The University of Redlands baseball team gave up 15 runs in the eighth inning as No. 6 Chapman University cruised to a 28-9 non-conference victory over the Bulldogs on Friday afternoon at The Yard in Redlands.

Prior to the start of the contest, the program honored its seven seniors: designated hitter Brett Sandford (Santa Barbara, CA), pitcher Jack Winters (Oradell, NJ), centerfielder Will Wetmore (Santa Cruz, CA), shortstop Zack Braband (Alameda, CA), catcher Jefre Johnson (Canby, OR), pitcher Michael Lessig (Fountain Hills, AZ) and first baseman Matt Hughes (Westminster, CA).

The Bulldogs' 15 hits on the afternoon helped move their season total to 534, nine more than the former single-season record of 525 set by the 2008 team.

Redlands kept pace with Chapman in the early goings, as each team scored a run in the second to knot the score at one apiece. Ryan Hall's bases-clearing triple in the fourth, however, signaled the offensive outburst to come. A throwing error allowed Hall to come home, which put the Panthers on top, 5-1, heading into the bottom of the fourth.

Chapman pushed three more across in the sixth before Sandford answered in the bottom of the frame with a two-run homer that brought the Maroon and Gray within four.

An RBI single by Matt Luzar in the seventh pushed the score to 9-3 in favor of the visitors, but the Bulldogs went down in order in the bottom of the stanza, which set the table for Chapman's fruitful inning. The Panther bats combined for 15 runs on 13 hits in the top of the eighth, as nothing seemed to go right for the Redlands pitchers. Despite the long frame, however, the Bulldog defense was not charged with any errors.

After Chapman had pulled its ace, Brian Rauh, the Maroon and Gray plated four runs on four hits and two errors in the bottom of the eighth to save some face in the lopsided tilt.

A four-run ninth for the Panthers brought the tally to 28-7, but the Bulldogs cut the lead under 20 to close the game, scoring twice in the home half of the inning. Despite a double play in the beginning of the bottom of the ninth, Redlands stayed alive by knocking out four straight hits, which came from Sandford, junior rightfielder Nate Carlson (Portland, OR), Hughes and sophomore second baseman Chase Tucker (Poway, CA). The inning ended, however, with a fly out to right, which effectively ended the non-conference clash.

Lessig drew the start on the hill for Redlands and worked five full frames, yielding five runs on five hits. With the losing decision, he fell to 6-3 on the year. The bullpen largely struggled, combining to give up Chapman's final 23 runs.

Rauh advanced to 10-0 on the season after scattering seven hits and allowing three runs over seven frames of duty.

Sandford, Carlson and Hughes each went 3-for-5, accounting for a large portion of the team's offensive production. Sandford touched the plate three times and drove in three runs, while Carlson came across three times and picked up one RBI. Hughes boasted one RBI in his three-hit performance.

Tyler Hadzinsky played the entirety of the contest at second base for the Panthers and batted 5-for-6 with three RBI and three runs scored.

Redlands (28-10, 20-8 SCIAC) closes out its regular season tomorrow afternoon at Hart Park in Orange, seeking redemption in a non-conference twinbill with Chapman. Game one is scheduled for 1 p.m., while the nightcap is estimated to commence at 4:30 p.m. In order to keep at-large hopes alive for a bid into the NCAA Championships, the Maroon and Gray will likely have to sweep the Panthers on their home field.