Pair of grand slams help top Engineers
ORANGE, Calif — Two grand slams, three total homers, and a fifth straight game with a bomb for Josh Phillips helped Chapman cruise to a 12-2 victory over MIT on Tuesday, Mar. 22.
The Panthers kicked off the scoring frenzy in the fifth inning after they were already leading 1-0. Oli Sellman singled to start off the inning, and Phillips reached on a dropped pop up the following at bat. After a Kai Osaka walk, Trent Turquand smacked a single into left field, scoring both Phillips and Sellman. Another single, this time by Cole Minato brought Nick Kondo to the plate with the bases juiced.
Kondo hit a high fly to left field, at first looking to be a gapper, yet the ball continued to carry and fell just beyond the 356 sign in left center. That homer pushed the Panther lead to 7-0.
After a no-doubt moonshot from Osaka to make it 8-0 in the sixth, the Engineers answered back in the seventh inning making the game a slightly more manageable, 8-2.
Josh Phillips had something to say about that as he got an opportunity with the bases loaded in the bottom half. Phillips' homer, his fifth in five games — one in each game, landed on the softball field behind the left field fence.
Phillips now has six homers on the season, tied for second in SCIAC.
There were six pitchers that worked today for the Panthers. The starter, Wyatt Thompson, who is working back from a minor injury, looked good in his lone inning striking out a pair of engineers.
Turner White got the win, pitching two scoreless, and Mike Gorman made his pitching debut for the Panthers, and collected his first career strikeout.
With the win, the Panthers improved to 13-5. The Engineers fell to 2-8-1.
Chapman will begin the bulk of conference play this weekend as they'll play a three-game set against Redlands. Game one will be on Friday, Mar. 25 at Redlands. Saturday, Mar. 26 the two teams will meet at Hart Park for a double header with games scheduled for 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
By Joe Perrino
Assistant SID / Recreation Sports Manager
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