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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ABILENE, Texas – Patrick Ohail’s two-run home run in the bottom of the 12th inning gave the Chapman University baseball team a dramatic 5-3 come-from-behind victory and eliminated McMurry University (Texas) from the NCAA Division III West Region championship on Thursday afternoon at Driggers Field. The Panthers remain undefeated in the double-elimination tournament and will face the winner of Trinity (Texas) vs. Cal State East Bay on Friday at noon (central). Ohail’s two-out walk-off homer gave Chapman (37-3) its 19th come-from-behind win this season and first walk-off victory since the Panthers defeated the same McMurry team in Orange in February. The home run was Ohail’s eighth of the season and capped a day in which the junior IF went 4-for-6 with four extra-base hits (three doubles and homer). Chapman, the No. 1 seed in the regional playoff, had trailed 3-0 in the second inning to tournament host McMurry (29-19), the No. 3 seed. Panthers’ senior RHP Ryan Clear and junior RHP Kurt Yacko combined to shutout McMurry over the next 10 innings, while the Chapman offense staged its comeback. The Panthers scored an unearned run in the second followed by senior OF Mike Vass’ team-leading 12th home run of the season in the third; a solo shot that tied Chapman’s school record for homers in a single season. With one out in the sixth, Chapman strung together three consecutive hits to even the score at 3-3. Ohail doubled and scored on sophomore OF Ryan Hall’s RBI single. The game remained tied until Ohail’s heroics in the 12th inning. Clear was lifted with one out in the ninth and runners on second and third, having scattered 11 hits and allowing just three runs. For the second day in a row, Yacko pitched out of trouble inducing a groundout and a strikeout to keep the game tied. The junior earned his sixth win of the year (6-0), allowing just one hit while striking out six McMurry hitters in 3 2/3 innings of relief. The 2007 Division III Co-Player of the year, Yacko went 3-for-6 at the plate, as well. The win was the Panthers’ third in four meetings with McMurry this season. Chapman has won nine in a row and 29 of 30 going into Friday’s winner’s bracket matchup. ### Game stats available online: |
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