Baseball picked to top SCIAC again

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University baseball team has been picked as the favorite to finish atop the SCIAC standings in a preseason poll of the conference coaches. The Panthers received seven of the nine first place votes.

The Panthers are looking to make it a four-peat to top the SCIAC. Chapman won regular season titles in 2019, 2021 and 2022 with the season left incomplete due to the COVID pandemic in 2020. Last season, the Panthers took an early exit in the conference tournament but rebounded to win a replay of the tournament in the NCAA Regionals and advance to the Super Regional.

The 2022 season ended after a competitive three-game Super Regional at LaGrange College and the 2023 Panthers have their sights set on finding their way back to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Chapman is ranked seventh in the nation according the d3baseball.com's poll and fifth in the Collegiate Baseball poll.

The Chapman pitching staff has the potential to be one of the best in the nation with Preseason All-Americans Grant Manning and Wyatt Thompson headlining the rotation. Sophomore Max Banks was the third member of the Chapman rotation that averaged 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings last year.

Manning led the staff with 118 strikeouts (against 27 walks) with a 3.12 ERA in 106.2 innings pitched. Thompson's 2.18 ERA was tops on the Chapman pitching staff with 82 punchouts while Banks owned the greatest strikeout rate amongst the starters at 10.51 per nine innings. Banks also had a 3.21 ERA in his freshman campaign and allowed just 39 hits in 61-plus innings. The three combined for a record of 22-4.

In the bullpen, junior Brandon Menzel is back after making eight starts and nine relief appearances in 2022. Classmates Hank Tobias and Turner White will bring some experience with a handful of freshman pitchers looking to make an immediate impact.

The Panther infield graduated three starters up the middle but brings back Cole Minato, Davis Mieliwocki and AJ Anzai, who all earned All-SCIAC and All-Region honors a year ago. Anzai hit .398 with five homers and 42 RBIs while Mieliwocki led the team with 51 RBIs on a .386 average and eight home runs. Minato hit .389 while playing third base for the Panthers.

Brad Shimabuku returns to the outfield after missing all of 2022 with an injury. The center fielder helped lead Chapman to the 2019 national title as a freshman and was an All-Tournament selection in Cedar Rapids. He is joined by breakout freshman Josh Phillips, who hit .284 with eight home runs and 27 RBIs despite missing over a month with an injury.

Oli Sellman and Drake Mueller each spent some time in center field with Kai Osaka hitting .296 and playing 46 games in left field.

With an experienced squad returning to the dugout at Hart Park and a strong incoming class, the Panthers are primed to once again compete for a SCIAC title and make another postseason run.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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