McMINNVILLE, Ore. - Perhaps motivated by a rare underdog label
and No. 5 seed in the six-team NCAA Division III West Region
playoffs, the Chapman University baseball team made one thing clear
on Thursday: the road to the regional championship still goes
through the Panthers. Chapman exploded for six runs in the second
and led 14-1 after four innings on its way to a 16-2 win over No. 2
Texas-Tyler in the first round of the regional tournament at Roy
Hesler Field.
The Panthers have won the West Region championship four
consecutive years and five out of the past six as they begin
defense of their title, this time in Oregon.
Chapman (27-14) jumped on top in the first inning thanks to a
solo home run by freshman DH Ben Owens. But it was
a six-spot in the second inning that knocked Texas-Tyler (38-11)
out of the game. Junior OF Ryan Prechtl doubled in
two runs and then Owens followed with a two-run single to give the
Panthers a 5-0 lead. Senior IF Tristan Phillips
and sophomore IF Tyler Hadzinsky followed with RBI
singles and Chapman led 7-0.
The Panthers didn't stop there, scoring four more times in the
third inning. Junior OF Ryan Hall led off with a
solo home run down the left field line to chase Tyler starting
pitcher Brett Holland. After an RBI double by
sophomore OF John Semel, he then advanced to third
on a wild pitch and stole home with Phillips at the plate. It was
Semel's 20th stolen base of the season and Chapman led 11-1.
Hall added his second home run of the game to leadoff the fourth
and the Panthers added two more runs in the inning. Chapman also
posted single runs in the fifth, and again in the seventh thanks to
a solo homer by junior C Joe Lehman.
Meanwhile, Chapman's pitching was superb. Three Panther arms
combined to toss a four-hitter and allowed just two earned runs to
the Patriots who entered the game with a Division III-leading 38
victories and averaged over 8.8 runs per game. Senior RHP
Wayde Kitchens tossed the first two innings and
earned two strikeouts, tying him with Scott Akamine with a
school-record 294 career punchouts.
Senior RHP Matt Irsfeld (3-2) relieved Kitchens
with four innings of two-hit ball, striking out seven and earning
his third victory of the year. Freshman LHP Ben
Levitt closed it out with three shutout innings for his
second save of the year.
Chapman pounded 24 hits in the game, one shy of their
season-best. Phillips, Hall and senior IF Patrick
Ohail had four hits apiece. Phillips, Hall and Owens drove
in three runs each.
Chapman will play the winner of tonight's Cal Lutheran-George
Fox (Ore.) game at 7 p.m. on Friday in the winner's bracket. The
Panthers split two games with Cal Lu during the regular season, but
have not faced George Fox since the 2007 NCAA playoffs.
Box score: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2008-09/stats/cu-utt.htm
