ORANGE, Calif. – A game-winning triple from Mia Reyes put the Chapman University softball team into the postseason for seventh consecutive season. Reyes' walkoff lifted the Panthers to a 4-3 win in the series-opener over Whittier.
One run on six singles was all the Panthers put on the board through the first six innings but the lineup turned the page in the seventh. Emily Tome and Jayden Garcia ledoff the inning with back-to-back singles. Brooke Wiegand drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases and flip over the lineup back to Reyes.
In her final game at El Camino Real Park, the senior roped a 1-1 pitch into the right center gap. Wiegand sprinted around from first and slid in well ahead of the throw to send the Panther charging out of the dugout in celebration.
Reyes' walkoff not only sealed a series-opening victory but put the Panthers back into the SCIAC Tournament and one win away from clinching the No. 2 seed.
Anabell Hinojosa drove in the other Chapman run with a two-out single in the sixth. Cameron Burroughs earned the win in the circle after she relieved Hinojosa in the sixth and tossed 1.2 scoreless innings.
Whittier scored once on a wild pitch in the fourth and twice in the sixth. Tiaira Richardson was a homer short of the cycle to lead the Poets.
Chapman and Whittier finish the regular season on Saturday at Whittier with a noon doubleheader. A Chapman win in either game or losses from La Verne and Pomona-Pitzer will clinch the No. 2 seed in next week's SCIAC Tournament.
