A full slate of action for Bushnell spring sports includes baseball, indoor, and outdoor track on the road while beach volleyball and softball play their home openers. Esports is also in action all week!
 
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
 
Friday 2/28 vs. Northwest, 2:00 pm
Saturday 3/1 vs. Northwest, 10:00 am
Saturday 3/1 vs. College of Idaho, 12:00 pm
 
THIS WEEK: The Beacons open up the 2025 season on Friday, playing host to the first weekend of Cascade Conference round-robin action featuring Northwest University, The College of Idaho, Corban University, and the Beacons.
 
NORTHWEST: The Eagles come into the season looking to rebound after a rough 2-15 season in 2024. Northwest welcomes a pair of newcomers, as well as a number of crossover athletes from the Eagle indoor volleyball team.
 
THE COLLEGE OF IDAHO: The Yotes begin their second season of Beach Volleyball after a moderately successful inaugural campaign in which they went 7-9 and 6-6 in the CCC. C of I, who returns nine players from last season including five seniors, opens the season ranked No. 10 in the NAIA national coaches poll. The Yotes also have seven newcomers on the roster.
 
SOFTBALL
 
Saturday 3/1 vs. British Columbia, 11:00 am
Sunday 3/2 vs. British Columbia, 11:00 am
 
THIS WEEK: After their best non-conference showing in the last 16 years, Bushnell heads into the CCC schedule this weekend full of optimism, opening up against The University of British Columbia.
 
CONFERENCE OUTLOOK: The Cascade Conference continues to be the cream of the NAIA's crop with four CCC teams ranked in the national Top-16. Those four teams (No. 4 SOU, No. 5 OIT, No. 13 EOU, and No. 16 C of I) are a combined 22-4 on the season thus far.
 
Bushnell heads into conference play with the best team ERA in the CCC at 1.24. The Beacons are ninth offensively, hitting .237.
 
Individually, Emily Cole is third in the CCC with 26 strikeouts, including a conference-best nine batters caught looking. At the plate, Violet Richardson has been dominant, ranked #1 in the CCC for slugging percentage (1.000), #2 in doubles (4), and #3 in RBI (9). Her total bases (22) also ranks second and she is fifth in the conference with a .545 batting average. 
 
BRITISH COLUMBIA: The Thunderbirds, who finished fifth in the CCC last season, are off to a 3-2 start to the 2025 campaign and have won three straight.
 
The T-Birds are third in the CCC with a .339 batting average, which includes a 21-3 blowout win over Southwestern Christian Oklahoma. They are fifth in the conference with a 2.96 ERA.  
The Beacons are 9-25 in their all-time series with British Columbia, who took three of four in Canada last season.
 
BASEBALL
 
Friday 2/28 at Warner Pacific, 12:00 pm
Saturday 3/1 at Warner Pacific, 11:00 am
 
THIS WEEK: The Beacons look to have a strong weekend as they go on the road for the first time this season, headed to Milwaukie, Oregon to take on Warner Pacific University.  
 
LAST WEEK: Bushnell continued their hot streak to open the season, taking two-of-three from Oregon Tech, improving to 9-2 on the season.
 
WARNER PACIFIC: The Knights are in their inaugural season of baseball and have already picked up three wins, including two against Corban University last weekend. The Warriors took 2-of-3 in the CCC portion of the series, with WPU taking the non-conference fourth game.
 
The Knights are currently eighth in the CCC on offense, hitting .254. They are fifth on the mound with a 5.80 team ERA. Connor Hale and Giovanny Alvilar lead the team, both hitting .400 in the early goings of the season. Josiah Nickel holds a 3.00 ERA through two starts.
 
TRACK & FIELD
 
Friday, 2/28 at NAIA Indoor National Championships
Saturday, 3/1 at Erik Anderson Icebreaker
 
NAIA INDOOR NATIONALS: Sophomore Kaleo Wellman will compete at the NAIA Indoor National Championships in Gainesville, Florida on Friday in the Long Jump. The school-record holder is seeded 16th in the event.
 
ERIK ANDERSON ICEBREAKER: Linfield University hosts the first track meet of the season for the Beacons. The official outdoor season, when times and marks can count toward NAIA and Conference qualifying standards, won't start for another week, but the Beacons will have a great opportunity to get their feet wet at this initial competition.
 
ESPORTS
 
Monday, 3/3: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Teamfight Tactics, FC 25, 5:00 pm
Tuesday, 3/4: NBA 2K, Fortnite
Wednesday 3/5: Rocket League, College Football 25
Thursday 3/6: Madden
 
Bushnell Esports opens its sixth week of the spring season next week, beginning with an SSBU match on Monday. Nathan Farris (Division B) and Zack Claunch (Division A) play their sixth week of matches in TFT, looking to stay on the top half of the leaderboard. Claunch is currently in second place in the highest division.  
 
Andrew Bennett continues the FC 25 regular season, while Caden Hoerauf and Mason Monrroy continue play in their respective sport titles. Hoerauf plays CFB 25 and Madden, while Monrroy plays NBA 2K and CFB 25. Bennett is coming off his second straight win in FC 25.
 
Bushnell picked up its fourth consecutive win in the Rocket League, securing a playoff spot. The Beacons also had three teams in action last week in Fortnite. The top-50 teams advance to the playoffs. Nick McGowen and Farris are in a strong position to qualify.