Chapman’s Six-Run Inning Swamps SCC

Chapman scored six runs in the fourth inning and continued Southern California College’s early season woes, beating the Vanguards, 12-6, in a nonconference baseball game Thursday at Hart Park in Orange.

SCC, which lost its fifth in a row to drop to 1-6, scored three unearned runs in the first inning. Chapman (3-2) tied the score with one in the first and two in the second, before falling behind, 4-3, in the third.

Then the Panthers put the game away. The first six batters in the bottom of the fourth reached. SCC starter Matt Harber (0-2) walked the first two batters, his sixth and seventh bases on balls, and was replaced by Ryan Holman.

Jeremy Price reached when Holman couldn’t make a play after fielding his sacrifice bunt attempt, loading the bases. Cale Shepherd drove in a run with a single, Don Disbro was hit by a pitch for another run, Matt McCready doubled in two and Matt Marquez singled in two more for a 9-4 lead.

SCC got to Chapman starter Carlos Cevallos (2-0) for 11 hits in seven innings, hitting him hard at times, but after the Panthers’ two-error first inning they supported Cevallos well on defense.

Chapman batters kept threatening until the final two innings. Rick Homutoff pitched the seventh, giving up only a double to Todd Steinhardt and striking out two. Ila Borders retired the three batters she faced in the eighth.

Rob Pegg was four for five with a home run double and three runs batted in and Brian Nolan was four for four with an RBI for the Vanguards.

Although Chapman Coach Rex Peters pleased with the victory, he was concerned about the Panthers sloppy early game defense. “We swung the bats but we didn’t really play that well,” Peters said. “They just played a little worse than us.”

SCC, which has played its first six games on the road, starts Golden State Athletic Conference play with a doubleheader Saturday at Azusa Pacific.