MARSHALL, Texas – Starting the season with a series win against Centenary College, the East Texas Baptist University baseball team will airport this week with a plane ride to California to compete against #20 Chapman University. This marks the first time since 2016 that the Tigers last faced Chapman University.
 
Opening with a home and away series, the Tigers dropped the first game, 8-1, to the Gents before bouncing back to split the doubleheader at, 12-2, in game two on Saturday. Seth Mikeska finished with three of the Tigers 13 hits while Jake Miller posted four RBI on two hits. Taking the win was Blake Corbin, who went five innings allowing one run on five hits with six strikeouts. ETBU then took the series the next day on Sunday with a 7-0 shutout win as Mikeska (two RBI) and Casey Combs (two RBI) each homered while it took six Tiger pitchers to shut out the Gents with Call Florence getting the win.
 
Through three games, Landen Barns, Combs, and Mikeska are batting .444 with four hits each with Combs sharing the RBI lead with Miller at four. Eight ETBU pitchers have posted a 0.00 ERA as Corbin and Alan Underwood lead with five innings pitched apiece.
 
The Tigers now get set to take on Chapman with three games in three days. In 2016, ETBU took two of three from the Panthers with a 12-7 victory in game one and a 15-12 slugfest win in game three. This season, CU is 4-0 following an 8-6 win over Piedmont University. The Panthers are led by a .500 batting average along with eight hits and five RBI from Alex Tsuruda. On the mound, Tyler Peck has a 1.80 ERA while Mason Collins, Riley Glenn, and Jonathan Hernandez have six innings pitched under their belt.
 
For head coach Jared Hood, this series will provide ETBU an understanding of the quality of competition they'll face for the rest of the season as he explains. "They're a quality opponent," said Coach Hood. "I think for us to have the opportunity to not only go to California, but then to have them come back out to us next year is critical to getting our guys exposure to big boy baseball. It's going to be big boy baseball when we go out there. Those guys can really hit and they have guys that can really throw. Again, it all comes down to execution and how we play. It'll be a good experience for everyone and it'll be a good series."
 
ETBU will face the Panthers for the next three days starting with an 8:00 PM matchup on Thursday. Friday's contest will start at 4:30 PM while the finale takes place at 3:00 PM