Peck, Collins no-hit Whitter but Panthers fall in series finale

ORANGE, Calif. – Juniors Tyler Peck and Mason Collins were dominant in nine no-hit innings on the mound, but the Chapman University baseball team fell 2-0 to Whittier. Peck and Collins made Panther history as they combined for Chapman's first no-hitter since 1973.

Peck was masterful on the mound. He struck out 10 over seven and a third. Collins struck out three more. Peck faced the minimum over the first four-plus innings. Andrew Lamar drew a walk in the first but a double play quickly ended the inning. In the fourth, Peck and Lamar battled for 16 pitches but Lamar drew another walk on the 17th. He was stranded on first after a strikeout and grounder ended the inning.

In the fifth, Peck struck out the side. The Poets went down in order again in the sixth. A couple of fly ball outs and Peck's ninth strikeout of the day shut down the seventh in three batters.

The Panthers put together their biggest threat in the bottom half of the seventh. Junior Jarod Penniman walked to start the inning and sophomore Aaron Wong doubled to put both runners in scoring position with no outs. Penniman tagged up on a fly ball to right but a perfect throw to home beat him to the plate for the double play.

Chapman stayed alive as Andrew Mendonca was hit by a pitch but Whittier's Steven Castro ended the threat when he quickly corralled a pitch that had bounced away from him and retired Mendonca trying to move up to second.

With Peck dealing, Whittier captured the momentum going into the eighth and took advantage of a string of defensive miscues.  A walk was followed by two errors on sacrifice bunts and a passed ball that allowed two runs to come home. Peck recorded his 10th strikeout to get the first out of the inning but was replaced by Collins, who popped up the first batter he faced and struck out the next.

Junior Tristan Kevitch was hit by a pitch in the eighth but a double play ended the inning. Collins was perfect in the ninth with two more strikeouts to complete the no-hitter. In the bottom half, Penniman singled to bring the tying run to the plate. However, Alex Baez picked off the pinch runner at first to record his first save of the year.

Peck and Collins combined for nine no-hit innings with 13 strikeouts and three walks. The Panthers' offense sprinkled in eight hits and drew five walks but couldn't scratch across a run. Wong and Penniman each had two hits at the top of the batting order.

The Panthers will turn right around to take on Ithaca tomorrow at 3 p.m.

By Steven Olveda                                        
Sports Information Director

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