ORANGE, Calif. – A late rally erased an early lead as the Chapman University baseball team fell 12-10 in the series opener against Middlebury. Henry Chabot pitched five perfect innings to start the game and Josh Phillips hit his sixth home run.

Chabot retired the first 15 batters of the game in order and struck out seven as he continued his early season dominance on the mound. He now has 56 strikeouts through his first 40 innings of the season with opponents hitting just .143 against him.

The offense backed Chabot's strong start with runs in five of the first six innings. Phillips' two-run homer opened the scoring in the first, giving him six for the year and increasing his school record to 29 career homers.

Chapman added two more in the third, one in the fourth, two in the fifth and two in the sixth to build a 9-1 lead. Middlebury went to work and scored in each of the last four innings against four Chapman relievers.

Two in the seventh and two more in the eighth made it 9-5. Kunal Handa pitched two perfect innings in relief to keep Chapman stuck at nine runs as the offense chipped away. In the ninth, Middlebury struck for seven runs to turn a four-run deficit into a three-run lead in the final inning.

Chapman rallied with two outs as Ryan Nopper drove in Blake Beckley when he dropped a single into right field, bringing the tying run to the plate. However, a strikeout ended the game and gave Middlebury the win in the opener.

The two Panther clubs conclude the series tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.