Chapman Will Host Regional

Chapman will compete in the NCAA Division III baseball playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.

The Panthers on Sunday were seeded No. 1 in the West Region and will host a six-team regional this week at Hart Park in Orange. It is the first time Chapman will host a baseball regional playoff.

Chapman will open with a game against sixth-seeded McMurry, Texas, on Thursday at 11 a.m.

The Panthers, ranked seventh in Division III by the American Baseball Coaches Assn., have won 26 of their last 29 games and are 33-8, the second-best regular-season record in school history. They have won 12 straight at home.

Chapman won the West Region championship last season and finished third at the Division III World Series.

Also in the regional will be No. 2-seeded Southwestern (Texas), No. 3 Cal Lutheran, No. 4 Cal State Hayward and No. 5 Willamette, Ore. McMurry, the American Southwest Conference winner, finished the regular season 26-15.