The Spring sports season rolls on for the Beacons with baseball and men's golf hosting events. Meanwhile, Beach Volleyball, Softball, Track and Women's Golf are on the road and the Esports season continues.
 
BASEBALL
 
Friday 3/7 vs. Corban, 2:00 pm
Saturday 3/8 vs. Corban, 11:00 am
 
THIS WEEK: Currently tied for first-place in the CCC, the Beacons look to continue to establish themselves as one of the top teams in the conference as they host fifth-place Corban.   
 
LAST WEEK: Bushnell took three-of-four from Warner Pacific in their first road trip of the season, including winning two of three Cascade Conference games.  
 
CONFERENCE OUTLOOK: Four teams currently sit on top of the Cascade Conference standings with No. 24 Lewis-Clark State, Oregon Tech, Bushnell and University of British Columbia all at 4-2. Meanwhile, the other four schools (Corban, College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon, and Warner Pacific) are all tied for fifth-place at 2-4.
 
The Beacons (12-3, 4-2 CCC) lead the Cascade Conference in pitching, holding a 4.37 team Earned Run Average. Bushnell's pitchers are also averaging 7.04 strikeouts per nine innings, which ranks third, and are holding opponents to a .256 batting average, which ranks second. Individually, Braden Proud is seventh in the CCC with a 3.06 ERA. Austin Wolfe is ninth (3.32) and ranks second in conference, holding opponents to just .203 hitting.
 
Offensively, the Beacons are sixth in the conference with a .282 batting average, as well as second in the CCC with 22 home runs and 57 extra-base hits.  Individually, Will Hudler ranks sixth in the CCC with a .424 batting average and leads the conference with a .939 slugging percentage. Jordan Wilson is third in the CCC with six home runs.
 
CORBAN: The Warriors (6-9, 2-4) come into the weekend on the heels of a four-game sweep at the hands of Oregon Tech, in which they allowed the Owls to score at least ten runs per game. They took three-of-four from Warner Pacific at home the prior weekend.  
 
The Warriors are third in the CCC in hitting with a .301 batting average, but they are eighth in the conference with an 8.40 combined team ERA. Ryan Clay leads the offense, hitting .468 with ten extra base hits and 15 runs scored. Chris Shaffer is 1-1 in four starts with a 5.23 ERA, striking out 24 batters through 20.2 innings.
 
The Beacons are 15-4 all-time against the Warriors over the past three years, including a four-game series sweep at home last season. Bushnell has won 10 of the last 11 meetings.
 
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
 
Friday 3/7 vs. Southern Oregon (@CRB), 12:00 pm
Saturday 3/8 vs. Simpson (@ CRB), 10:00 am
Saturday 3/8 vs. Simpson (@ CRB), 2:00 pm
 
THIS WEEK: The Beacons (0-3, 0-3 CCC) will be looking for their first win of the season as they take on Southern Oregon University and first-year conference member Simpson University in CCC action.
 
LAST WEEK: Bushnell got the season off to a rough start at home, dropping three matches. They fell twice to Northwest University by a 3-2 score, with the Eagles squeezing out three-set wins at the No. 5 pair in both to claim the victories.
 
SOUTHERN OREGON: The Raiders (2-4) are currently ranked No. 8 in the NAIA coaches poll, and will play their first conference matches this weekend. They have lost twice to No. 3 The Master's College, but also claimed a 3-2 win over NCAA Division I University of Portland last weekend.
 
The Beacons are 5-3 all-time against SOU, who took three of four meetings last season.
 
SIMPSON: The Redhawks will make their Cascade Collegiate Conference debut this weekend and their regular-season debut as well, having played just nine scrimmages to start out the season. Last year was the first year for Simpson, who went 0-8 in the California Pacific Conference.
 
SOFTBALL
 
Friday 3/7 at College of Idaho, 1:00 pm
Saturday 3/8 at College of Idaho, 10:00 am
 
THIS WEEK: The Beacons hit week two of the CCC schedule this weekend, hitting the road for Caldwell to take on No. 24 College of Idaho.
 
LAST WEEK: The Beacons were swept in a four-game series by The University of British Columbia in their home opener last weekend. Brenna Wilson led the Bushnell offense, batting .333 with a triple while Violet Richardson had a home run and two RBI. Alexis Perez got her first start of the season for the Beacons in game four, and threw four innings with just one un-earned run allowed, keeping her season ERA at 0.00.
 
CONFERENCE OUTLOOK: The Cascade Conference continues to get stronger with four teams ranked in the NAIA's top-25, including No. 1 Southern Oregon and No. 2 Oregon Tech. Those two teams, along with No. 14 EOU and No. 24 CI are a combined 34-10 on the season.
 
Bushnell (5-7, 0-3) currently ranks third in the CCC with a 2.04 combined team ERA. Individually, Emily Cole is fourth in the conference with a 1.35 ERA, striking out 38 batters in 36.1 innings. Sara Martin is close behind in fifth with a 1.60 ERA and leads the Beacons with a 3-1 record.
 
Offensively, the Beacons are ninth in the conference in hitting with a .215 batting average. They rank fourth with seven sacrifice hits. Violet Richardson ranks third in the CCC with a .467 batting average and leads the conference in both home runs (3) and extra-base hits (8).
 
COLLEGE OF IDAHO: The Yotes (5-3, 1-2 CCC) come in after splitting their four-game series at Carroll College last weekend. The Saints swept the opening day to clinch the series win in the three-game conference set.
 
C of I is currently sixth in the CCC in pitching with a 5.08 team ERA. Opponents are hitting .315 against them and they have 26 strikeouts in 51 innings. Abbey Brooks (2-0) holds a team-leading 3.96 ERA, striking out 12 batters in 17.2 innings with opponents hitting .236 against her.
 
The Yote offense is second in the CCC, with a .340 combined batting average. Hallie Campbell and Chloe Flerching are both hitting .435 with Campbell collecting 12 RBI with a 1.110 OPS.
 
The College of Idaho has had a stranglehold on the Beacons over the past five seasons, winning 20 straight games in that stretch. The Yotes are 58-15 in the all-time series.
 
TRACK & FIELD
 
Saturday, 3/8 at Rich Allen Classic
 
LAST WEEK: The headline for the Beacons last weekend was the emergence of Kaleo Wellman, who earned All-American honors at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championship. Seeded 16th coming in, the sophomore hit a school record to claim national runner-up status.
 
THIS WEEK: The first official weekend of countable competition for the Beacons outdoor team takes place in Newberg at the Rich Allen Classic, hosted by George Fox University.  
 
GOLF
 
Saturday-Sunday, 3/8-9 Women's Golf at Pacific Invitational
Sunday-Tuesday, 3/9-11 Men's Golf at Bandon Match Play
 
PACIFIC INVITATIONAL: The Beacon women will head to Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course in North Plains, for the Pacific University Invitational on Saturday and Sunday.  
 
BANDON MATCH PLAY: One of the most anticipated events each spring is Bushnell's Bandon Match Play tournament taking place at Bandon Crossings Golf Course. This year the event has expanded to include eight schools: The Beacons are joined by fellow CCC foes Corban, Southern Oregon, and LC State, along with Simpson University, Jessup University, Skagit Valley College and Southwestern Oregon Community College.
 
ESPORTS
 
Monday, 3/10: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Teamfight Tactics, FC 25, 5:00 pm
Tuesday, 3/11: NBA 2K, Fortnite
Wednesday 3/12: Rocket League, College Football 25
Thursday 3/13: Madden
 
Bushnell Esports opens the seventh week of the spring season, beginning with the final game for SSBU on Monday. Nathan Farris (Division B) and Zack Claunch (Division A) play their final week of the regular season in TFT, looking to stay on the top half of the leaderboard. Claunch sits in a comfortable position, holding on to second place on the leaderboard.
 
Andrew Bennett continues the FC 25 regular season after claiming his fourth win last week, 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.
 
Bushnell picked up its fifth consecutive win in the Rocket League, defeating SUNY Polytechnic. The Beacons also had three teams in action last week in Fortnite. The top-50 teams advance to the playoffs.