ORANGE, Calif. – A slugfest to start the SCIAC series resulted in a 16-9 win for the Chapman University baseball team over Whittier. The game featured 25 total runs scored on 36 combined hits while the Panthers also stole six bases.

Andrew Powers led the offensive onslaught, going 4-for-5 with two RBIs and four runs scored. Biggs Ellis had three run-scoring hits to plate four RBIs. Ryan Nopper went 4-for-4 with a double, a run scored and three RBIs as eight of the nine Chapman starters had a multiple hit game.

Keegan Goddard put the explanation point on the victory as his third hit of the day was a no-doubt two-run homer to left field, giving him three RBIs and two runs scored on the day. The only starter without a hit was Sloan Steimel, who laid down three sacrifice bunts in his first three plate appearances. He also perfectly executed a squeeze bunt in the fourth.

Chapman scored in each of the first five innings to build a 13-6 lead. Chapman went up 5-0 after a four-run second but Whittier put up a four-spot of its own in the third to narrow the deficit to one run. The Panthers with back-to-back three-run innings to reach double digits in the first four innings.

Nick Molina breezed through the first two innings and picked up the win after he got through five innings with a 13-6 lead. Owen Rolling pitched the final four frames to pick up his first save as a Panther. The freshman struck out seven and scattered six hits while walking one in his longest outing of the season.

The Chapman lineup put up season-highs with 16 runs, 23 hits and 14 RBIs to go along with six stolen bases.

The series concludes with a doubleheader tomorrow in Whittier starting at 11 a.m.