Chapman Rallies Past Concordia in Baseball

With both teams confident about getting playoff berths in their respective divisions, Thursday’s baseball game between Chapman and host Concordia was a time to reflect on work that needs to be done.

For the record, Chapman erased an early one-run deficit and used a three-run home run in the seventh inning by designated hitter Pat Stevens to post a 9-5 victory.

Chapman, ranked fourth in NCAA Division III, raised its record to 27-2. Concordia, in third place in the NAIA’s Golden State Athletic Conference, fell to 20-19-1.

Some of the observations:

* Steven ended a five-week home run drought and has five this season.

“That was a big home run for him,” third baseman Eric Albright said. “Hopefully, that will get him going again for the playoffs.”

* Concordia’s six errors followed consecutive four-error performances in a doubleheader loss to Biola last week that knocked the Eagles out of championship contention in the GSAC.

“We had a nine-day layoff prior to Saturday’s losses,” Concordia Coach Jackie Schniepp said. “That has an affect on your defense.”

* Chapman, which won its 10th consecutive game, has to guard against complacency.

“We came out flat,” Coach Rex Peters said. “It’s a sign that the team needs a day off.”

* Concordia, which has lost three straight and had Wednesday’s game at Cal State San Bernardino postponed because of a wet field, is a win short of equaling Schniepp’s career best for victories in a season.

* Concordia shortstop Dave Paterson was making his second appearance since missing 10 games with a wrist injury. He got one hit and drove in a run, but is not close to his peak form at shortstop, Schniepp said.

Paterson’s two-out double in the second inning drove in Matt Broesamle and gave Concordia a 1-0 lead.

But Chapman got a run in the fourth and three more in the fifth, helped by two Eagle errors.

After Concordia cut the Panthers’ lead to 4-2 with a run in its half of the sixth, Chapman scored four times in the top of the seventh, including Steven’s three-run homer over the right-field fence.

Right-handed pitcher Erik Maurer (6-0) pitched 6 2/3 innings and earned the victory.

“The bottom line is we didn’t play exceptionally well, but we got the win out of it,” Peters said.

In the Golden State Athletic Conference:

Azusa Pacific 8, Southern California College 1--Fritz Maskrey (8-2) pitched an eight-hitter for host Azusa Pacific (26-12-1, 16-7).

Justin Duarte, Brian Griffin, and Bobby Sanchez hit home runs for the Cougars.

SCC (18-21, 9-14) left 11 men on base.