Top-seeded Panthers earn eighth straight playoff berth
ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University baseball team will return to McMinnville, Oregon this week in search of an improbable sixth consecutive regional title. The Panthers have been selected to the NCAA Division III baseball championships and will face Trinity University (Texas) in the first round opener at noon on Wednesday.
For the second straight year the West Region tournament will be hosted by Linfield College (Ore.) at Roy Helser Field/Jim Wright Stadium – the site of the Panthers’ fifth regional title in a row last May. The Panthers will be the favorites to six-peat having earned the No. 1 seed in the six-team tournament. Trinity (32-7) is the No. 6 seed.
Rounding out the six-team regional bracket are No. 2 Linfield (30-10), No. 3 Pomona-Pitzer (29-9), No. 4 Texas-Tyler (35-10), and No. 5 Mississippi College (36-9). The Panthers are 4-3 against the field this season, taking two of three from Pomona-Pitzer and splitting a four-game series with Linfield at Hart Park in April. Chapman defeated Pomona and Tyler in last year’s regional tournament, also in McMinnville.
The Panthers are making their eighth consecutive NCAA postseason appearance under head coach Tom Tereschuk, Chapman’s all-time winningest coach at 281-88. Since 2003, Chapman has won six West Region titles and one national championship (2003). The Panthers placed fourth at the Division III finals last season.
Chapman (30-9) enters the postseason ranked No. 6 in Division III by D3Baseball.com and No. 5 by the American Baseball Coaches Association.
The Panthers have remained in the top-10 all season on the strength of their pitching staff which ranks third in the nation with a 3.27 team earned run average, led by freshman RHP Brian Rauh. The rookie 10-game winner leads Chapman with a 2.42 ERA and ranks fifth in Division III in hits allowed per nine innings (5.57) and ninth with 89 strikeouts. Junior RHP Jordan Sigman has also produced some of the best numbers of his career with an 8-4 record and 2.72 ERA.
Of course the Panthers have supplied plenty of offense and defense in support of their pitching. Chapman ranks in the top-30 in Division III in fielding (.964) and is averaging 8.2 runs per game with the bats. A pair of seniors lead the Panthers offensively: 1B Matt Luzar (.400 avg., 12 HR, 54 RBI, .710 slg.) and 3B/OF Ryan Prechtl (.392 avg., 5 HR, 47 runs, 8 SB). In fact, Luzar – a converted pitcher – ranks in the top-50 in the nation in home runs, RBI and total bases.
Chapman last faced Trinity in the 2008 West Region championship game where the Panthers defeated the Tigers 4-3. Chapman is 3-1 all-time against Trinity, with all games coming in the postseason. The Tigers eliminated Chapman from the 2004 playoffs – the only year the Panthers have failed to win the regional championship under Tereschuk.
Live stats will be available for all games at the tournament website (below) or go to www.chapmanathletics.com.
by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director
NCAA Division III West Region championships website:
http://www.linfield.edu/sports/ncaaregional.html