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ORANGE — Oxy outfielder Eamon McNeil doubled in Michael Ingram to cut Chapman's lead to one run and put himself in position to tie the game in the top of the ninth.

But after leading for seven innings, the Occidental baseball team couldn't complete a comeback of its own, falling on the road to No. 13 Chapman 6-5 in Game 1 of a three-game series between the teams this weekend.

The Tigers scored their first run in the first when Jack Brancheau hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Reid Gibbs, and then went up 3-0 in the fourth when Bryan Smith singled in Brancheau and Ingram hit a sacrifice fly to score Angelo Zorn. 

Joe Jiminez countered with a solo shot to score Chapman's first run in the fifth and Antonio Andrade extended Oxy's lead back to three at 4-1 with an RBI-double that scored Jared Baur in the seventh.

That's when things started to go the wrong direction for Oxy. Chapman posted a two-run seventh and three-run eighth to take control of the game.

Nolan McCarthy, who came into the game as the SCIAC's top pitcher with a 0.88 ERA for Oxy, suffered his first loss of the year.

Chapman reliever Cody Turner earned the win and Nick Garcia got the save.

Gibbs, Oxy's senior second baseman, extended his nearly season-long hitting streak to 18 games. He's hitting .464, which is the best among SCIAC players in overall games played.

Season Impact: Oxy falls to 16-7 overall and 4-3 in SCIAC.

Chapman improves to 17-5 and 7-3.

Next Game: The Tigers and Panthers resume their series with a doubleheader at Anderson Field on Saturday. First pitch of Game 1 is scheduled for 11 a.m.