Panthers in SCIAC baseball finals vs Cal Lu on Sunday

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Chapman University baseball team survived and advanced to SCIAC championship Sunday after losing to top seed Cal Lutheran University 6-2 and then beating No. 3 seed Whittier College 14-4 on Saturday at Ullman Stadium. The Panthers will need to win two games on Sunday against the SCIAC Tournament unbeaten Kingsmen in order to earn the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Game 1: Cal Lutheran 6, Chapman 2

A pitcher's duel into the seventh, the Kingsmen broke open a 1-0 game after Chapman senior RHP Travis McGee surrendered a leadoff single and back-to-back walks to load the bases. Panthers' senior RHP Taber Watson relieved McGee and gave up consecutive singles, plus a run-producing error as Cal Lutheran (33-8) built a 6-0 lead by the end of the inning.

Chapman rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth off Kingsmen starter Jake Peterson (8-2), but it was not enough. Sophomore IF John Wiehe led off the inning with a base hit and advanced to third on a double by senior OF Andrew Carbajal. Wiehe later scored on a wild pitch and Carbajal then scored on an RBI groundout by sophomore IF Tim Alhanati. Carbajal led the Panthers with a 4-for-4 day at the plate, nearly half of Chapman's nine hits.

McGee suffered just his second loss of the season (6-2) with six strikeouts in 6.1 innings, but allowed seven hits and seven walks plus four earned runs. Peterson tossed a complete game with five strikeouts for Cal Lutheran, which advanced to the championship game.

Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/boxscores/20140503_1ud1.xml

Game 2: Chapman 14, Whittier 4

Facing elimination, the Panthers scored at least a run in each of the first five innings to build a 12-1 lead after five. Chapman (30-12) scored four runs in the third inning to break the game wide open at 7-0 thanks to an RBI single by sophomore IF Tyler Cook, a two-run double by junior OF Greg Dillon and run-scoring single by Wiehe.

The Panthers scored three more in the fourth on an RBI double by senior OF Connor Battaglia and two-run double by Cook to make it 10-1. Cook finished 3-for-5 with three RBI while Battaglia was 3-for-4 with four RBI in the game. Carbajal was 3-for-6 with a pair of doubles.

All of the offense was in support of sophomore RHP Matt Smith who improved to 5-2 with the win. The right-hander allowed seven hits and three earned runs in six innings to keep the Panthers alive for another day. Chapman eliminated the Poets with their fifth straight win this season against Whittier (21-21).

Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/boxscores/20140503_z5qv.xml

The tournament – and automatic berth – comes down to Sunday between the top two seeds: No. 1 Cal Lutheran and No. 2 Chapman will square off in a game beginning at 11 a.m. Should the Panthers win the two teams would square off again in a winner-take-all game.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

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