College Roundup : Chapman Beats UC Riverside

Left-hander Jim Bennett went the distance Thursday, scattering seven hits and striking out seven to lead Chapman College to an 11-5 victory over UC Riverside in a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. game played at Hart Park.

Bennett (3-6) retired 17 of the last 19 batters in his fourth complete game of the season. UC Riverside took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on John Sellick’s home run, but the Panthers rallied to take a 6-5 advantage after five innings.

Chapman (3-3, 14-16) broke the game open with five runs in the bottom of the eighth, with three coming on a two-out, bases-loaded double by Jim Areias. Areias went 3 for 3 with 4 RBIs, and Darren Nelson, who had hit a home run in each of the last six games, went 2 for 5, including an RBI double.

Nelson came within one game of the NCAA Division II record of seven consecutive games with a homer, held by Leland Creel of Lubbock Christian. Riverside dropped to 2-4 and 19-9.

In women’s tennis:

UC Irvine 8, Baylor 1--Uma Rao, Kathy Rose, Courtney Weichsel, Stephanie Rhorer, Haruko Shigekawa and Debbie Strombeck won singles matches to lead the Anteaters to the victory in the first round of the Cougar Classic at the University of Houston.