Nine in a row gives baseball a view from the top

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University baseball team completed a three-game weekend sweep of Whittier College with two wins on Saturday at Hart Park. With the sweep, the Panthers move into a first place tie atop the SCIAC standings with Cal Lutheran University, who also swept La Verne this weekend.

Chapman (25-10, 18-6 SCIAC) also ran its winning streak to nine games, its longest since 2011. Whittier (20-15, 16-8 SCIAC) meanwhile, dropped its fifth in a row and fell from first place to third place, two games back of Chapman and Cal Lutheran with four games to play.

Game 1: Chapman 10, Whittier 0

Chapman senior RHP Travis McGee (5-1) pitched a gem to lead the Panthers to victory. McGee was dominant from the start, tossing seven shutout innings and allowing just three hits and four walks while striking out eight. McGee leads Panther starters with a 2.42 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 48.1 innings pitched this season. It was his second complete game shutout of the season.

The Panther hitters provided plenty of offense via the long ball to earn the 'run rule' win. Leading 1-0 in the third inning Chapman got a two-run home run by sophomore IF Tyler Cook, his fourth of the year. In the fifth, senior IF Mark Saatzer launched a two-run homer to right field, his sixth on the year, giving the Panthers a 5-0 lead.

Chapman sealed the victory in the fifth with a five-run inning. The Panthers strung together four singles and a hit by pitch before Saatzer hit a bases-clearing triple. Saatzer finished the game 2-for-4 with a run scored and four RBI, raising his team-high batting average to .459. Cook also went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI.

Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/boxscores/20140419_ptbv.xml

Game 2: Chapman 5, Whittier 2

Whittier came out swinging to start game two, scoring two runs in the first inning off Chapman senior RHP Taber Watson. Watson, however, would settle in, shutting out the Poets for the next 4.2 innings. Watson (4-2) got the win, allowing just five hits while striking out six. Sophomore Braden Riddle got his third save (second of the series), throwing a scoreless final 1.2 innings.

In the second inning, the Panthers tied it up at two behind by back-to-back doubles by Cook and junior OF Greg Dillon. Chapman scored two more in the third on three consecutive hits by sophomore DH Matt Gandy, senior OF Connor Battaglia and Cook.

Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/boxscores/20140419_unle.xml

Chapman will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SCIAC Round Robin which begins on Wednesday. The Panthers will travel to Caltech for that first matchup with the rest of the schedule to be determined.

by Mitchell Eby
Sports Information Intern

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