Bogus Smith Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 Starting or relieving, dominant Chapman is Oral Roberts' go-to guy By DENNIS WASZAK Jr., AP Sports Writer May 17, 2007 Chance Chapman has been a starting pitcher, middle-inning reliever and closer for Oral Roberts. Whatever the situation, the senior right-hander has been dominant this season. "Chance is really the go-to guy, like the stop-the-bleeding guy, who can pitch the midweek games and any time the game is getting close and we need a strikeout or need somebody to finish the game," coach Rob Walton said. "He's very resilient and can bounce back. He'll take on any role you ask him to." And this year, he has been the ace of the Mid-Continent Conference-leading Golden Eagles. Chapman improved to 7-1 with a 1.33 ERA after allowing two runs in eight innings Thursday in a 7-2 win over Western Illinois. He has four saves in 20 appearances, including seven starts -- most of them coming in recent weeks. Chapman has only 24 walks in 81 innings and ranked among the national leaders with 114 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting just .199 against him. "Whether it's been coming out of the pen or starting, it really didn't bother me," Chapman said. "I didn't care whether I was a closer, reliever or a starter -- as long as I was playing." He's been doing a lot more than just playing. The Paso Robles, Calif., native has dominated at times using a fastball clocked between 89 and 92 mph, a two-seamer that runs in on right-handers, and a slider with lots of tilt and down-and-away action. That repertoire was on display last Friday when he struck out a school-record 19 batters in a 12-1, three-hit victory over Centenary. That performance was two strikeouts better than the previous mark -- also set by Chapman on March 27 in a 5-3 win over nationally ranked Arkansas. "It was just a special, special performance," Walton said. "When you're thinking about college baseball and aluminum bats and striking out 10 or 12, that's a bunch. When you start thinking about 14, I mean, that's amazing. Then when you have 17, I haven't really seen since maybe when I was at OSU and Bobby Witt punched out like, 17 or 18 against Texas one night. "A 19-strikeout game? That kind of reminded me of that 20-strikeout game Roger Clemens had a while back." Chapman recorded at least one strikeout in all nine innings and struck out seven in a row between the fifth and seventh innings. He became aware of his lofty strikeout total when he looked over the visitors' dugout and saw a fan keeping count with cardboard Ks. "I could see them building up and building up, and I was like, 'Shoot, I guess I'm getting pretty close here,"' Chapman said. "As I saw that, and I went out and saw that I had 17 in the ninth, that was kind of an adrenaline rush." After giving up a leadoff double, Chapman got the next batter to ground out before striking out the last two to set the record. "When I'm in that zone, I feel like I don't have to think about anything," Chapman said. "I know where I want to throw pitches and I have the confidence that I can do that. I'm just really confident and I think that I just won't miss." Chapman spent three seasons at Cuesta College in California, but redshirted in 2004. He came back the following season and went 6-5 with a 3.71 ERA in 13 starts. After entertaining offers from schools like Hawaii, Southern California, Tennessee and UNLV, Chapman chose Oral Roberts. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Chapman went 5-1 with a 1.55 ERA mostly in relief last year for a Golden Eagles team that made it all the way to the super regionals. After going undrafted, Chapman returned for his senior season and again saw most of his innings in relief. When some of the Oral Roberts starters struggled midway through the year, Walton turned to Chapman. "We were giving up a few too many runs early in games, so we figured let's put one of our best two guys out there and see how that works out," Walton said. It's been great. After starting a few midweek games, Chapman suddenly became the Golden Eagles' top weekend series starter -- and a target of major league scouts. "They're in my office every day," Walton said. "There's a ton of action on him right now. I'm just very proud of Chance." ONE MAN, THREE OUTS Villanova shortstop Derek Shunk took care of three outs on one play. Georgetown had runners on first and second base with Brandon Davis at the plate in the fifth inning Saturday. On Jordan Ellis' first pitch to Davis, the runners attempted to double steal, but Davis swung and hit a liner to Shunk for the first out. Shunk then stepped on second for the second out and tagged the runner from first to complete the unassisted triple play in the Wildcats' 5-2 win. SUDDEN IMPACT Chris Nelson had a surprising power surge for Long Beach State. The junior outfielder was homerless entering last week, but went deep in each of the 49ers' four games. Nelson went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and two runs scored at San Diego State last Tuesday. He then homered in each of the three games at UC Santa Barbara last weekend, including a grand slam in an eight-run 11th-inning that gave Long Beach State a 12-4 win. DOMINANT BOBCAT Ohio's Chris Rigo was unhittable after his first pitch. The sophomore right-hander gave up a hit to Miami of Ohio's Evan Armitage, but didn't allow another the rest of the way in a 9-0 win last Friday. Rigo, who got out of a bases-loaded jam in the first, threw the first complete game shutout for the Bobcats since last season. He tied a career high with six strikeouts, and walked three and hit three batters. After he allowed the single to Armitage on his first pitch, he walked a batter and hit another to load the bases with no outs. Following a visit from pitching coach Andrew See, Rigo struck out the next three batters to get out of it. MEATY MATCHUPS With a 13-game winning streak and first-place in the Big West on the line, Long Beach State hosts second-place UC Riverside this weekend. ... Top-ranked Vanderbilt hosts LSU while looking for its first Southeastern Conference regular-season title since 1980. Also in the SEC, Arkansas, two games behind the Commodores in the overall standings, hosts Mississippi with first place in the Western Division at stake. ... Texas is at Texas A&M in a Big 12 meeting of teams ranked in the top 10. AROUND THE HORN Lafayette won its first Patriot League championship with a 7-3 victory over Army on Sunday. The Leopards (32-17) advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1990. ... Kenny Smith went 13-for-22 (.591) with two homers, 13 RBIs and 14 runs scored in five games last week for Western Carolina. Teammate Blake Murphy was 10-for-18 (.556) with six homers, 12 RBIs and 16 runs. ... Gonzaga's Clayton Mortensen struck out 15 in a five-hit 7-1 victory over Pepperdine on Saturday. ... UCLA left-hander Tim Murphy struck out a career-high 14 in eight innings, but took a no-decision as the Bruins lost to Arizona State 5-4 on Saturday. ... Clemson's Andy D'Alessio was 10-for-19 (.526) with five homers and 11 RBIs in five games last week. ... North Carolina righty Robert Woodard set a school record with his 31st career victory last Friday, beating Georgia Tech 10-3. Updated on Thursday, May 17, 2007 9:03 pm EDT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcboy2000 Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 My favorite part of the article!!!!!!!! Starting or relieving, dominant Chapman is Oral Roberts' go-to guy It's been great. After starting a few midweek games, Chapman suddenly became the Golden Eagles' top weekend series starter -- and a target of major league scouts. "They're in my office every day," Walton said. "There's a ton of action on him right now. I'm just very proud of Chance." Updated on Thursday, May 17, 2007 9:03 pm EDT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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