Super Regional: Five Things To Know
LAGRANGE, Ga. - The Chapman University baseball team travelled to Georgia for the Super Panther Regional of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on Friday for game on and 2 p.m. on Saturday for game two with game three following on Saturday if needed. Live stats and streaming will be available through the LaGrange Athletics website.
PANTHER BATTLE
The red and black Chapman Panthers meet the red and black LaGrange Panthers for the first time in program history. In a battle for Panther supremacy, the two powerhouse programs battle it out in the Super Regional. Chapman has a brief history with fellow Panthers from the South. Chapman defeated the Birmingham-Southern Panthers to win the 2019 national championship. The BSC Panthers are also playing in the Super Regionals – just one state west.
2-FOR-2
Chapman is 2-for-2 in making the Super Regionals of the Division III Baseball Championship. The Panthers hosted the 2019 Super Regional, sweeping Concordia (Texas) in the first time the Super Regionals were added to the Division III Tournament. The Super Regional round makes its return after COVID-19 changed the last two tournament with Chapman advancing through a regional round of mostly fellow SCIAC teams.
BACK WITH A BANG
Freshmen Josh Phillips and Max Banks returned to their early season roles on Championship Sunday of the regionals with both helping lead the Panthers to the Game 7 win. Phillips came off the bench in the Game 6 loss and went 2-for-2 with a home run in his second at bat in nearly two months. He hit another homer in the decisive victory to make it a 5-0 game in the third, going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Banks was the winning pitcher after six scoreless innings, including five strikeouts, in his first outing since April 30.
KEEP THE Ks KOMING
Grant Manning has entered the top-5 for most strikeouts in a season at Chapman and three starters are averaging over 10 Ks per nine innings. Manning has racked up 113 strikeouts this year, which ranks as the fourth-most in program history. He ranks eighth in the nation for total strikeouts. Of the three starters, Manning ranks third in strikeouts per nine with 10.27. Wyatt Thompson averages 10.29 and Max Banks leads the team with 10.96. In the back end of the bullpen, Dylan Holt averages 10.88 Ks per nine.
COOPER POWER
Cooper Foard is ending his career with some historic power numbers. Both Foard and Josh Phillips have had streaks of five consecutive games with a home run but Foard has hit out 12 this year. That is the first time since 2010 that a Chapman Panther has hit double digit home runs in a single season when Matt Luzar finished with 12. The single season record is 14 – set in 2008.