Baseball falls in Regional opener

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Chapman University baseball team ended up on the wrong end of a slugfest, falling 14-9 to UT-Dallas in the first game of the NCAA Regional. The teams combined for 19 hits and five home runs in a seesaw battle.

The Comets jumped on top early but the Chapman went up 4-3 on back-to-back homers from senior Mack Cheli and junior Cooper Foard. The Panthers added a run on Drew Littwin's squeeze bunt in the sixth before UTD answered in the bottom half.

A single and two hit by pitches loaded the bases before a walk brought in a run to make it 5-4. An infield single tied up the game and Keegan Vance followed with a grand slam to reclaim a 9-5 lead.

The tides turned again in the seventh as Brad Shimabuku knocked in a run with a single up the middle and senior Henry Zeisler hit his second triple of the game with the bases loaded to tie up the game at 9-9.

UTD continued to take advantage of the short trip down the line in left with a go-ahead homer in the seventh and another solo shot in the eighth.

The Panthers weren't without opportunities as they outhit the Comets 16-13 but left 13 runners on base. Senior Kyle Joye went 3-for-4 and Shimabuku went 3-for-5 to lead the Panthers at the plate.

Chapman drops into the 11 a.m. elimination game tomorrow at 9 a.m. (PT) against Scranton.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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