COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK / MARTIN BECK : Division II Softball Teams Stop Chapman

The Chapman softball team finally met its match, but it came from a higher level: NCAA Division II.

Chapman has been rolling through the competition in its first season in Division III and last week jumped from 24th to third in the national rankings. Friday, Cal State Bakersfield, ranked No. 1 in Division II, stopped the Panthers’ 22-game winning streak with a 3-0 victory in the Cal State Hayward tournament.

Chapman (26-4) was 3-2 in the 24-team tournament, also losing to UC Davis, ranked eighth in Division II, in the winners’ bracket semifinals.

“I feel really good about how we did at the tournament,” co-Coach Janet Lloyd said. “We went home at the same time Bakersfield did.”

Bakersfield lost to Portland State in the winners’ bracket semifinals. Humboldt State beat Portland State for the title. UC Davis beat Cal State Dominguez Hills for third place.

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Catcher Kathy Donovan, a junior from Fullerton College and Anaheim High, had an outstanding tournament. She had seven hits in 14 at-bats and drove in three runs, raising her batting average to .423. She has 22 runs batted in and a team-leading .752 slugging percentage.

Jessamine Maiben, a freshman from Newberg, Ore., leads the Panthers with a .473 batting average. She has 24 RBIs, a .726 slugging percentage and is 19 for 24 with runners in scoring position.

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Milestone watch: Lisle Lloyd, Janet’s father and Chapman co-coach, will seek his 400th victory Friday during a doubleheader with Concordia St. Paul. Lloyd, who is 399-275-2, was third in victories among active Division III coaches before the season. June Walker of Trenton (N.J.) State was first with 673.

Lloyd, 72, and in his 13th season at Chapman, said he’s already looking beyond 400.

“It’s just another goal,” he said. “I’m still shooting for 500; that’s the one we’re going for. But right now I’m more concerned with getting this national championship than anything else.”

Chapman, with six doubleheaders remaining on its schedule, including three against Division III teams, is ranked No. 1 in the West Region. The regional playoffs start May 11 at a site to be determined. The six-team national championship tournament will be May 18-21 at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa.

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Southern California College’s softball team stretched its winning streak to six by sweeping Point Loma Nazarene in a Golden State Athletic Conference doubleheader Tuesday. The Vanguards (24-13, 8-2), ranked seventh in the nation by the NAIA, are percentage points ahead of Azusa Pacific (19-12, 11-3) in first place in the conference.

Senior Jen Caruso provided a couple of clutch hits to help SCC rally after trailing, 3-0, early in the second game.

Caruso, who plays second base, drove in the first two runs in a four-run third with a double. After Point Loma tied the score, 4-4, in the top of the fourth, Caruso doubled again to drive in two runs in the bottom of the inning.

“Jen had a wonderful game,” Coach Bekki Turner said. “She was a spark for us and she has been doing that all season.”

SCC scored three in the fourth and five in the fifth before the 12-4 game was stopped by the mercy rule.

The Vanguards swept the conference player of the week honors. Shortstop Shannon O’Rourke, who was eight for 10 with two doubles and two RBIs, was player of the week and Shannon Saylor, who struck out 25 in three complete-game victories, was named pitcher of the week.

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Concordia’s softball team has been struggling this season, but Tuesday the Eagles split a doubleheader with Cal Baptist, which started the week tied for first in the conference.

Kelsi Armbruster, from Orange Coast and Katella High, pitched the second game for Concordia (11-16, 2-8), giving up nine hits in a 4-3 victory. She also had two hits.

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Notes

Chapman tennis player Jose Alvarez has won nine matches in a row for the Panthers (7-8). Alvarez, a junior transfer from Long Beach College, is 12-4. . . . Brian and Kevin Carlson each have qualified in the high jump for the NAIA national track and field championships, May 25-27 at Azusa Pacific. Brian jumped 7 feet and Kevin 6-10 at their first meet of the season. The national qualifying mark is 6-10. SCC’s Tim Hardin ran 1 hour 14 minutes 10 seconds for the half marathon to qualify in that event. . . . Concordia men’s basketball player Craig Martin was named honorable mention NAIA All-American. Martin, a senior from Los Angeles, averaged 16.4 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Eagles.