Chapman Finally Wins It in 17th, 5-4

Craig Kuhse hit a sacrifice fly to left field with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 17th inning to score Ivan Camacho to give Chapman College a 5-4 win over Cal State Long Beach in a college baseball season opener Tuesday at Hart Park in Orange.

Kuhse’s fly ball brought an end to a game that lasted 4 hours and 53 minutes. Camacho had reached on an infield single with one out. Eli Amaya followed with a single to right field and Mike Halasz got aboard on an error by Long Beach first baseman Derek Stewart that loaded the bases.

Long Beach had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the 12th when Henry Garcia jarred the ball from Chapman catcher Scott Van Eps on a play at the plate, following a single by Sid Herrara. Chapman took advantage of two Long Beach errors to tie it in the bottom half on the inning.

In other college action:

UC Irvine 8, Cal Poly Pomona 2--Adam Ging was 3 for 3 with a triple and 3 RBIs as Irvine opened its season with the nonconference win over at Irvine. Ging drove in a run with each of his hits and Brady Anderson was 2 for 5 with a two-run homer in the second inning to lead the Anteaters. Starter Doug Linton worked six innings for Irvine, allowing one run on six hits and striking out six to record the win. John Love was 3 for 5 with a triple and scored once for Pomona.

Southern California College 5, Claremont 1--Dave Turney and Randy Roether hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning to lead the Vanguards to the nonconference win in Costa Mesa. Brian Otten struck out six and allowed six hits in recording the complete-game win. Turney and Ron Nelson had two hits each for Southern California.