Gavin Blodgett awaits a pitch.
Gavin Blodgett (photo by Larry Newman)

Baseball sweeps doubleheader from Dickinson

ORANGE, Calif. – Senior Gavin Blodgett and junior Alex Tsuruda each drove in five runs as the Chapman University baseball team put up two dominant wins over visiting Dickinson, 6-2 and 12-1. The Panthers' pitching staff remained stingy on the mound, holding the opposing lineups to two runs or less for the fourth and fifth games in a row.

Game 1 – W, 6-2

A pitching duel over the first half of the game broke open when the Panthers hung up four runs in the sixth to go up 5-0. Junior Tristan Kevitch sparked the rally with an infield single and then went all the way to third on a wild pitch. Senior Jared Love quickly drove him in with a sharp single.

Blodgett broke the game open as he launched a pitch deep to left field for a two-run homer – his second homer in the last five games. Junior Andrew Mendonca ignited the rally again with triple down the right field line and scored on Tsuruda's sacrifice fly.

The big inning was more than enough for the starter Matt Mogollon and the Panther pitching staff. Mogollon overcame five walks with seven strikeouts and two double play balls. He allowed just two hits in six innings of work on the mound while holding the Red Devils scoreless. Junior Mason Collins led go of a pair of runs but also struck out a pair as he closed out the final three innings to earn his second save.

Love went 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of RBIs after opening the scoring with an RBI-single in the first. Tsuruda went 1-for-1 while drawing two walks and hitting the sacrifice fly.

Game 2 – W, 12-1 (7 inns.)

The Panthers' offense exploded for a six-run third and followed up with four more in the fourth and a pair in the fifth to claim a run-rule victory after seven innings. Junior Jonathan Hernandez was dominant on the hill in his first career start.

Hernandez, who usually comes out of the bullpen, went six strong innings, allowing just one run on six hits and walk while striking out six. While the Panthers scored in bunched in the middle innings, he made quick work of the Red Devils on the other side of the inning. He sat down Dickinson in order in the fifth and sixth while not allowing a runner past first base after the second inning.

Dickinson was on the board first with a single, a double and an RBI-single David Farnham in the second inning.

The Panthers responded loudly in the third by sending 12 men to the plate and knocking in six runs on six hits. With the bases loaded to spark the rally, Kevitch delivered a bases-clearing double to put Chapman up 3-1. He later scored on Blodgett's double to make it 4-1. Mendonca and sophomore Joe Jimenez stroked a pair of RBI-hits to finish the rally.

The Panthers loaded the bases again in the fourth. Blodgett cashed in two runs with a single into right and Tsuruda beat a drawn in infield with a hard hit grounder up the middle to plate two more. Tsuruda drove in two more with a single in the fifth.

Mendonca and Tsuruda went 3-for-4 in the second game of the doubleheader while KEvitch and Blodgett each had a pair of hits.

The Panthers are back in action on Saturday at noon to take on Principia.

By Steven Olveda                                        
Sports Information Director

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