More All-American accolades for pitching duo

ORANGE, Calif. – Another set of All-American honors came through for the Chapman University baseball team as both senior starting pitcher Tyler Peck and sophomore reliever Nick Garcia landed First Team honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association. The pair of pitchers earned the same accolades from D3baseball.com.

Peck led the nation in strikeouts with a school record 150 punch outs this year in 104 and two-thirds innings. He had a career-best 1.73 ERA and posted a 7-3 record. Garcia struck out another 75 batters in 48 innings pitched out of the bullpen and allowed just three earned runs this season for a 0.56 ERA.

Garcia was the only reliever to be selected to the First Team and Peck was one of four starters to earn the top honors. The pair of right handers are the 13th and 14th ABCA All-American pitching selections in Chapman's history and the first Panther teammates to be selected as ABCA All-Americans since 2008. Nine of the previous 12 were also First Team selections. Garcia is the first reliever in Chapman history to earn an All-American selection as a pitcher. Kurt Yacko, who will be inducted into the Chapman Hall of Fame this fall, earned First Team and Co-Player of the Year honors as a utility player.

The All-American duo from northern California provide the most dominant 1-2 punch in all of Division III. In the postseason, head coach Scott Laverty has used the combination in both clinching games. Peck went six innings in game five against Whitman and handed the ball to Garcia for the final nine outs. The recipe was used again in game two of the Super Regional against Concordia. The Panthers walked off in the bottom of the ninth in both games as the duo combined for a 0.50 ERA and 24 strikeouts.

The Division III Player and Pitcher of the Year will be announced alongside all NCAA divisions on June 24. The Panthers take on Washington & Jefferson at 8 a.m. (PT) tomorrow in the first game of the NCAA Division III World Series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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