CLU Comeback Falls Short to Chapman
Kingsmen suffer first home loss of '08 to nation's elite
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Kingsmen baseball team led through three innings at home on Friday afternoon, but the nation’s No. 4 ranked Chapman University squad scored in four straight innings and held on to hand California Lutheran University its first home loss of the season, 7-3.
CLU took the lead in its first team at-bat as Paul Hartmann stroked his second homerun of the season, a two-out one-on blast to center field.
The Kingsmen tallied five hits in the opening inning, but the Panthers needed only one to score after a Ryan Hall RBI-single plated Patrick Ohail.
Chapman took advantage of Cal Lutheran miscues plating three of seven issued walks and a fourth run off one of four Kingsmen errors.
After pushing its lead to 5-2, Chapman freshman John Semel recorded the first hit of his collegiate career with a pinch-hit two-run homerun to cushion the Panther lead to five.
Cal Lutheran mounted one final comeback in the eighth inning after a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch closed the gap to 7-3, bringing David Iden to the plate as the game-tying run.
The Panthers moved starting shortstop Kurt Yacko, last year’s Division III Co-Player of the Year, to the mound and he proceeded to strike out three of the final four batters to pick up the save.
The first six batters of the CLU lineup each recorded a base hit with infielders Jordan Ott and Chad Heschong connecting for a pair of singles apiece.
Chapman’s Matt Pearson went 3-for-4 with an RBI-single to lead the Panthers offense.
Starting pitcher Ryan Clear picked up his second win of the season scattering eight hits over 7.2 innings.
Cal Lutheran (2-2) will travel to Hart Park in the city of Orange to face Chapman for a Saturday doubleheader starting at 11 a.m.
Box Score: CHAP 7, CLU 3 F
