via Oregon Tech Athletic Communications
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Tyler Horner was 7-for-10 on the afternoon, both Ka’ala Tam and Julien Jones had five hits and five RBI, with Oregon Tech pitching holding College of Idaho to one run on the day, as the Hustlin’ Owls claimed a Cascade Conference series win with 11-1 and 9-0 victories at Steen Sports Park.
Isaac Hill and Alex Rodriguez limited C of I (14-16, 4-13 CCC) to a run on eight hits in the opener, while Carson Glavich and four relievers combined on a 3-hit shutout in the nightcap – completing Tech’s third-straight series win against their Idaho counterparts.
“I am proud of the adjustments we made in this series, pitch-to-pitch, inning-to-inning, at bat-to-at bat,” said OIT head coach Ricky Walker. “We were able to get our foot down a little bit early and began to hit the way we know we can hit. Our catchers did a great job calling games this weekend and our pitchers did a fantastic job executing what we needed to do.”
The Hustlin’ Owls (19-9, 10-7) rode a 16-hit attack in the opener to their second run-rule win of the weekend. Jones staked Tech to a 2-0 lead in the first with a 2-run double off the center field wall.
After the Coyotes cut the lead to 2-1 on a Chandler Stocking second inning sacrifice fly, Tech answered in the bottom of the frame, as Korrey Siracusa scored on a wild pitch, while in the third, Keanu Mizuta singled home a run and Horner capped a 4-run inning with an RBI triple of the right field wall. Tam made it 9-1 in the fourth with a 2-run single, with Horner ending the game with an eighth inning RBI single off the wall in left.
Isaac Hill tossed six strong innings, allowing a run on six hits, striking out four, with Rodriguez throwing two shutout frames.
Horner finished 5-for-6 – becoming the 20th OIT player to record five hits in a game – with Jones going 3-for-5, Siracusa going 3-for-4 and Tam finishing 2-for-5. Jack Ingraham led C of I with a 3-for-4 effort.
Pitching and the long ball lifted Tech in the series finale – as Carson Glavich handcuffed C of I over five shutout innings, holding the Yotes to two hits and striking out four. Noah Loew, Brian McClelland, Kaden Melzer and Jaden Domingsel all completed the shutout with scoreless innings.
Jones jumpstarted the offense, launching a 3-run homer to dead centerfield in the first, with Tam breaking the game wide open in the fifth with a 3-run blast to left – capping a 5-run inning.
Tam was 3-for-3 in the win, Jones and Matthew Ortiz were 2-for-3, with Horner posting two hits to extend his hit streak to 18 games. Connor Olsen had two of the three hits for C of I.
OIT hits the road for the final time in the regular-season next weekend, heading to Idaho for a pivotal 4-game series at No. 20-ranked Lewis-Clark State.
