Written by Olivia Arciniega
Despite an overall winning record, the Bushnell Beacons have recently become all too familiar with losses. Last week, the Beacons failed to execute a single win in their series against the University of British Columbia, losing two of the four games by a 10+ run deficit. At Hamlin Sports Complex this past Tuesday, the Beacons lost a close one to Western Oregon University 6-5. Jeff Fripp brought the game within one run after a three-run home run in the bottom of the 8th, but it wasn’t enough to pull out a win. This upcoming weekend, the Beacons host Oregon Tech on their home field with a chance to turn things around as the season’s end draws near.
The Beacons are walking into this game with a solid lineup, including two players ranked top 10 within the conference for ERA: Ethan Sachs and Adam Sabatino. Sachs has an ERA of 3.48, on top of collecting 43 strikeouts throughout the 9 games he has started. In one of his games against Eastern Oregon, Sachs had 8 strikeouts and 0 walks. Last year, Sachs was voted Most Valuable Pitcher last year and has continued to earn this title. Sabatino stands at an ERA of 3.95, with 23 strikeouts on the season.
Another significant player on this team has been Cayden Delozier, who’s ranked third in the conference for his .378 batting average. He also holds the team’s highest OB% at 0.477 but he hasn't played since March 25th. Ethan Stacy trails right behind Delozier in both categories, with a .344 batting average and a 0.43 OB%. Cade Crist leads the team with 7 home runs, which is looking to grow during this series. The Beacons are 13-8 on their home field as the team prepares to play on Hamlin again, hoping this series will break their five-game losing streak.
The last time Bushnell played Oregon Tech they won the series 2-1 in close games after the "non-conference" series was moved from Klamath Falls to Springfield due to snow in early March. Notably, the second game of that series stretched to 14 innings, where Crist had a walk-off single. In this game, three different players scored in the 5th inning. Ethan Paulson and Trevor Hammond pitched 4 innings a piece this game, with Paulson racking up 4 strikeouts and just one ER. What’s worrisome is Bushnell’s 5-11 loss in the final series game against Oregon Tech, where they gave up all 11 scores in the final three innings. Tyler Horner of Oregon Tech had 3 RBIs that game, with help from 3 runs by Korry Siracusa.
The first series loss dropped Oregon Tech to a record of 11-9, at the time, but they have since maintained a winning record, entering this series at 25-13. OIT is in first place in the CCC with a conference record of 12-4. The Owls are coming off a series split 2-2 vs Corban.
Prediction: The Bushnell Beacons break their losing streak, winning the series 3-1. They come out strong to win the first game, fall to Oregon Tech in a close second game, but pull through in the third game to end their winning drought.