Seniors walk-off with series win over Redlands
ORANGE, Calif. – Two come-from-behind wins ended the Chapman University baseball team's regular season with a doubleheader sweep and series-winning evening against SCIAC rival University of Redlands at Hart Park Saturday. Chapman came back to win the first game 5-4 and then took game two with a walk-off, walk by senior OF Charlie Piro. Before the doubleheader, seniors, Ben Levitt, Roarke Anderson, Richard Matamoros, Steve Greenberg, Jordan Smeds, James Parr, Eric Robbins, Kyle Tachibana and Piro were honored for Senior Day.
Game 1: Chapman 5, Redlands 4
Despite being down 4-1 for most of the game, Chapman came back from behind and scored two runs each in the seventh and eighth innings off of Redlands reliever Brock Jacobo (2-3) to win 5-4.
The seventh inning rally began when Piro lined an RBI double to left to score sophomore IF Troy Newman. Sophomore OF Connor Battaglia followed with an RBI triple to make the score 4-3, the Panthers trailing by one.
Chapman (20-20) scored two more in the eighth inning when sophomore OF Adam Velez hit a two-RBI single to score sophomore C Taber Watson and sophomore IF Adam Coggan, giving the Panthers their first and final lead of the game. Velez went 3-for-5 and led the team offensively with one run and two RBI.
Redlands (20-20) scored two unearned runs off Chapman RHP Brian Rauh in the top of the first inning after taking advantage of a throwing error at second base to take the lead, 2-0. The Bulldogs scored one run in the third and fifth innings, to make the score 4-1.
Levitt (2-6) earned the win for Chapman with three innings in relief of Rauh. Levitt allowed just one hit and no runs over his three innings of work.
Box Score: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2011-12/boxscores/20120505_5ukl.xml
Game 2: Chapman 6, Redlands 5
The Panthers ended their regular season on a literal walk-off win over rival Redlands 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth. With bases loaded and the score tied at 5-5, Piro watched four straight balls go by for the game-winning RBI. The Panthers were aided by two errors by Redlands second baseman Cameron Lowe which kept the inning alive for Piro to bring home the game-winner.
Chapman trailed Redlands 1-0 until the fourth, when back-to-back doubles by Piro and Battaglia scored the Panthers' tying run. A passed ball sent Battaglia to third, and junior IF Tyler Surnbrock followed with an infield single that set Coggan up for a RBI squeeze bunt which put the Panthers in the lead 2-1. In the fifth, Parr hit an RBI double to center to score Velez and advance Chapman's lead to 3-1.
Redlands scored its first run in the first inning off of two-consecutive singles and a fielding error by Newman. The Bulldogs' bats were silenced until the sixth when senior IF Jon Cavender hit a two-out, two-RBI single that tied the game 3-3. Both Cavender and freshman OF Connor Hancock had two RBI in the game for Redlands.
Chapman snapped the tie in the sixth when Greenberg singled to right, followed by a two-out RBI double down the left field line from Watson, who advanced to third on the throw. Velez pushed another RBI across on a single to left to make it 5-3 going into the seventh.
Redlands battled back and answered with two runs of their own in the seventh on a two-run double by Hancock to tie the game 5-5 on four hits.
The Panthers await their postseason fate once regional rankings are published later this week on the NCAA's website, ncaa.com.
Box Score: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2011-12/boxscores/20120505_r12y.xml
by Aileen Yoon and Jessica Mitchell
Sports Information Interns
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