via Oregon Tech Athletic Communications
CALDWELL, Idaho – Heading into the final weekend of the regular-season, Oregon Tech had one scenario to win a Cascade Conference title and earn hosting responsibilities for the CCC Championships. The Lady Owls earned a 5-3 victory at College of Idaho and got specific help elsewhere in the league – clinching their fourth-straight regular-season crown and bringing the conference tournament back to the Basin.
Host C of I (26-16, 14-13) snapped Tech’s 16-game win streak with a 4-1 decision in the non-conference regular-season finale for both teams.
No. 2-ranked OIT (41-7, 23-4 CCC) had to sweep the 3-game conference series, while Eastern Oregon needed to take 2-of-3 games from Southern Oregon to win the title. Following Tech’s win, SOU rallied for a 6-5 win at EOU (after Eastern had upset Southern in the first two games) – deadlocking the Owls and Raiders in the standings, with OIT winning the head-to-head tiebreak.
The Lady Owls clinched the CCC’s first automatic bid to the NAIA Championships – the 11th-straight trip to Nationals. The squad will host the CCC Championships, presented by U.S. Bank, next Friday-Sunday, at Stilwell Stadium.
Tech needed a win over the No. 23-ranked Yotes to keep their hopes alive – with the squad riding a 4-hitter from Kacie Schmidt – who picked up her 22nd win of 2025, while surpassing the 600-strikeout mark for her career.
Sawyer Stenson got the Owls on the board in the second with an RBI single, with a Malia Mick RBI ground out and a Nita Cook RBI double extending the lead to 3-0.
C of I cut the margin to 3-2 in the bottom of the frame on a Hallie Campbell 2-run homer, but Stenson got a run back in the third on an RBI single and Puakea Milbourne hit her sixth homer of the year in the fifth to provide insurance.
Schmidt did the rest, retiring the final seven batters to secure the win – with Stenson going 2-for-3.
In Game 2, Zoe Allen, Jayce Seavert and Addison Kachnik each had two hits – with Allen driving home Cook from second in the third inning to give OIT the lead.
While C of I’s Abbey Brooks silenced the Tech offense, the Yotes got an RBI single from Ashlynn Nixon to give the hosts the lead, while adding a pair of unearned runs in the sixth to put the game away.
