SOFTBALL (1-5 Overall)
Friday 2/25 vs University of Providence, 1:00 pm/3:00 pm (Livestats | Video Stream)
Saturday 2/26 vs. University of Providence, 11:00 am/1:00 pm (Livestats | Video Stream)
Bushnell opened the season with a pair of doubleheader losses to NCAA Division II Western Oregon University and William Jessup University before splitting its series with Simpson University. The Beacons defeated the Red Hawks 1-0 to earn their first win of the season.
Sam Silver pitched a shutout to snap a 21-game losing streak to Simpson. It was the first shutout for the Beacons since March 16, 2019, a span of 92 games.
Anabel Mendez drove in Bushnell's run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the first. The Beacons held on to the victory with some big defensive plays.
The Beacons were scheduled to travel to Lewis & Clark College on Saturday before hosting Willamette University on Sunday, but COVID-protocols forced a cancellation of the first series with the Pioneers and a postponement of the doubleheader with the Bearcats.
MEET THE BEACONS: Aliyah Kelly and Silver make up the starting pitching duo for the Beacons. Kelly, a freshman, holds a 2.77 ERA through three starts, allowing just seven earned runs in those outings. Silver has a 4.53 ERA and 12 strikeouts in her three starts.
Mendez leads the team with a .412 batting average, seven hits and five RBIs.
Suzi Krstic has also gotten off to a strong start, holding a .385 batting average with five hits on the season. As a team, Bushnell is batting .295 and has posted a 3.57 ERA through six games.
MEET THE ARGOS: Providence did not have a non-conference slate this spring as Bushnell is its first opponent. The Argos finished the 2021 season with a 5-30 overall record and 5-22 mark in CCC play, posting a 2-1 record in the conference-counting games against the Beacons.
The Argos return one All-CCC honoree, outfielder Taylor Mathews. Mathews, a second-team recipient, ranked fifth in the conference in batting average (.436) and sixth in slugging (.653) and on-base percentage (.474). McKenna Montgomery led the team with a 5.37 ERA and 33 strikeouts last season as a sophomore.
The Beacons and Argos are 8-8 in the all-time series.
BASEBALL (1-11 Overall)
Friday 2/25 vs Oregon Tech, 2:00 pm/5:00 pm (Livestats | Video Stream)
Saturday 2/26 vs. Oregon Tech, 11:00 am/2:00 pm (Livestats | Video Stream)
The Beacons are coming in off the heels of their first victory of the season, having knocked off Corban University last Sunday, 6-0.
There were plenty of headline makers in the contest, led by the pitching tandem of
Jahshua Yacapin and
Kai Keamo. With a full compliment of family and friends from the Islands in attendance, the duo that grew up just 12 miles apart on O'ahu combined for the four-hitter, striking out 11 batters.
Offensively,
Noah Montoya,
Jacob Stoner,
Brendan Frazier, and
Dylan Martin each had two hits while six different players came across the dish to score.
MEET THE BEACONS: Kyle Casperson leads the offense, hitting .333 while leadoff-hitter
Peyton Hino has posted a team-high with 11 hits. Hino is one of three Beacons, along with
Jacob Stoner and
Jordan Wilson, to post seven RBI. Stoner leads the team with five extra base hits.
Jameson Hussey, recently returning from an injury, holds a 1.198 OPS as three of his five hits have gone for extra bases.
Jahshua Yacapin has developed a strong resume so far on the mound, leading the Beacons with a 1.17 ERA in three starts, the fourth-lowest ERA in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. He is 1-0, and has struck out 13 batters in 15.1 innings.
Colby Knutzen has provided six solid innings of relief work so far as batters are hitting just .158 against him. He has a 3.00 ERA and has struck out four batters.
MEET THE OWLS: Oregon Tech has opened the season at 8-6, including a 9-1 win over Bushnell in their first meeting last weekend.
The Owls have a strong offensive lineup with give hitters above a .300 batting average. As a team, the are third in the CCC, hitting .282. OIT has slugged an impressive 18 home runs in 14 games. That total ranks second in the CCC behind only No. 4 Lewis-Clark State College.
Kaleb Keelean leads the team with a .378 batting average and eight stolen bases. Dalton Daily (.375) has 21 hits including five homers, while Brodie Marino (.229) leads the club with 17 RBI. Michael Tarakhchyan (.308) leads the club with 20 runs.
As strong as the offense has been, the pitching staff has been solid as well, ranking third in the CCC with a 4.59 combined ERA. They are second to just LC State with 126 strikeouts in 115.2 innings.
The tandem of Dylan Grogan and Cody Dubray have been lights out on the mound and rank 2-3 in the CCC for ERA at 0.86 and 0.95 respectively. Grogan owns 33 strikeouts in 21 innings and has held opponents to a .106 batting average. Dubray has 24 Ks in 19 innings and has a shutout to his credit. Both pitchers are 3-0.
