALIFORNIA STREAK CONTINUES: Tech heads to California for the 33rd-straight season, a preseason home away from home for the squad. Last year, the Owls played just two games in California, joining the 2006 team with the fewest games in the Golden State, while in 1999, OIT played 26 games in California and the 2002 team played 20.
QUALITY TRIP TO ARIZONA: The Lady Owls opened the season with 7-straight wins in Arizona, completing doubleheader sweeps of Ottawa, Benedictine Mesa and Arizona Christian, before splitting a twin bill vs. Hope International. OIT did not allow more than seven hits in any of the games, while limiting teams to two runs or fewer in 4-of-8 games. Offensively, Tech posted a .349 team batting average in the eight games – averaging seven runs a contest – combining for 32 walks/hit batters against just 13 strikeouts.
SENIORS SHINE: Playing in the final season openers of their college career, five seniors anchored the Lady Owls offensive attack. Both
Nita Cook and
Puakea Milbourne had identical 10-for-26 marks at the plate – with each player surpassing the 200 hits for their OIT careers. Cook finished the week with 10 runs scored and nine RBI, with Milbourne leading Tech with four doubles, two homers and eight RBI.
Sawyer Stenson and
Addison Kachnik each posted 10 hits in Arizona – combining for five doubles and six RBI – with
Malia Mick hitting .333 on the trip with seven RBI.
HUFFMAN LOCKS DOWN LEFT: Sophomore
Leah Huffman had the Lady Owls top batting average in Arizona, hitting an even .500 – going 10-for-20 at the plate. Huffman finished with 10 runs scored and had a stellar .583 on-base percentage.
SAME LAST NAME, SAME RESULTS: The last name of Schmidt has been key in OIT softball success – as Taylor Schmidt recorded 79 wins from 2010-13 and
Kacie Schmidt recorded 82 wins from 2021-25. Transfer
Kristine Schmidt looks to add her name to the list – leading the Lady Owls pitching staff in Arizona with a perfect 4-0 record. The junior led the club with 23.2 innings pitched, allowing just four earned runs and striking out 22 – including an eight-strikeout complete game shutout vs. Arizona Christian.
AROUND THE CCC: Joining the Lady Owls in Arizona were College of Idaho, Simpson and Bushnell – with C of I finishing their trip 8-2 and Simpson going 4-4 (both teams earning a win over Hope International), with Bushnell ending the trip, 1-5. Two teams played Division III opponents in the Northwest – Eastern Oregon going 4-0 against Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound, with Warner Pacific going 0-4 against PLU and George Fox. This week, along with the teams joining Tech in California, Southern Oregon travels to Oklahoma for the NAIASB Invitational, C of I and Eastern host former league foes Carroll and Providence, with WPU and Bushnell playing Division III opponents.
PRESEASON RANKINGS: OIT opens the 2026 season ranked No. 10 in the preseason NAIA Top-25 Coaches' Poll, the 32nd-straight polling period the Lady Owls have been in the Top-25. Two other Cascade Conference teams – No. 1 Southern Oregon and No. 3 Eastern Oregon – are in the Top-25, while College of Idaho and British Columbia each received votes. In the CCC Preseason Poll, SOU took 8-of-9 first-place spots and holds the top spot, ahead of Tech, Eastern Oregon, C of I and UBC.
RECORD BOOK: Six current players rank among the Top-25 in the OIT career record book, including
Nita Cook, who is No. 2 all-time in stolen bases (85), No. 6 in sacrifice hits (22), No. 7 in defensive assists (362), No. 9 in runs scored (163), No. 11 in walks (64), No. 12 in triples (8), No. 14 in hit-by-pitches (14), No. 16 in defensive chances (720), No. 17 in hits (206), No. 20 in at bats (571), No. 24 in RBI (104), ranking just outside the list in doubles (31).
Puakea Milbourne ranks No. 2 in putouts (1,228), No. 3 in chances (1,264), No. 7 in hit-by-pitches (22), No. 8 in RBI (168), No. 9 in home runs (24) and sacrifice hits (18), No. 14 in sacrifice flies (8), No. 17 in at bats (586), No. 19 in hits (205) and stolen bases (25), No. 21 in runs scored (123) and No. 22 in doubles (33);
Addison Kachnik is No. 8 in defensive assists (290), No. 15 in doubles (37), No. 20 in triples (6) and No. 24 in at bats (557);
Alli Parker is No. 3 in saves (7), No. 22 in strikeouts (86) and No. 25 in pitching appearances (40);
Jenna Gorden is No. 23 in shutouts (2) and appearances (43), ranking No. 25 in wins (12); with
Malia Mick No. 14 in triples (7) and No. 18 in hit by pitches (11).
NEXT WEEK: Tech begins the 2026 Cascade Conference season at home, playing host to College of Idaho for a Friday-Saturday series at Stilwell Stadium.
