Ups and Downs : Chapman’s Baseball Season Has Been Dominated by Streaks

Cardinal and gray are the official colors of the Chapman College baseball team, but don’t believe it.

Cardinal, maybe. Gray? No.

The Panthers (13-11-1 overall, 2-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.) have been more like black and white. When they play well, they keep it going and win games in bunches.

The trouble for Chapman, which will play host to Cal State Dominguez Hills today at 2:30, is that it applies the by-the-bunch theory to losing, too.

Chapman, a Division II school, won six of its first eight games--including two of three from Cal State Fullerton.

And then came the tie, which was like an omen. On Feb. 12, the Panthers tied Azusa Pacific, 10-10, when the game was called because of darkness.

The Panthers lost their next seven and eight of their next nine.

“That streak was against (Arizona State), UCLA and USC, which are Division I teams,” Chapman Coach Mike Weathers said. “Against ASU, we were in the games until the sixth innings, at UCLA we were never in it, and against USC, we had a 6-0 lead in the ninth and couldn’t get them out. They just won it. But it still was a positive run for us because it showed we can compete.”

Chapman turned it around and won six straight until Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to Cal State Northridge. The Panthers have a streak here, a streak there. So what’s with them?

A quick look at the statistics suggests that the Panthers are fortunate to have a winning record. Chapman has a team earned-run average of 5.85 and a team batting average of .293 and has been outscored, 163-156.

Weathers doesn’t really see those statistics as the problem.

“We’ve hit well, but we haven’t scored,” he said. “We’re just not driving them in.”

The Panthers have left 233 men on base, and their opponents have stranded 166.

Offensively, Chapman has been led by shortstop Jeff Kidwiler. Kidwiler is batting .406, leads the team with 39 hits and is second on the team with 16 RBIs.

Center fielder Bryan Beals is hitting .362, first baseman Mike Grahovic is at .337 and left fielder Chris Cutliff is hitting .325.

“But we don’t have anyone with 20 RBIs. We’ve been striking out or popping the ball up,” Weathers said. “We just have to try and work through this and wait for somebody to surface (as an RBI producer).”

Chapman also has struggled in the field. It has had 46 errors in 25 games. In Tuesday’s game with Northridge, Chapman avoided errors but lost the game on a passed ball.

“We haven’t made an error in conference,” Weathers said. “We were a poor defensive team early--in the first 15 games--but we have started playing defense like we can.”

Weathers is optimistic that the Panthers can compete for a conference title. “I think we’ll do well. The league is pretty equal.”