ORANGE, Calif. – It was an eventful Senior Day for the Chapman University baseball team. A pair of run-rule victories ended the season with a series sweep and clinched the No. 4 seed in the upcoming SCIAC Tournament. The Panthers won 10-0 and 14-2 over Caltech to end the regular season on a five-game win streak.
Game 1 – W, 10-0
Luke Bradley tossed the shutout on the mound and Matt Cristol capped off a five-run seventh with a game-clinching sacrifice fly. Tate Zimmerman was a single shy of the cycle and the Panthers stole six bases in the run-rule win.
In a game that took just 95 minutes to complete, Bradley filled the strike zone over a 93-pitch complete game. He struck out five and walked one while scattering four hits. He allowed just two runners past second base as he kept Chapman's second shutout of the season intact.
Zimmerman reached all four times he came up to the plate with a double in the second, a solo homer in the fourth, a walk in the sixth and a triple in the seventh. He scored all four times and knocked in three RBIs as he either scored or drove in six of the 10 runs.
Keegan Goddard, who broke Chapman's single season stolen base record on Friday, stole two more bases in each game to run his record total to 30 on the year.
Joey Capobianco and Sloan Steimel each had two-hit games while Cristol drove in a pair of runs.
Game 2 – W, 14-2
The Panthers jumped on top early to leave little doubt from the opening innings. Three runs in the first were followed by five in the third and six in the fourth to support a solid start from Ryan Iveson and relief effort from Colin Godfrey.
Iveson allowed two unearned runs on five hits and struck out a batter to pick up his sixth win. Godfrey entered in relief to strike out five of the last six batters of the game.
Zimmerman completed a doubleheader cycle, going 2-for-4 in the late game with a double and a single. Nick Molina went 3-for-3 with a home run to drive in five RBIs and score twice. Josh Nowlin added a towering homer over the left field fence to come off the bench and go 2-for-2 with four RBIs.
The Panthers hit five doubles in the game and stole five bases, including the pair from Goddard.Nate Jensen drove in two RBIs and scored twice.
The Panthers' big innings in the third and fourth were fueled by the three-run homer from Molina in the fourth and another three-run home from Jensen in the fifth.
The two wins clinched the No. 4 seed in the SCIAC Tournament and Chapman will host La Verne on Wednesday at 3 p.m. in the SCIAC Tournament First Round game. The winner will then play in the double elimination tournament Thursday through Saturday.
