Contact:             Doug Aiken
                           (714) 997-6900

Release Date:   April 1, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

Upcoming Events Calendar
 

Date	Day	Team	Opponent/Event	Site	Time (Pacific)
4/1	Thu.	Men's Tennis	La Verne	Home	2:00 pm
4/3	Sat.	Women's Crew	San Diego Classic	San Diego	TBA
		Women's Track	Cal-Nevada Championships	Fresno	10:00 am
		Women's Water Polo	Cal State Bakersfield Tournament	Bakersfield	TBA
		Softball	La Verne	Home	12:00 pm (DH)
4/4	Sun.	Women's Crew	San Diego Classic	San Diego	TBA
		Women's Track	Cal-Nevada Championships	Fresno	10:00 am
		Women's Water Polo	Claremont	Home	11:00 am
4/7	Wed.	Baseball	Cal Lutheran	Home	3:00 pm

Women’s Hoops Falls In Second Round To Puget Sound

ORANGE – The Puget Sound (WA) women’s basketball team had never been there before. Chapman had all the experience of four consecutive playoff appearances and home court advantage. Yet in the end, it was the Loggers from the Northwest Conference who looked like they had been there before, defeating the host Panthers, 61-53, in the second round of the NCAA Division III women’s basketball championships.

Puget Sound (22-4), playing in the first playoff game in the school’s brief Division III history, overcame an early deficit and broke open a tight-scoring game with a 9-2 run to close the first half to lead by six at halftime, 30-24. The Loggers came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, out-scoring the Panthers 24-9 over the first 11 minutes of the second half to open up a 21-point lead – their largest lead of the game – with 9:16 to play. The Panthers recovered defensively, holding the Loggers to just one field goal in the final eight minutes of play, but never cut the lead to less than seven points. Chapman (21-5) shot just 31.3 percent (20-for-64) from the field, its lowest shooting percentage of the season.

Junior Lindsay May led all scorers with 19 points for Puget Sound, including 8-for-13 shooting from the floor. Chapman’s all-time leading scorer Melody Bongiorno led the Panthers in the final game of her career with 13 points and five steals.
 

Bongiorno Loads Up With Postseason Honors

ORANGE – Senior guard Melody Bongiorno (Stowe, VT/Rice Memorial High) became Chapman’s first Division III women’s basketball All-American when she was named to the D3Hoops.com third team last week. Bongiorno, who ranked among the top-10 in Division III in points per game each of the past two seasons and is Chapman's all-time leading scorer, averaged 21.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and was among the nation’s top thieves with 83 steals. She earned All-West Region honors from D3Hoops.com for the second year in a row before being named to the All-America team. She also earned All-District VIII honors for the second straight year from Kodak and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). She is the first two-time Kodak winner in Chapman’s DIII history.

Academically, Bongiorno accomplished another first. The senior guard was already the first three-time Verizon Academic All-District selection in Chapman women’s basketball history. But in early March she was named to the Verizon Academic All-America second team for the first time in her career and became the first Chapman athlete to earn the honor since 2000.
 

Wise Finishes Eighth At Swim Championships

ST. PETERS, MO – Junior swimmer Kati Wise (Westlake, OH/Westlake High) had an impressive showing in Chapman’s first-ever appearance at the Division III national swimming championships. Wise finished eighth in the nation in the 200-yard individual medley with a finals time of 2:11.52. Wise also finished 13th overall in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 58.40 and her time of 2:11.45 in the 200-yard butterfly set a Chapman record despite finishing 26th overall in the event.

Wise’s results ranked Chapman 44th in the nation at championships’ end. Only Claremont (11th), Puget Sound (13th), U.C. Santa Cruz (16th) and Whitworth (29th) ranked higher among West Region schools.
 

Baseball, Softball Among Respective Division III Top-25’s

ORANGE – The defending national champion Chapman baseball team is ranked 15th in the country in the most recent Collegiate Baseball Division III poll, while the Panthers’ women’s softball team earned a top-10 ranking for the first time since 2001, currently eighth in Division III according to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

Chapman baseball, with a record of 19-7, is third in the West Region behind Trinity (25-3) and Mississippi College (18-4). Independent-rival Cal State Hayward is ranked 21st in the country and fourth in the region, behind the Panthers. For the Collegiate Baseball/ABCA Division III poll click here: http://www.muhlenberg.edu/sports/abcapoll.html

Just one West Region team is ranked higher than Chapman’s softball team in the top-25: the nation’s second-ranked East Texas Baptist (21-1). SCIAC leader La Verne and its 17th-ranked softball team come to Orange this Saturday for a double-header with playoff implications. The complete NFCA Division III poll can be found here: http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=3
 

Last Month’s Results:

Baseball
 

Date	Opponent	Result	Record
3/3	Ohio Northern	W, 11-0	9-2
3/5	Cal State Hayward	W, 6-5 (12 inn.)	10-2
3/6	Cal State Hayward	L, 2-4	10-3
3/7	Cal State Hayward	W, 6-5	11-3
3/11	Ithaca (NY)	L, 0-1	11-4
	Wesleyan (CT)	W, 10-0	12-4
3/13	DeSales (PA)*	W, 2-1 (10 inn.)	13-4
	Kean (NJ)*	L, 6-7	13-5
3/14	Rutgers-Newark (NJ)*	W, 3-1	14-5
	Redlands*	W, 7-1	15-5
3/16	UMass-Dartmouth	W, 2-1	16-5
3/19	@ La Verne	W, 6-2	17-5
3/20	La Verne	L, 1-4	17-6
3/24	Eastern Connecticut State	L, 2-7	17-7
3/27	Occidental	W, 11-1	18-7
3/30	Claremont	W, 2-1	19-7

*Cal Classic (at Hart Park)

March Highlights:
Chapman uses late-inning heroics to take two of three from Cal State Hayward – In an important three-game series that could potentially decide who will be the top-ranked independent in the West Region at season’s end, the Panthers won a pair of games in dramatic fashion. In the series opener, Hayward rallied to score two runs in the eighth and force extra innings. Then in the bottom of the 12th, sophomore designated hitter Brian Brubaker (Denver, CO/Cherry Creek High) singled home the winning run with one out and the bases loaded. It was Brubaker’s third hit of the game and it made a winner out of junior right-hander Scott Akamine (Anaheim/Savanna High), who pitched five innings of one-hit ball in relief. The Pioneers evened the score with a 4-2 win on Saturday and held a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning of the rubber match on Sunday. But, for the second time in 48 hours, Brubaker was a Hayward-killer, doubling in the winning run after junior first baseman Jason Mooneyham (Rancho Santa Margarita/Trabuco Hills High) had singled in the tying run one batter earlier. Akamine again picked up the win in relief to improve to 3-0.

Panthers go 3-1 in four home games in the Cal Classic – Chapman kicked off Cal Classic play with a big matchup against fellow 2003 DIII World Series team DeSales (PA) and won another extra-inning affair. Sophomore third baseman Matt Ricatto (Thousand Oaks/Thousand Oaks High) singled home the game-winning run in the top of the 10th inning to give the Panthers a 2-1 win over the Bulldogs – the third Chapman win over DeSales in two years. Sophomore left-hander Billy Sulentor (Rancho Palos Verdes/Mary Star High) earned a no-decision despite allowing just two hits and no earned runs in eight innings of work. In the nightcap, the Panthers committed four errors and spotted visiting Kean (NJ) a 7-2 lead after five innings. Chapman rallied in the ninth for four runs but left the tying run at third base when the game ended. Senior Brian Sanders (Placentia/El Dorado High) hit his second home run of the season to lead off the ninth and also pitched two and two-thirds scoreless innings in relief, including three strikeouts. Jason Mooneyham’s two-run home run in the seventh inning versus Rutgers-Newark (NJ) snapped a 1-1 tie and gave Chapman a 3-1 win on the second day of the Cal Classic. Junior right-hander Jeff Green (Santa Clarita/Valencia High) pitched two innings of relief to pick up his fourth win of the season and Sanders picked up his second save of the year with two scoreless innings. Sophomore right-hander Buddy Klovstad (Orange/El Modena High) struck out six and allowed just four hits in eight innings of work as the Panthers defeated Redlands, 7-1 in the tournament finale. Sanders continued his torrid weekend with a 3-for-4 performance and four RBI. He finished the tournament with a .467 average (7-for-15), two doubles, two HR and seven RBI. However, in that game, freshman outfielder Tyler Dean - who currently leads the team with a .398 average and 20 runs scored - had his 19-game hitting streak end with an 0-for-2 performance. Dean had hit safely in every Chapman game this season prior to taking the collar versus Redlands, a streak during which he hit .483.

Matchup of national champions goes to Eastern Connecticut – In a battle of the last two Division III national champions, pre-season #1 Eastern Connecticut State (2002 champs) defeated #4 Chapman (2003 champs), 7-2 at Hart Park. The Warriors scored seven times, including three unearned runs, in the first three-plus innings to knock Chapman starter Jeff Green out of the game. EConn starter and pre-season All-American Joey Serfass scattered six hits and struck out five batters in a complete game effort. It marked the first time the Panthers had lost back-to-back games since they began the 2003 season 0-3. With the win, EConn avenged a 4-0 loss to the Panthers at Hart Park last March. Billy Sulentor and freshman right-hander Kyle Johnson (Mukilteo, WA/Kamiak) limited the Warriors to just five hits over the final six innings in relief.

Sophomore picks good time for first career home run – Matt Ricatto’s two-out, two-run game-winning home run in the bottom of the seventh against Claremont on Tuesday was his first career homer. The hit gave Chapman an important 2-1 win and a season-series split with West Region rival Claremont, which is currently one-half game out of first place in the SCIAC. Ricatto’s homer also gave Jeff Green his staff-best sixth victory of the season after seven strong innings of work, in which he allowed just three hits. The Panthers finished with just four hits in the game. Brian Sanders pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save of the year.
 

Softball
 

Date	Opponent	Result	Record
3/3	Menlo*	W, 10-2	10-3
3/5	Ohio Northern*	W, 12-3	11-3
	Elizabethtown (PA)*	W, 7-6	12-3
3/7	Menlo*	W, 9-0	13-3
	Albion (MI)*	W, 10-0	14-3
3/11	UT-Dallas (TX)*	W, 9-4	15-3
	Rhode Island*	W, 12-0	16-3
3/13	Hope International*	W, 7-2	17-3
	Trinity (TX)*	W, 4-3	18-3
3/14	Puget Sound (WA)*	W, 13-2	19-3
	Occidental*	W, 3-1	20-3
3/17	UMass-Boston*	W, 10-0	21-3
3/20	George Fox (OR)*	W, 8-0	22-3
	Redlands	W, 4-0	23-3
3/21	Linfield (OR)*	W, 2-1	24-3
	Whitworth (WA)*	L, 2-3	24-4
3/23	Lewis & Clark (OR)*	W, 9-0	25-4
	St. Catherine (MN)*	W, 11-2	26-4
3/26	Tufts (MA)*	W, 5-0	27-4
	Williams (MA)*	W, 2-1	28-4
3/27	Cal State Hayward*	W, 7-2	29-4
	Dominican*	L, 3-5	29-5

*Sun West Tournament (at Hart Park)

March Highlights:
Chapman’s 12th straight win is a thriller – The Panthers, in the midst of their longest winning streak since 1999, needed a remarkable comeback – and a little luck – to win their 12th consecutive game and remain undefeated in their own Sun West Tournament. Chapman, which had already defeated visiting Trinity (TX) three times this season, found itself trailing 3-0 to the Tigers in the bottom of the fifth inning, when a two-out bases-loaded error allowed two unearned Panther runs to score, making the score 3-2. Then in the bottom of the seventh, sophomore outfielder Kailee Roeser (River Forest, IL/River Forest High) lined her first career home run to straightaway centerfield to tie the game at three. Senior shortstop Brittany Ziegler (Irvine/Woodbridge High) followed with a one-out triple and after a hit-by-pitch, senior third baseman Melissa Simerlink (Tustin/Tustin High) squeeze-bunted the game-winning run home to give Chapman a crucial victory and keep the winning streak alive. Freshman right-hander Maggie Wilder (Bakersfield/Stockdale High) retired the final 14 batters she faced in relief to pick up her fourth win. That began a streak of 23 consecutive batters Wilder retired, spanning two games.

Panthers set school record for homers by a team; Chapman runs win streak to 18 – Maggie Wilder threw a pair of gems against Redlands and Linfield (OR) on consecutive days and the Panthers ran their winning streak to 18 in a row and improved to 15-0 in the Sun West Tournament. Wilder had her no-hitter broken up by the game’s final batter, a play that resulted in junior outfielder Keely Starr (El Segundo/El Segundo High) and Melissa Simerlink throwing out a runner at the plate to end the game, as Chapman defeated the Bulldogs, 4-0. The rookie right-hander struck out eight batters to win her seventh consecutive decision. Kailee Roeser drove in the game-winning run with a two-out single in the third inning and Simerlink hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to pace Chapman offensively. That home run was Chapman’s 26th as a team, breaking the school’s Division III record set in 1997 when Stephanie Carew led the team with 15. Brittany Ziegler currently leads the Panthers with 10, followed closely by Simerlink and sophomore first baseman Meredith Cipolla (Pleasanton/Amador High), who have seven each. Versus Linfield, Wilder allowed just three hits, including a solo homer in the seventh to improve to 8-1. Chapman won, 2-1, thanks to freshman designated player Sandra Burns (Anaheim/Canyon High) who drove in both Panther runs with a fielder’s choice in the second and a desperately needed insurance RBI triple in the sixth.

Whitworth halts Chapman’s winning streak at 18 – A seventh inning comeback was not in the cards for the Panthers as they saw their 18-game winning streak come to an end with a 3-2 loss to the visiting Pirates. Down, 3-0 in the seventh, Brittany Ziegler hit a two-out, two-run double to pull the Panthers within one run. Meredith Cipolla followed with a hard hit up the middle, but it took a diving stop by the Whitworth (WA) shortstop to end the game and Chapman’s comeback attempt. Melissa Simerlink reached base in all three plate appearances, including a pair of hits and a walk. The Panthers fell to 15-1 in tournament play.

Team’s 30th homer boosts Chapman over rival Cal State Hayward; clinches tournament title for first time ever – Meredith Cipolla’s two-run home run in the third inning proved to be the game-winner in Chapman’s 7-2 win over West Region independent rival Cal State Hayward. Cipolla’s home run was her seventh this season and the team’s record 30th. The win gave the Panthers’ their 20th win of the Sun West Tournament and clinched the tournament championship for the first time in its seven-year history. Chapman would finish the tournament 20-2 for a .909 winning percentage. Competing teams must play a minimum of six games to qualify for the tournament title. The Panthers struck for a run in the first, two in the third and then four more in the sixth to defeat the Pioneers for the second straight year. Maggie Wilder scattered five hits and struck out eight batters in a complete game effort, improving to 10-1 this season. Chapman ran its record versus West Region teams to 17-3 this season, an important criterion for playoff selection. The Panthers have two more in-region games to play: a double-header versus La Verne this Saturday.
 

Men’s Tennis
 

Date	Opponent	Result	Record
2/29	vs. Mary Washington (VA)*	L, 2-5	2-6
3/13	@ Redlands	L, 0-7	2-7
3/18	UW-Oshkosh (WI)	W, 5-2	3-7
3/23	Lewis & Clark (OR)	W, 6-1	4-7
3/26	@ Westmont	L, 1-8	4-8
3/27	vs. Southwestern (TX)#	W, 4-3	5-8
3/28	@ U.C. Santa Cruz	L, 0-7	5-9
3/31	Cal Lutheran	L, 0-7	5-10

*at Claremont
#at U.C. Santa Cruz

March Highlights:
Panthers win back-to-back home matches – Led by junior number one singles player Brock Heimann (Brea/Servite High), the Panthers won their only two home matches this month over visiting UW-Oshkosh (WI) and Lewis & Clark (OR), 5-2 and 6-1, respectively. Heimann was 2-0 as the number one singles player, as well as Marcus Martinez, senior Bryan Bruno (Riverside/Alta Loma High) and junior Lex Barte (San Fernando/Campbell Hall). Even more impressive was Chapman’s doubles play as the Panthers swept their opponents in both matches, 3-0 in doubles. Heimann and senior Justin Jonas (Carlsbad/Carlsbad High) improved to 2-0 together with a pair of number one doubles wins.

Heimann wins three of four singles matches to improve to 6-5 – As part of a three-match coastal swing that saw the Panthers fall to Westmont, but defeat regional rival Southwestern (TX) in Santa Cruz, Brock Heimann won his third singles match in four tries to improve to 6-5 overall as the team’s number one seed. In matches during which Heimann wins his singles match, the Panthers are 4-2 this season as a team. Justin Jonas has also been red-hot for the Panthers in singles play. The senior is 8-5 this season, including a three-match winning streak that featured a straight-sets win from the number two spot against Lewis & Clark.
 

Women’s Tennis
 

Date	Opponent	Result	Record
3/5	@ Occidental	L, 0-9	2-5
3/6	@ Claremont	L, 0-9	2-6
3/11	@ Cal State Los Angeles	L, 1-8	2-7
3/14	Colorado College	L, 1-8	2-8
3/17	@ La Verne	L, 2-7	2-9
3/19	Columbia (NY)	L, 0-9	2-10
3/22	Linfield (OR)	L, 0-9	2-11
	Southwestern (TX)	L, 0-9	2-12
3/26	Pacific Lutheran (WA)	L, 2-7	2-13

March Highlights:
Panther women suffering through 12-match losing streak – A few bright spots highlighted an otherwise frustrating month of women’s tennis at Chapman. Senior Tiffany Lewis (Seattle, WA/Bush School) and freshman Sam Galasso (Anaheim/Magnoila High) each won their third singles matches of the season in a 7-2 team loss to La Verne. And sophomore Crystal Summers (Orange/Rosary High) and freshman Melissa Sorenson (Tigard, OR/Tigard High) teamed up for a big doubles win against Pacific Lutheran (WA), despite a 7-2 team loss. Galasso and junior Liz Nesbit (Garden Grove/Pacifica High) had been playing some of the best doubles of the year, when their 8-1 win over Colorado College in the third-seed match improved them to 4-5 overall in mid-March.
 

Women’s Water Polo
 

Date	Opponent	Result	Record
3/3	@ Caltech	W, 19-5	1-0
3/5	@ U.C. Davis (Club)	W, 4-0	2-0
3/6	@ Cal State Hayward*	L, 4-9	2-1
	vs. Cal Lutheran*	W, 13-3	3-1
3/7	vs. Sonoma State*	W, 9-3	4-1
	vs. U.C. Davis (Club 'B')*	W, 11-2	5-1
3/13	vs. Whittier#	W, 7-5	6-1
	vs. Cal Lutheran#	W, 13-4	7-1
3/14	vs. Macalester (MN)#	W, 16-4	8-1
	@ Cal State San Bernardino#	L, 5-8	8-2
3/16	Macalester (MN)	W, 15-9	9-2
3/19	Cal State Hayward	L, 7-11	9-3
3/20	vs. Santa Clara%	L, 5-13	9-4
	vs. U.C. Santa Cruz%	W, 6-5	10-4
3/21	@ Claremont%	L, 4-9	10-5
	vs. La Verne%	W, 6-4	11-5
3/23	@ Pomona-Pitzer	L, 5-8	11-6
3/27	@ Cal Lutheran	W, 14-8	12-6
	@ Cal Poly San Luis Obispo	L, 2-8	12-7

*Cal State Hayward Tournament
#Cal State San Bernardino Tournament
%Claremont Tournament

March Highlights:
Panthers go 3-1 at Cal State Hayward tournament; post best start ever – After a season-opening win over Caltech, Chapman trekked north for a successful run in the Hayward tournament. Despite losing the weekend-opener against the host and sixth-ranked Pioneers, the Panthers won three in a row to close the weekend, including wins over Cal Lutheran, 13-3, and Sonoma State, 9-3. Sophomore 2-meter Kristina Eich (Huntington Beach/Edison High) led the Panthers with 11 goals in four games, as well as eight steals on defense, and sophomore utility Marci Myer (Fountain Valley/Fountain Valley High) recorded eight goals in the tournament to pace Chapman offensively. Panther netminders junior Jenn Bicknell (Fullerton/Sonora High) and sophomore Katie Arntzen (Riverside/Poly High) held opponents to an average of just over four goals a game for the tournament and combined for 21 blocks. Chapman’s 5-1 record was the best start in the seven-year history of the program.

Chapman sets school record with six-game winning streak, beats Macalester twice – A Cal State San Bernardino tournament win over 2003 Division III championships qualifier Macalester (MN) marked six consecutive wins for the Chapman women, a new school record. As part of that winning streak, Chapman defeated fifth-ranked Whittier, 7-5, on the first day of the tournament. The Panthers then defeated the Scots, 16-4, as part of another 3-1 tournament finish. Ten different Chapman players scored goals, led by Kristina Eich and senior driver Allison Sloane (Stockton/Lincoln High) who scored three goals apiece. Sophomore driver Teri Bartel (Kingsburg/Kingsburg High) scored a goal and assisted on four others in the win. Just two days later, the Panthers completed a season-sweep over Macalester with a 15-9 win at home. Eich again was nearly unstoppable, scoring a season-best six goals to lead the way. She currently ranks second on the team with 38 goals scored, an average of 2.0 per game.

Sloane scores seven versus Cal Lu; Panthers ranked seventh in Division III – For the third time this season, the Panthers handled the Regals with a 14-8 win, this time in Thousand Oaks. Allison Sloane assumed the team lead in scoring with seven goals against Cal Lutheran, running her season total to 40. The win was the team’s 12th – another new school record for wins in a season – and brought its overall record to 12-6. The Panthers are currently ranked seventh in Division III.
 

Men’s Golf
 

Date	Opponent/Event	Result	Record
3/1	Cal Lutheran	L, 346-308	0-2
3/3	Whittier	W, 345-346	1-2
3/5	@ Caltech	W, 335-347	2-2
	vs. Occidental	L, 335-321	2-3
3/21-23	@ Cal Lutheran Invitational	17th Place	2-3
3/29	@ Pomona-Pitzer	L, 340-315	2-4

March Highlights:
Panthers win first match of the year by one stroke over Whittier – Senior Derek Holland (Brea/Brea Olinda High) shot an 81, nine-over par, as the Panthers won their first match of the season, by one stroke over the visiting Poets at Tustin Ranch. Holland’s 41 on the back nine was a match-low and made all the difference in the victory. Junior Matt Gahan (San Clemente/San Clemente High) led all players at the turn with a 39 on the front nine and finished with an 84, 12-over par.

Gahan finishes Cal Lu tourney with 79, Chapman has good final day in Thousand Oaks – Despite a 17th-place finish at the Cal Lutheran tournament, the Panthers finished the three-day event on a positive note. Chapman shot a three-day-low 347 on the final day of the tournament, led by Matt Gahan’s 79. Gahan shot 249 for the week, which tied him for 50th overall in the tournament. Teammate Derek Holland also shot a week-best 82 on the final day.