ORANGE, Calif. – The pitching dominated on both sides in historic fashion until Piedmont broke through first as the Chapman University baseball team fell 3-0 in extra innings in its season-opener on Friday. Three Panther pitchers combined for 21 strikeouts in the 12 inning marathon.

Piedmont's pitchers combined for 20 strikeouts to nearly match Chapman's 21 as both staffs kept the game scoreless through 11 innings.

Henry Chabot started the game with 10 strikeouts in six shutout innings while he allowed just two singles and no walks. Matthew Kuramoto followed with five more shutout innings and eight strikeouts. Finean Hunter-Kenney struck out the side in the 12th despite allowing the three runs.

Peyton Irvin stole the show for Piedmont with five shutout innings in relief, punching out 11 while allowing three hits and two walks. Zeke Schwartz had six strikeouts in his five-inning start while Averett Thompson struck out one and Braden Simms struck out a pair.

The Panthers generated a few more opportunities on the offensive end but ended up leaving 10 runners on base. Chabot and Kuramoto combined to retire 14 batters in a row between the fourth and the ninth to keep the Piedmont offense scoreless.

In the 12th, a walk was followed by a run-scoring double and then a two-run homer from Sean Bailey for the game's only runs.

Chapman's 21 strikeouts rank among the most in Division III history with the record book showing just 23 games of 1 strikeouts or more.

The Panthers and Lions meet again for game two of the three-game series tomorrow at 1 p.m.