FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PANTHERS STEAL SERIES FROM MCMURRY WITH LATE RALLY

ORANGE, Calif. - The Chapman University baseball team captured two wins in a three-game series against visiting McMurry University (Texas) in a doubleheader split at Hart Park on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers suffered their first loss of the season in Game 1 after McMurry scored twice in the seventh inning to win 5-2. The Panthers rallied from a 6-3 eighth inning deficit in Game 2 and won it in the bottom of the ninth on a sacrifice foul out by sophomore OF Ryan Hall, scoring senior OF Mike Vass.

Game 1: McMurry 5, Chapman 2
The Indians broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly by C Thomas Beckham and an RBI single by IF Derek David. Beckham also singled in an insurance run in the ninth to give McMurry a 5-2 advantage.

McMurry RHP Brent Voorhees quieted the Chapman bats for the first time this season, limiting the Panthers to just six hits and a pair of runs in 6 2/3 innings of work to earn his first victory of the year. Chapman junior IF/RHP Kurt Yacko got the Panthers on the board with a solo home run to left-center in the first inning. The Panthers’ only other run came from another Yacko home run in the third inning, his fourth of the season.

Sophomore RHP Matt Luzar suffered the loss for Chapman despite allowing just three hits and striking out eight in 6 1/3 innings.

Game 2: Chapman 7, McMurry 6
The Panthers began their long fight in the second inning, responding to McMurry’s two-run first inning. Senior IF Kyle Redding started the rally with a single that scored Hall. A McMurry fielding error later scored junior C Matt Pearson, tying the game at 2-2.

McMurry (1-2) changed the tide of a 3-3 game in the fifth inning when IF Weston Franco hit a two-run home run to left center. The Indians tacked on another run in the eighth to take a 6-3 lead.

But Chapman (5-1) rallied to tie the game by scoring three runs in the eighth inning, courtesy of an RBI single by Pearson and a two-run single by Redding. Pearson and Redding each had a pair of hits in the game to lead the Panthers. And in the ninth, the Panthers put runners on the corners with one out when Vass tagged and scored the game-winner on the foul flyout by Hall.

Yacko, who pitched in relief in all three games, allowed just one hit in the final inning and a third to earn his second win of the series.

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Game stats available online:
http://www1.chapman.edu/athletics/07-08/baseball/mcm-cu2.htm
http://www1.chapman.edu/athletics/07-08/baseball/mcm-cu3.htm