Chapman Streak Continues

Cal Lutheran made it easy Friday for Chapman to extend its dominance of the teams’ rivalry and eliminate the Kingsmen from the NCAA Division III West Regional baseball tournament.

The Kingsmen made five errors, and Chapman pitcher Mike Carey struck out nine in 8 1/3 innings to lead Chapman to a 7-4 victory at Hart Park. The Panthers, who opened the tournament Thursday with a 7-5 victory over McMurry (Texas), play at 11 a.m. today against Williamette (Ore.), which beat Cal State Hayward, 12-11.

Chapman (35-8) has won six in a row and 28 of its last 31 games and is 8-0-1 against Cal Lutheran in the last three seasons. Cal Lutheran (27-15) ended its season with an eight-game losing streak.

All of Chapman’s runs were unearned. The Panthers used two Cal Lutheran errors to score three runs in the top of the fourth, added a run in the fifth thanks to a throwing error and completed its scoring with three runs in the eighth after two Cal Lutheran fielding errors.

“That’s the kind of team we’ve been all year,” Chapman Coach Rex Peters said. “When the other team makes a mistake we take advantage of it. We’re not Bronx Bombers who are going to come out and hit three-run home runs all the time.”

Chapman left-fielder Mike Caira got two hits in four trips to the plate, scored twice and drove in two runs.

Carey (9-1) has not lost since a 3-0 defeat to Whittier on March 10. Friday, he struck out five of the first nine batters he faced, including all three in the third inning. But he began to tire in the seventh and left the game with one out and two men on after Cal Lutheran had scored two runs in the ninth inning.

Reliever Josh Dickey, who shut down a McMurry rally in the ninth inning in Thursday’s opener, got his second save of the season by getting the final two outs.

“I was getting tired and I tried to work through it,” Carey said. “I had all of my pitches today. When you’re in a zone like that it’s kind of fun.”

Cal Lutheran squandered a fine pitching effort from freshman Jason Hirsh (7-3), who worked 7 2/3 innings and gave up six hits and walked two.