Contact:
Doug Aiken
(714) 997-6900
Release Date: May 17, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Defending Champs To Host Baseball Regionals For Second Year In A Row
ORANGE – For the second straight year and third time in the past four years, Chapman University has been selected to host the NCAA Division III West Region baseball championships. The defending national champions were selected to participate in their seventh NCAA postseason in the last eight seasons. In their previous six appearances, the Panthers have won four West Region titles.
Chapman (28-11) will have a more difficult road than in past playoffs in which they have hosted. The Panthers are seeded fourth in a six-team field that includes the nation's third-ranked team overall by Collegiate Baseball, Trinity (Tex.) and the team that forced them to the brink of elimination in last year's West Region championships, George Fox (Ore.). The Bruins earned one of two Pool 'C' bids into the playoffs, reserved for second place conference teams. That's because Linfield (Ore.) won the Northwest Conference championship and earned the automatic berth in the regional. Trinity (35-8) is seeded first, Linfield (31-9) is second and George Fox (31-9) will be third this weekend.
Rounding out the six-team tournament is Pool 'B' (Independent) qualifier and fifth-seeded Cal State Hayward (29-11), who last made a playoff appearance in 2001. That year it was the Pioneers who pushed Chapman to the brink of elimination before falling in the regional championship game. The sixth seed is SCIAC champion La Verne (27-10), who last appeared in the NCAA playoffs in 1995 – and won a national championship that year.
The Panthers will take on third-seeded George Fox in their playoff opening
game on Thursday night at 7:00 pm at Hart Park. The two teams split a pair
of games at a tournament in Arizona this February. Trinity and La Verne
will begin the action with an 11:00 am game on Thursday morning, followed
by Linfield and Hayward at 3:00 pm. The tournament will last all weekend
with the championship game on Sunday at 1:00 pm.
NCAA Division III West Region Championship Schedule
Thursday, May 20
Game 1: #1 Trinity (TX) vs. #6 La Verne; 11:00 am
Game 2: #2 Linfield (OR) vs. #5 Cal State Hayward; 3:00 pm
Game 3: #3 George Fox (OR) vs. #4 Chapman; 7:00 pm
Friday, May 21
Game 4: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2; 11:00 am (elimination
game)
Game 5: Winner of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 3; 3:00 pm
Game 6: Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3; 7:00 pm
(if four teams remain after Game 6)
Saturday, May 22
Game 7: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6; 11:00 am
Game 8: Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 6; 3:00 pm (elimination
game)
Game 9: Loser of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8; 7:00 pm (elimination
game)
Sunday, May 23
Game 10: Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9; 12:00 pm
Game 11: Winner of Game 10 vs. Loser of Game 10; 3:30 pm (if necessary)
(if five teams remain after Game 6)
Saturday, May 22
Game 7: Loser of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 6; 11:00 am (elimination
game)
Game 8: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5; 3:00 pm (elimination
game)
Game 9: Winner of Game 6 vs. Winner of Game 7; 7:00 pm
(if two teams remain after Game 9)
Sunday, May 23
Game 10: Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 9; 12:00 pm
Game 11: Winner of Game 10 vs. Loser of Game 10; 3:30 pm (if necessary)
(if three teams remain after Game 9)
Sunday, May 23
Game 10: Winner of Game 8 vs. Loser of Game 9; 12:00 pm (elimination
game)
Game 11: Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10; 3:30 pm
XXX