Panthers sweep Menlo, make it five in a row

ORANGE, Calif. -  Another double digit day on offense gave the Chapman University baseball team a 10-6 victory over visiting Menlo College on Sunday afternoon at Hart Park. The 10-run, 14-hit attack completes the Panthers' three-game sweep this weekend and runs their season-high winning streak to five games.

For the fourth time in the past five games, the Panthers scored at least 10 runs in the game. Chapman had only had less than 10 hits in a game twice in the first 14 games this season.

Chapman (10-4) snapped a 4-4 tie in the fifth on sophomore OF John Semel's solo home run with one out in the inning. The blast was Semel's team-leading sixth of the season and gave the Panthers the lead for good. Chapman would score twice more in the inning, thanks to an RBI triple by senior IF Tristan Phillips and a run-producing error.

The Panthers added to their lead in the later innings, getting a solo homer from junior OF Ryan Prechtl and another RBI base hit from Phillips in the eighth. Phillips was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI. Semel also had three hits.

Down 2-0 early, Chapman rallied thanks in part to production from the bottom of its order. Freshman IF Halston Barcelo drove in the Panthers' first two runs with a sacrifice fly in the second and a hit-and-run RBI single in the fourth. Freshman DH Eric Robbins also drove in a pair of runs from the No. 9 spot.

Freshman LHP Roarke Anderson picked up his second win of the year in relief, pitching 2 1/3 hitless innings.