Baseball defeats Redlands to force winner-take-all

LA VERNE, Calif. – Junior Christian Cosby threw eight dominant innings as the Chapman University baseball team stayed alive in the SCIAC Tournament with a 5-2 win over Redlands. The Panthers (33-12) won their third consecutive elimination game to take a winner-take-all game seven in the SCIAC Tournament.

Cosby walked five through eight innings but stayed out of trouble as he allowed just three hits over eight innings to the Bulldogs. He struck out three and allowed two runs to pick up the win. Freshman Cody Turner finished off the ninth inning to get the save.

Chapman got on the board first when sophomore Aaron Wong doubled in freshman Trevor Marrs in the first inning. Redlands responded in the bottom half of the inning with two of their three hits against Cosby. A walk and single set up SCIAC Player of the Year Brendan Gardiner. He smacked a double off the right field wall to bring in both runs.

The Panthers went right back to work in the fourth as senior Gavin Blodgett on an error to spark a rally. Senior Conner Larkin followed with a double to put two in scoring position with one out. Junior Jarod Penniman poked another double down the right field line to bring in both runners and give Chapman a 3-2 lead.

Cosby stayed out of trouble for his final four frames, allowing just three walks and one hit the rest of the way. Senior Justin Stream added to the Panthers' lead with a two-run double in the seventh to make it 5-2.

Turner came in to pitch the ninth and immediately ran into some trouble with a walk and a double to put runners on second and third with no outs. The freshman struck out the next batter but hit Kyle Kabeary to load the bases. Just as quickly as he got into trouble, he got out of it. He induced a chopper to third. Blodgett reeled it in, stepped on third and fired to first for the game-ending double play.

The Panthers and Bulldogs will face off again at 2:45 p.m. to decide the winner of the SCIAC Tournament.

By Steven Olveda                                        
Sports Information Director

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