FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
 
SEASON ENDS IN PLAYOFF LOSS TO MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE
 
PINEVILLE, La. –  The Panthers picked a bad time to go into an offensive funk. The Chapman University softball team lost to Mississippi College 5-1 at Coca-Cola Field on Friday afternoon, bringing an end to the team’s regional championship aspirations as well as its season.

Chapman (29-13) scored just three earned runs in 26 innings and batted .188 as a team, while posting a 1-2 record in the NCAA Division III West Region playoffs this weekend. The Panthers only win came in a 1-0, 14-inning marathon with Trinity (Texas) on Thursday.

Friday’s loss was more of the same. Mississippi (37-9) scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fifth inning to snap another scoreless tie. The Choctaws then rallied for three more insurance runs in the seventh. The Panthers were unable to answer and didn’t get a runner past second base until the seventh inning.

Down 5-0 in the seventh, Chapman got a leadoff double from sophomore C Kandy Francis, followed by an RBI single from sophomore OF Erin Dudzinski for the Panthers’ only run. Francis finished the game 3-for-3, while Dudzinski was 2-for-3. The duo accounted for five of Chapman’s six hits.

The team slump came after the Panthers batted .339 all season long and averaged over 6.3 runs per game.

Mississippi later defeated Trinity 7-1 to eliminate the Tigers and advance in the loser’s bracket to the final four in the tournament.

 
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Game stats available online:
http://www1.chapman.edu/athletics/06-07/softball/mis-cu.htm