Linfield rides Larson's arm to Game 1 win

ORANGE, Calif. – The visiting Linfield College (Ore.) baseball team put its best foot forward on Friday night, winning the opener of a key four-game weekend series with No. 2-ranked Chapman University 7-2 at Hart Park. The Wildcats handed West Region leader Chapman (22-6) just its second loss in the past 13 games.

Linfield sophomore RHP Ryan Larson stymied the Panthers’ offense, facing just one batter over the minimum through the first five innings en route to a complete-game victory. Larson finished with a five-hitter and allowed only one earned run – that coming on a solo home run by Chapman senior IF Matt Luzar in the second inning. The righty struck out five to win his seventh game of the year.

The Wildcats snapped a 1-1 tie with three runs in the third inning with help from a two-run double by junior IF Dustin Smith. Linfield (23-8) collected 11 hits in nine-plus innings from Chapman’s junior RHP Jordan Sigman. The Panthers’ ace pitched in and out of trouble for much of the game but suffered his third loss of the year.

Luzar’s home run was his team-leading 10th of the season and now has a .414 batting average so far this year with 38 RBI.

Trailing by three runs in the seventh, the Panthers cut into the deficit as junior DH Adam Kordich’s single plated senior C Joe Lehman to make the score 5-2. That was as close as Chapman would get as Linfield added a pair of runs in the final two innings.

The two teams will square off in a doubleheader on Saturday at Hart Park beginning at 1 p.m. with the series finale on Sunday.

by Doug Aiken & Lindsay Jones
Sports Information Director & Sports Information Intern

Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2009-10/stats/lin-cu1.htm