COMING UP: vs. Bushnell (DH), Friday, 3 p.m.; vs. Bushnell (DH), Saturday, 11 a.m.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: All Cascade Conference softball games will be carried live on the Urban Edge Network, with Live Stats through the OIT SIDEARM Stats Portal. Note for fans heading to Springfield, fan attendance is not permitted until 2:50 p.m. for Friday's game, as the facility is on school district grounds. There are no fan restrictions for Saturday.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – BUSHNELL: The Owls head to the Valley for a 4-game series at Bushnell, as the Beacons (5-21, 2-10 CCC) have played much better on their own diamond in Springfield (4-6) than on the road (1-15). Bushnell ranks No. 5 in the CCC in team batting (.284), averaging 3.7 runs per game, but defense has hurt the squad, ranking last in the CCC in fielding percentage (.919). First baseman Riley Peeler (.418 0 HR 9 RBI) leads the attack, along with shortstop Shyla Mead (.351 1 HR 8 RBI) and outfielder Haleigh Wambolt (.319 2 HR 17 RBI). Drop ball specialist Sam Martin (3-10 5.21 ERA) is the Beacons top pitcher, along with 2-way player Violet Richardson (.322 2 HR 16 RBI, 2-4 6.77 ERA). Tech takes a 33-game win streak against Bushnell into the series and holds a 93-8 all-time series lead.
 
BEST STARTS: The 30-4 start to the season for the Lady Owls is the second-best 34 game start in program history. The 2006 team opened 31-3, while the 2026 team joined the 2012 team in the 30-4 club (the 1998, 2021, 2022 and 2023 teams began 29-5). Saturday's Game 2 win clinched the Owls 26th 30-win season, as the 2026 team looks to extend a pair of long streaks. Outside of the Covid ended season in 2021, the Owls have won 40-or-more games 6-straight seasons, while posting 35-or-more wins every year since 2011. The club has 26 seasons with 30-or-more wins, 13 seasons with 40-or-more wins and two seasons with 50-or-more wins.
 
LADY OWLS RANKED NO. 2: The Owls 30-4 start to the year helped the club climb two spots to No. 2 in the NAIA Top-25 poll, released on March 18. Oregon teams hold the Top-3 spots – with Eastern at No. 1, Tech at No. 2 and Southern at No. 3. It is the sixth-straight year OIT has earned a Top-2 ranking and the 16th time the Owls have been ranked either No. 1 or No. 2.
 
ANOTHER HOME SERIES WIN: Despite a Game 1 loss, Tech battled back to win the final three games vs. Corban to secure a series win – the 20th home series victory in 21 series dating back to 2021. The Lady Owls improved to 15-1 record at Stilwell Stadium, improving to 142-24 on the home turf since 2019, an 86% win percentage.
 
IN EXTRAS: The Lady Owls improved to 2-0 this season in extra innings with the 3-2 victory in Game 3. It marked the 117th extra inning game by an OIT team in the last 30 years, with the Owls 72-44-1 in extra innings. Tech has played 13 10-inning games, five 11-inning games, two 12-inning games and one game each going 13, 15, 16 and 17 innings.
 
RUNS = WINS: Scoring runs is key to the Owl success, as Tech is 28-0 this season when scoring three runs or more, with the team 2-4 when scoring two runs or less.
 
PITCHING AND DEFENSE: Pitching and defense is the key to the Lady Owls stellar start to the season – with the club allowing two runs or less in 8-straight games and 3 runs or less in 15-straight contests. With the glove, Tech has committed just one error in the last 10 games – vaulting to No. 1 in the CCC in both team ERA (1.99) and team fielding percentage (.971), while holding opponents to a .199 team batting average.
 
PARKER LEADS STAFF: Tech got a big boost in the Corban series from Alli Parker, who pitched in three of the four games, going 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA in nine-plus innings. The junior allowed just five hits, did not walk a batter and struck out 13. Over her last six appearances covering 21 innings, Parker has commanded the zone, walking just one batter and striking out 25.
 
MICK CONTINUES BREAKOUT YEAR: The key to the Owls offense against Corban was center fielder Malia Mick, who continued a huge breakout season. The 3-year starter ran a career-high hit streak to 11 games, going 6-for-11 with four runs scored in the series, adding four walks and two stolen bases, upping her batting average to .390. Mick provided the big hit in Game 3, a walk-off RBI single to give Tech a 3-2 win.
 
MORE WITH THE BATS: Gina Allen broke out of a 0-for-12 slump in a big way, going 5-for-14 against Corban, posting two doubles, a triple and four RBI, pushing her RBI total to 30. Puakea Milbourne also provided key hits, going 5-for-12 in the series, adding a double and five RBI – moving within 10 RBI from becoming the fourth Lady Owl to record 200 RBI in a career.
 
RECORD WATCH: Nita Cook had two stolen bases in the Corban series, the 99th and 100th stolen bases of her OIT career. The senior is five stolen bases from one of the oldest OIT offensive school records still standing, the 105 stolen bases set by Kelsi Haylett from 2004-07.
 
STEWART JOINS 800 CLUB: With a win over Hope International on Feb. 14, Greg Stewart became the 12th coach in NAIA history to record 800 wins in a career. The 22-year skipper currently ranks No. 9 on the active NAIA head softball coaches wins list with 823 victories, posting a 823-301-2 all-time record.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE: Southern Oregon was the lone CCC to sweep a series, outscoring Bushnell 41-1 in the four games. C of I took 3-of-4 from Warner Pacific and UBC won 3-of-4 at Simpson – with both C of I and UBC losing one league tilt. This week, UBC finally plays at home, hosting C of I, Simpson plays a Thursday-Friday series at Corban, with Eastern Oregon traveling to Warner Pacific.
 
TEAM LEADERS: Batting Average – Oregon Tech .356, College of Idaho .348, Eastern Oregon .346, Southern Oregon .329, Bushnell .284; Runs Per Game – EOU 8.10, C of I 7.25, OIT 6.59, SOU 6.24, Warner Pacific 4.61; Home Runs – C of I 37, EOU 26, OIT 19, WPU 13, Simpson 8; Stolen Bases – SOU 59, EOU 54, C of I 48, OIT 39, WPU 31; ERA – OIT 1.99, SOU 2.20, British Columbia 2.22, EOU 2.88, SU 4.71; Fielding Percentage – OIT .972, SOU .969, UBC .963, EOU .960, C of I .955.
 
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS: Batting Average – Lexi Grumbois (EOU) .447, Kina Watts (CI) .434, Nita Cook (OIT) .426, Riley Peeler (BU) .418, Noe Barawis (WPU) .418; Runs Scored – Watts 41, Kamryn Ham (CI) 39, Vanessa Lang (SOU) 36, Grumbois 32, Puakea Milbourne (OIT) 32; Hits – Lang 53, Cook 49, Kalea Thomas (SOU) 47, Addison Kachnik (OIT) 46, Ari Williams (SOU) 45; Home Runs – Madelyn Powell (CI) 9, Watts 7, Hope Burke (EOU) 7, Gina Allen (OIT) 6, Milbourne 5; RBI – Powell 43, Watts 36, Williams 33, Brooke Nordahl (SOU) 32, Grumbois 32; Stolen Bases – Raygun Klippert (EOU) 25, Thomas 18, Cook 18, Barawis 14, Ham 11; ERA – Carleen Murray (UBC) 0.90, Kristine Schmidt (OIT) 1.21, Camille Schmitz (EOU) 1.33, Alli Parker (OIT) 2.01, Ayla Davies (SOU) 2.06;  Strikeouts – Murray 128, Davies 105, Schmidt 107, Parker 83, Maliyah Mann (EOU) 72.
 
RECORD BOOK: Eight 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 (100), No. 3 in defensive assists (409), No. 4 in runs (188), No. 5 in sacrifice hits (24), No. 7 in hits (245), No. 8 in walks (72), No. 10 in triples (9) and hit by pitches (16), No. 12 in at bats (639) and defensive chances (814), No. 17 in doubles (37) and No. 19 in RBI (114). Puakea Milbourne ranks No. 2 in defensive putouts (1,401) and chances (1,443), No. 4 in RBI (190), No. 5 in hit-by-pitches (24) and sacrifice flies (10), No. 7 in home runs (27) and sacrifice hits (21), No. 11 in at bats (668), runs scored (149) and hits (237), No. 16 in doubles (42), ranking No. 17 in stolen bases (30); Addison Kachnik is No. 8 in defensive assists (325), No. 11 in doubles (46), No. 12 in at bats (639), No. 16 in RBI (129), No. 20 in triples (6), No. 21 in hits (204) and No. 24 in walks (45); Alli Parker is No. 3 in saves (7), No. 18 in strikeouts (145), No. 19 in pitching appearances (53), No. 20 in wins (20) and No. 25 in innings pitched (152.1); Jenna Gorden is No. 23 in wins (15), No. 24 in shutouts (2) and appearances (49), ranking just outside the Top-25 in innings pitched (133.0); Malia Mick is No. 10 in triples (9) and No. 12 in hit by pitches (15); Carli Moore is No. 15 in saves (2), No. 24 in shutouts (2) and strikeouts (82), ranking No. 25 in appearances (42); with Kristine Schmidt No. 15 in saves (2) and No. 21 in both shutouts (3) and strikeouts (107).
 
NEXT WEEK: The Lady Owls close out the home regular-season next weekend, hosting Southern Oregon for a key 4-game series (April 10-11) – with the Saturday date marking Senior Day for the 10 senior student-athletes on the 2026 team.