Posted: May 21, 2011
Chapman wins West Regional Championship 8-7 over Linfield with ninth inning rally
ABILENE, Texas. – Down by a run, the Chapman University baseball team rallied and scored two runs in the ninth inning capped by the game-winning RBI single by sophomore IF Tyler Surnbrock to pull out an 8-7 victory over Linfield College on Saturday afternoon at Walt Driggers Field. With the win, the Panthers captured their sixth regional championship in the last seven seasons, and seventh overall under head coach Tom Tereschuk.
The ninth inning began for Chapman (33-11) with a single up the middle by senior IF Tyler Hadzinsky off of Linfield senior reliever Evan Hilberg. After a sacrifice bunt by senior C Adam Kordich that moved Hadzinsky to second, sophomore OF James Parr came through with an RBI double to left field which evened the score at 7-7. Then with two outs, Surnbrock came through with what proved to be the game-winning hit. Hadzinsky was 3-for-4 in the game while Kordich - the Tournament MVP - was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. In addition, the duo finished the four-game regional with a .471 and .462 batting average, respectively.
Linfield (33-11) was then retired in order in the bottom of the ninth inning against sophomore P Brian Rauh who struck out two-of-three batters faced for his first save of the season and fifth of his career. It was Rauh's first appearance out of the bullpen this season.
Over the last three innings of the game, the teams traded the lead three teams. Down 5-4 in the top of the seventh inning, Chapman scored a pair of runs on RBI hits from Kordich and junior OF Charlie Piro to jump ahead 6-5. In Linfield's half of the eighth, the Wildcats took the lead back 7-6. Linfield recaptured the lead with run-scoring singles by senior IF Dustin Smith and freshman IF Tim Wilson off of reliever Kyle Tachibana which then set the stage for Chapman's ninth inning rally. Smith and Wilson each had two hits for the Wildcats along with senior IF Eric Evenson.
Five Chapman players were named to the All-Tournament team which is listed below.
All-Tournament Team
Brent Schaekel, CF, Concordia-Texas
Robert Brown, 1B, Concordia-Texas
Christian Maietta, SP, Chapman
Derek Johnson, SP, Redlands
Kevin Coleman, 1B, Linfield
James Parr, LF, Chapman
Tim Wilson, CF, Linfield
Eric Evenson, 2B, Linfield
Brian Rauh, SP, Chapman
Tyler Hadzinsky, 2B, Chapman
Adam Kordich, C, Chapman, MVP
by Chris Watts
Sports Information Assistant