Baseball debuts at Hart to earn split with Oxy

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University baseball team made its Hart Park debut with mixed results on Saturday. The Panthers defeated visiting Occidental College 6-3 in the first game of a SCIAC doubleheader, behind a strong pitching performance from junior RHP Matt Smith (2-0), before dropping the second game 8-2 as well as the weekend three-game series to the Tigers.

Game 1: Chapman 6, Occidental 3

A four-run fifth inning proved to be the difference as the Panthers capitalized on two Tigers errors, scoring a pair on an RBI groundout and three-base error. Junior IF Tyler Cook then sent a two-run homer over the left field fence, bringing in senior OF Greg Dillon to give Chapman (3-3 overall, 1-2 SCIAC) a 5-1 lead.

Smith gained his second win of the season with seven solid innings on the mound, allowing only one run and striking out eight batters. He retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced. Occidental rallied for two in the bottom of the ninth, but that was as close as it would get.

The teams exchanged runs in the second inning as the Tigers' Brady Fuller doubled and was eventually brought home with a squeeze bunt by Scott Ericks. In the bottom of the inning, junior IF John Wiehe hit a sacrifice fly for Chapman, evening the score at 1-1. Junior IF Tim Alhanati was 3-for-3 for the Panthers.

Game 2: Occidental 8, Chapman 2

The Tigers took the SCIAC-opening series with a win in the rubber match, scoring seven runs in the first four innings, including four in the second. Occidental (4-2 overall, 2-1 SCIAC) benefited from a little bit of everything in the second, including three hits, two hit batters, a walk, a wild pitch and a passed ball to plate four runs and chased Panthers' starter junior RHP Chris Watson (0-1).

Tigers' OF Devon DeRaad belted his fifth home run in the fourth inning to pad a 7-0 lead and finished the game 4-for-4 with three RBI. Oxy RHP Riley James scattered five hits and just one earned run over seven innings to pick up the win.

Chapman scored its only two runs in the bottom of the fourth, getting an RBI single from Alhanati followed by a wild pitch that scored sophomore DH Forrest Wiederman.

After an exhibition game against the University of British Columbia at Hart Park on Sunday, the Panthers return to SCIAC play Feb. 20-21 with three games against No. 10-ranked and defending conference champs Cal Lutheran. The series kicks off on Friday at Hart Park at 2:30 p.m. before shifting to Thousand Oaks on Saturday for a doubleheader.

by Marissa Maynor & Doug Aiken
Sports Information Intern & Sports Information Director

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