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NCAA® 2007 DIVISION III BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
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| Contact: | Doug Aiken |
| Chapman SID | |
| (714) 345-5550 | |
| Release Date: | May 19, 2007 |
CHAPMAN WORLD SERIES BOUND WITH EVERYTHING AND THE KITCHEN(S) SINK
ORANGE, Calif. - Chapman University RHP Wayde Kitchens - pitching on just one day of rest - bested Pacific Lutheran's (Wash.) two-time Northwest Conference Pitcher of the Year Joe DiPietro with a 1-0 victory in the NCAA Division III Baseball West Region championship game at Hart Park. Chapman advances to the Division III World Series in Appleton, Wis. for the third straight year and fourth time in five seasons.
Kitchens was masterful, throwing a five-hit shutout, striking out 11 to improve to 12-1 this season. The sophomore earned the victory, pitching seven innings in Chapman's 7-6 win over UT-Dallas on Thursday. His counterpart DiPietro, pitching on two days rest, was equal to the task, scattering 10 hits and allowing just one run in a complete game loss.
Chapman managed the game's only run with one out in the third inning when Ryan Prechtl singled home Kurt Yacko, who had led off the inning with a single. Yacko finished the game 2-for-4.
The Panthers beat Pacific Lutheran 10-7 in the first game of the day to force a second "winner take all" game. The Lutes, who had come out of the winner's bracket, had to be beaten twice to be eliminated.
In the first game, Chapman (40-6) pounded 15 hits, including six doubles and a three-run home run from Tyler Dean in the first inning. The Panthers scored two more in the second and four times in the fifth to built a 9-4 lead. Dean finished 3-for-5 with five RBI and Ryan Cavan had a pair of hits and scored three runs. Kyle Redding doubled twice and drove in a run on a suicide squeeze in the fifth.
The offensive support was much appreciated by RHP Devin Drag, who allowed 11 hits but just four earned runs in his second complete game of the tournament. Drag, the Division III leader in victories, became the first 15-game winner in Chapman history (15-0) and broke the school record with his 29th career win (29-2).
Pacific Lutheran (35-9) drew closer in the when Jared Simon hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to cut the Panthers lead to 9-7, but Drag retired the final seven batters he faced to seal the victory.
This is the fourth time Chapman has been faced with two must-win games against the same team on the final day of a championship tournament. In all four instances, the Panthers have swept both games (2003: George Fox, Christopher Newport, 2005: Texas Lutheran).
In 2006, Chapman was four outs away from a date with Marietta College in the NCAA Division III national championship game, but a four-run rally by Wheaton (Mass.) in the bottom of the eighth inning dashed the Panthers' title hopes. One year later, Chapman will get that date with Marietta. The Pioneers, who defeated Ohio Wesleyan 15-4 in the Mideast Region championship game, will face the Panthers at 2:30 p.m. (pdt) in the opening round of the Division III championships at Fox Cities Stadium.
