COMING UP: vs. No. 5 Southern Oregon (DH), Friday, 2 p.m.; vs. Southern Oregon (DH), Saturday, 11 a.m.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: All Cascade Conference softball games will be carried live on the Urban Edge Network, with Mike Safford (Friday) and Mike Garrard (Saturday) calling the action, with Live Stats through the OIT SIDEARM Stats Portal.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – SOUTHERN OREGON: Tech's biggest softball rival makes the short drive over the hill, as No. 5-ranked Southern Oregon heads to Klamath for a key 4-game series. The defending NAIA champion Raiders (29-9, 10-5 CCC) are riding a 9-game win streak – allowing one run or fewer in each game – powered by an offense averaging over six runs a contest. SOU has wins over Oklahoma City, Science & Arts, Central Methodist and Eastern Oregon, as the Raiders are led in the circle by NAIA Pitcher of the Year, Ayla Davies (14-5 2.06 ERA) and transfer Lexi Ramirez (11-3 2.37 ERA; .366 1 HR 20 RBI). The offense is anchored by veteran players Vanessa Lang (.405 0 HR 25 RBI), Ari Williams (.375 1 HR 33 RBI) and Brooke Nordahl (.321 2 HR 32 RBI), along with redshirt freshman Kalea Thomas (.367 0 HR 12 RBI, 18 SB). The two rivals have met 150 times on the diamond, with both schools winning 75 games, with the Lady Owls taking a 6-game home regular-season win streak over SOU into the weekend set.
 
SENIOR DAY: This weekend marks the final home regular-season games for nine OIT senior softball student-athletes – 2-year seniors Hayden Rockwell, Sawyer Stenson and Jazmine Macias; 4-year seniors Puakea Milbourne, Nita Cook, Malia Mick and Addison Kachnik; and 5-year seniors Carli Moore and Jenna Gorden. The players will be honored in a special ceremony following Game 2 of the Saturday doubleheader.
 
HOME FIELD EDGE: The Lady Owls close out home regular-season schedule this week vs. Southern Oregon, putting a 15-1 mark at home in 2026 on the line. Since the construction of Stilwell Stadium in 2019, OIT has a combined record of 142-24 on the home turf, an 86% win percentage.
 
BEST STARTS: The 34-4 start to the season for the Lady Owls has equaled the best 38-game start in program history, joining the 2006 in the exclusive club. Both the 2022 and 2023 teams began the season with 33-5 marks. OIT has clinched their Owls 26th 30-win season, with the 2026 team looking 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. 1: The Owls 34-4 start allowed Tech to climb into the No. 1 spot in the NAIA Top-25 Coaches' Poll for the first time since the 2024 preseason ranking and the tenth time in program history. Oregon schools continue to dominate the Top-5 – as Eastern Oregon is ranked No. 4 and Southern Oregon is No. 5.
 
PLAYOFF STREAK CONTINUES: With Saturday's win over Bushnell, the Lady Owls clinched one of six spots in May's CCC Championships, the 15th-straight postseason appearance and 30th playoff appearance in 33 years. Tech is a combined 112-79 in 191 all-time postseason games, including a 39-22 record in CCC Tournament games.
 
TECH SWEEPS CCC AWARDS: OIT took home both weekly CCC awards, as Nita Cook earned Player of the Week honors and Alli Parker was named Pitcher of the Week. Cook had a banner series in the Lady Owls sweep of Bushnell, combining to go 10-for-15 at the plate, scoring nine runs and adding five stolen bases. The senior tied the all-time OIT stolen base record (105), while moving three runs scored away from 200 for her career. Cook currently leads the CCC in batting average (.454) and hits (59). Parker closed out a banner month with a pair of wins at Bushnell – throwing 11 shutout innings in two starts. The junior tossed a 2-hit shutout in Game 2 of the series, striking out eight, while earning a win in Game 3 – allowing five hits and striking out four. Over her last eight outings, Parker is 6-0 with a 0.44 ERA, walking three and striking out 37.
 
BAT ATTACK: The Owls bats caught fire in Springfield, combining for 50 hits in the four games – including 13 doubles, two triples and two home runs. Tech continues to lead the CCC (and rank No. 10 in the NAIA) in team batting average (.364), with the team posting more walks (103) than strikeouts (81)
 
SENIOR STRONG: Seniors paced the offense in the Valley, getting key production from Addison Kachnik, Malia Mick, Puakea Milbourne and Sawyer Stenson. Kachnik was 7-for-14 at the plate, with four doubles, a triple and six RBI – pushing her CCC-leading doubles total to 15. Mick had a big Saturday, going 5-for-8 with three stolen bases, with Milbourne finishing 6-for-14 with a triple, a homer and four RBI – sitting six RBI short of 200 for her OIT career. Stenson was 6-for-13 in the four games, adding two doubles, a homer and four RBI.
 
CORNER OUTFIELDERS SHINE: The Bushnell series featured quality play from the Owls corner outfielders, as left fielder Leah Huffman and right fielder Brooklyn Loose were key in the 4-game sweep. Huffman finished the series 5-for-9 at the plate with three runs scored, improving her batting average to .422. Loose provided big hits throughout the series, going 6-for-12 with three doubles and six RBI, improving her batting average to a season-high .314.
 
A MONTH TO REMEMBER: The last month of action saw the Lady Owls post an 18-2 record, with the pitching staff dominating foes to the tune of a 1.06 ERA. During the stretch, OIT pitchers have not allowed more than three runs in a game, surrendering just 20 earned runs during the run.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE: Eastern Oregon kept pace in the CCC standings with a series sweep at Warner Pacific, while UBC won 2-of-3 league counters against C of I and Simpson won 2-of-3 CCC games at Corban. Along with the huge OIT-SOU series, UBC makes the trip to EOU for a key set, Bushnell travels to Simpson and C of I hosts Corban.
 
TEAM LEADERS: Batting Average – Oregon Tech .363, College of Idaho .346, Eastern Oregon .345, Southern Oregon .329, Bushnell .270; Runs Per Game – EOU 8.09, C of I 6.97, OIT 6.71, SOU 6.24, Simpson 4.43; Home Runs – C of I 38, EOU 27, OIT 21, Warner Pacific 13, British Columbia 10; Stolen Bases – EOU 68, SOU 59, OIT 51, C of I 50, Corban 42; ERA – OIT 1.89, SOU 2.20, UBC 2.47, EOU 2.60, SU 4.61; Fielding Percentage – OIT .972, SOU .969, UBC .965, EOU .962, C of I .955.
 
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS: Batting Average – Nita Cook (OIT) .454, Kina Watts (OIT) .438, Lexi Grumbois (EOU) .427, Addison Kachnik (OIT) .424, Vanessa Lang (SOU) .405; Runs Scored – Watts 44, Kamryn Ham (CI) 41, Cook 40, Raygun Klippert (EOU) 38), Lang 36; Hits – Cook 59, Kachnik 53, Lang 53, Watts 49, Puakea Milbourne (OIT) 48; Home Runs – Madelyn Powell (CI) 9, Watts 7, Hope Burke (EOU) 7, Gina Allen (OIT) 6, Milbourne 6; RBI – Powell 46, Grumbois 41, Watts 39, Kachnik 37, Williams 33; Stolen Bases – Klippert 32, Cook 23, Kalea Thomas (SOU) 18, Noe Barawis (WPU) 15, Isabella Lauerman (EOU) 14; ERA – Camille Schmitz (EOU) 1.15, Kristine Schmidt (OIT) 1.23, Carleen Murray (UBC) 1.25, Alli Parker (OIT) 1.71, Ayla Davies (SOU) 2.06;  Strikeouts – Murray 138, Schmidt 115, Davies 115, Parker 95, Maliyah Mann (EOU) 88.
 
RECORD BOOK: Eight current players rank among the Top-25 in the OIT career record book, including Nita Cook, who is No. 1 all-time in stolen bases (105), No. 3 in defensive assists (417), No. 4 in runs (197), No. 5 in walks (74) and sacrifice hits (24), No. 7 in hits (255), No. 10 in triples (9) and hit by pitches (16), No. 11 in defensive chances (828), No. 12 in at bats (654), No. 17 in doubles (39) and No. 19 in RBI (114). Puakea Milbourne ranks No. 2 in defensive putouts (1,430) and chances (1,474), No. 3 in sacrifice flies (11), No. 4 in RBI (194), No. 5 in hit-by-pitches (24), No. 7 in home runs (28) and sacrifice hits (22), No. 8 in hits (243), No. 10 in at bats (682), No. 11 in runs scored (152), No. 16 in doubles (42), ranking No. 17 in stolen bases (30); Addison Kachnik is No. 8 in doubles (50) and defensive assists (329), No. 13 in at bats (653), No. 14 in RBI (135), No. 15 in triples (7), No. 19 in hits (211), No. 20 in sacrifice flies (6) and No. 24 in walks (45); Alli Parker is No. 3 in saves (7), No. 18 in strikeouts (145) and pitching appearances (55), No. 19 in wins (22) and No. 24 in innings pitched (163.1); Jenna Gorden is No. 23 in wins (15) and pitching appearances (51), is No. 24 in shutouts (2), ranking just outside the Top-25 in innings pitched (135.0); Malia Mick is No. 10 in triples (9) and No. 12 in hit by pitches (15), ranking just outside the Top-25 in stolen bases (22); Carli Moore is No. 15 in saves (2) and No. 24 in shutouts (2), strikeouts (84) and in pitching appearances (43); with Kristine Schmidt No. 15 in saves (2), No. 21 in both shutouts (3) and strikeouts (115), ranking No. 24 in wins (14).
 
NEXT WEEK: Tech will be the eighth of nine teams in the CCC to have their bye weekend (Corban will have a bye the final week), as the Lady Owls prepare for a monster road series April 24-25 at No. 4-ranked Eastern Oregon.