Baseball walks off to even Super Regional series

LAGRANGE, Ga. – With Oli Sellman on third, Cole Minato hit a fly ball just deep enough into right field for a game-winning sacrifice fly and a 9-8 win for the Chapman University baseball team. The win forces a winner-take-all game three with a trip to the national championship site in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on the line.

In a game that went back and forth throughout, it came down to the final inning for the second game in a row. LaGrange secured a walkoff victory in game one and Chapman repaid the favor with a walkoff in game two.

Sellman led off the ninth with a walk and moved up to third on a pair of passed balls. After a walk to Drake Mueller, Minato hit the game-winning sacrifice fly to score Sellman and force game three. Minato finished the game 3-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI.

Kai Osaka started Chapman's scoring with a home run in the second to tie the game at 1-1 but LaGrange answered with another run in the third.

After Nick Kondo drew a bases loaded walk in the third to tie the game at 2-2, Drew Littwin sent a double over the third base bag to bring two more home for a 4-2 Chapman lead.

LaGrange answered back in the sixth with a pair of runs to tie the game. An error put a runner on base, followed by a single and a wild pitch to put runners on second and third with one out. A groundout and wild pitch brought both runners home to tie the game at 4-4.

Cooper Foard answered back immediately for Chapman, who rallied with two outs to load the bases. Foard bounced a single up the middle to score two and put Chapman up 6-4. Another error in the seventh led to another LaGrange run on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead down to 6-5.

It wasn't the last two-out clutch single for Foard as he duplicated the feat in the eighth to break another tie. He finished the game 3-for-4 with four RBIs and put Chapman up 8-6.

Chapman overcame four errors in the contest as well as four walks and a pair of hit by pitches. LaGrange drew a bases loaded hit by pitch from Dylan Holt to tie the game before Brandon Menzel entered and struck out the final batter with the go-ahead run on third.

LaGrange also had six stolen bases to put pressure on the Chapman pitching staff. Wyatt Thompson went seven strong innings in the start, allowing just two earned runs and striking out five.

Game three follows immediately on Saturday with the winner heading to the Division III College World Series.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

Become a fan of Chapman Athletics on Facebook
Follow Chapman Athletics on Twitter @ChapmanSports
Post your #PantherPic to Instagram @ChpmanSports