Ithaca hands Chapman third loss in a row with 5-0 shutout
ORANGE, Calif. –Freshman starting pitcher John Prendergast threw a complete-game, five-hit shutout as Ithaca College defeated the No. 21 Chapman University baseball team 5-0 on Monday afternoon at Hart Park. The loss is Chapman's third in a row and its 10th loss in its last 12 games.
For the first four innings of the game, Prendergast (2-0) held Chapman (7-10) without a hit, and on the afternoon, allowed just hit out of the infield. The first hit by Chapman came in the fifth as junior IF Tyler Surnbrock came up with a double that took a bad hop of the second baseman and rolled into center field. Surnbrock and sophomore OF Connor Battaglia each had two infield hits for Chapman. Prendergast struck out five batters, but did have four walks and a pair of throwing errors.
In the third inning, Ithaca (4-1) scored three unearned runs to take a 3-0 lead after a Chapman throwing error kept the inning going. The inning began with singles from Christian Brown and Tim LaCastro off of Chapman starting LHP Ben Levitt (1-4). With one out and runners on first and second base, senior IF Steve Greenberg committed an error which loaded the bases. Matt Keller came through with a RBI groundout followed by a two-run single to center field by Vinny Gneo. Levitt pitched five innings and allowed four runs, just one of which was earned.
The Bombers added a run in the sixth on a wild pitch freshman RHP Taber Watson and another in ninth after a passed ball to push its lead to 5-0. Watson had a solid outing in relief for the Panthers, going four innings while allowing just two hits and one unearned run while striking out five batters.
In five different innings, Chapman had a runner on third base but could not get a clutch hit to push any runs across. The team left a total of nine runners on base in the game, including seven runners in scoring position. Chapman returns to play against La Verne on Saturday at Hart Park with the doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
by Chris Watts
Sports Information Assistant
Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2011-12/boxscores/20120312_8nnc.xml
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