Baseball looks to make history in first-ever SCIAC Tournament
ORANGE, California – The Chapman University baseball team will make its first appearance in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament as one of four teams and will host No. 3 seed Whittier College on Friday at Hart Park. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Led by first-year head coach Scott Laverty and nine seniors, the Panthers will rely on their pitching depth as they face off against the Poets in the first round of the double-elimination tournament. Senior pitchers Kevin Osaki (4-0, 3.19 ERA), Travis McGee (6-1, 2.24 ERA) and Taber Watson (5-3, 3.98 ERA) are expected to take the hill for Chapman this weekend. McGee leads the SCIAC with 71 strikeouts in 56.1 innings.
Chapman (28-11 overall, 21-7 SCIAC) looks to extend its winning streak against Whittier (21-18 overall, 17-11 SCIAC) after sweeping them in a three-game series and knocking the Poets into the No. 3 seed in SCIAC standings.
In the batter's box, the Panthers are led by senior first baseman Mark Saatzer, who currently ranks in the top-10 in school history in career hits, runs, batting average, runs batted in and total bases. The captain is currently batting .419, with 19 extra-base hits, 40 runs scored and 36 RBI in 39 games. Another senior OF Andrew Carbajal is batting .383 and is second on the team in runs (36) and hits (59) from the leadoff spot.
Both teams will travel to Cal Lutheran on Saturday to play the winner of Friday's game between the Kingsmen and No. 4 seed La Verne at 12 p.m., while the losers will play at 9 a.m. in an elimination game. The tournament will conclude on Sunday with the winner earning the SCIAC's automatic bid into the NCAA playoffs.
The Panthers are looking for their first regional playoff berth since 2011 when they earned a second-place finish at the NCAA Division III championships. Chapman won seven West Region titles in nine years from 2003-11.
Live video and stats for Friday's game will be available here: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/chapman.portal#
by Raquel Rinauro
Sports Information Intern
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2014 SCIAC Baseball Tournament
Game Schedule
Friday, May 2, 2014
Game 1: #4 La Verne at #1 Cal Lutheran (at Cal Lutheran); 3 p.m.
Game 2: #3 Whittier at #2 Chapman (at Hart Park); 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 3, 2014 (at Cal Lutheran)
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (Loser of Game 3 eliminated); 9 a.m.
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2; 12 p.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (Loser of game 5 eliminated); 3 p.m.
Sunday, May 4, 2014 (at Cal Lutheran)
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5; 11 a.m.
Game 7: Only if necessary; 2 p.m.