LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Oxy baseball was back at Anderson Field for a Saturday SCIAC doubleheader against the Chapman University Panthers.
GAME 1, W 5-4
The Panthers got on the board first with an RBI single in the 2nd inning that brought home one run for an early 1-0 lead.
The Tigers would respond immediately by taking the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Jeffery Cambra set the table by working a one-out walk and Griffen Rogers would follow by hitting a home run that just stayed fair, bouncing off of the foul pole down the right field line.
Oxy would lead 2-1 through 3 innings of play and would add another run to their lead in the 4th inning. Rogers led the inning off with a single and would swipe second before advancing to 3rd on a sacrifice bunt by Dan Major.
After a walk to Anthony Sereno, lead off hitter Thomas Munch delivered the clutch 2-out RBI single that extended the Oxy lead to 3-1 through 4 innings of play.
Christian Martinez would allow a solo home run in the 6th inning, but would strand a runner on base in the inning by striking out a batter and inducing a line out to right field.
The Tigers added insurance runs in the bottom of the inning thanks to Munch blasting a two-run home run down the left field line to extend Oxy's lead to 5-2.
Chapman would tack on a run in the 7th inning, and the Tigers would turn to closer AJ Naha for a two-inning save, bringing him in the 8th inning.
The Panthers threatened in the 9th, but Naha induced an RBI ground out to 2nd base for the second out of the inning, though it brought home Chapman's 4th run and made the score 5-4 Tigers.
Naha would snag a ground ball come backer from the next batter to retire the side, securing his 2nd save of the year and the 5-4 win for the Tigers.
Martinez was sharp on the mound in this one, tossing a quality start by throwing 7 innings, allowing 3 earned runs on 6 hits and striking out 8.
Munch continued to be Oxy's leading run producer, going 2 for 4 at the plate and driving in 3 runs including his 2-run home run.
GAME 2, L 14-10
Game 2 would prove to be a high scoring affair with both teams' offenses piling on the hits. After Chapman scored a run in the top of the 1st, Thomas Munch hit his second home run of the day out to center field to tie the game at 1.
The Panthers scored 4 runs in the top of the 2nd inning, but Oxy would respond in the bottom half of the inning. With 2 outs and 2 runners on, Nick Gonzalez doubled down the left field line on a ball that went right over the base.
Griffen Rogers would double to right center field to drive in Gonzalez and bring Oxy to within one run of the lead.
Thomas Munch would step up to bat in the 4th inning and hit his 2nd homer of the game and 3rd of the day to tie the game at 5. The Tigers took a 6-5 lead in the 4th on an RBI single from Logan Rooney that brought home Rogers to score.
Over the next 3 innings Chapman would score 7 unanswered runs to take a 12-6 into the bottom of the 7th inning.
Oxy responded with 4 runs in the 7th, highlighted by a 3RBI double to left center by Jeffery Cambra that brought the score to 12-10.
Chapman would score 2 runs on RBI doubles in the 8th, and the Tigers would not score in the 8th and 9th, leading to a 14-10 Panther win.
Thomas Munch led the offense in this game by going 4 for 6 with 2 home runs, 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs.
Munch went 6 for 10 overall on the day with 3 home runs and 5 RBIs, bringing his season totals to team highs of 6 home runs and 26 RBIs.
Nick Gonzalez also went 3 for 6 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs. Logan Rooney was 3 for 5, and Griffen Rogers and Jeffery Cambra each went 2 for 5 in the series finale.
The Tigers will be right back in action at Anderson Field on Sunday morning against the visiting Lewis & Clark Pioneers with a game time of 11:00am.
