HELENA, Mont. – Lexi Klum roped three doubles and drove in five runs on the day, as Oregon Tech ran their win streak to 10 with a doubleheader sweep of Carroll College at Centennial Park.
The Lady Owls (37-7, 21-3 CCC) kept pace with Eastern Oregon atop the Cascade Conference standings with the 3-2 and 11-0 wins.
Game 1 was a pitchers’ duel between the Owls Kacie Schmidt and the Saints (18-24, 10-14) Kennedy Venner – with a pair of big 2-out hits keying the OIT win.
Klum got Tech on the board in the first – gapping a 2-out, 2-run double to stake the No. 5-ranked team in the NAIA to a 2-0 lead. After Alyssa Lybbert pulled the hosts within a run in the third with an RBI single, Addison Kachnik came through, lining a 2-out, RBI double to extend the OIT lead.
Carroll scored an unearned run in the fifth, but Schmidt took over in the circle, striking out three of the final four hitters in picking up her 19th win – fanning nine on the day.
Klum was 3-for-3 in the win for OIT, with Kenna Thomas going 2-for-3 for the Saints and Venner striking out nine in a losing cause.
The OIT bats came alive in Game 2 – pounding out 13 hits against three Carroll arms.
Puakea Milbourne got the offense started in the third, belting her team-leading 11th home run of the season, a 2-run shot, giving the visitors the lead. An inning later, RBI doubles from Klum and Jayce Seavert highlighted a 4-run inning, while in the fifth, Klum added a 2-run double and Seavert knocked in a run with a single – pushing the margin to double-digits.
Mckenzie Staub did the rest, tossing her second-straight shutout – limiting Carroll to three hits.
“We got clutch hits in Game 1 from Lexi and Addison (Kachnik) off a good pitcher,” said OIT head coach Greg Stewart. “Kacie held their offense in check and we played solid defense. Was happy to see the bats come alive in Game 2 and Mckenzie was rock solid.”
Seavert finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI, Klum was 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI, with Kaila Mick, Staub and Marla Goodspeed adding 2-hit games. Mick moved within four runs scored of the CCC all-time record of 251 (set by College of Idaho’s Haley Loffer in 2023).
OIT closes out the regular-season next weekend, hosting College of Idaho in a 4-game series.