LOS ANGELES — Scott Hong (Los Angeles) did a little bit of everything on Friday.
The do-it-all Occidental College star outfielder doubled to right field, stole a base and even threw out a runner at first from center field.
But with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, Hong hit a routine grounder to the second baseman's left that hit Jonathan Wong (Grizzly Flats) in the leg for the third out of the inning and the Tigers lost their SCIAC opener to Chapman, 3-2 at Anderson Field.
The table was set in the seventh for Hong, who's making his case as maybe the best overall player in the SCIAC.
Riley Smith (Bellevue, Wash.) doubled to deep left center, scoring Pedro Aldape (Sherman Oaks) from first to cut the lead to 3-2. Then Chris Strain (Bellevue, Wash.) hit an infield single off of the pitcher's glove, stole second and Ian Felhauer (Sandy, Utah) got hit by a pitch to load the bases for Hong, who leads Oxy with 10 hits on the season. Hong worked a full count, but sprayed the payoff pictch to the right side, hitting Wong, who was running for Felhauer, and foiling Oxy's best opportunity in the late innings.
Oxy (6-1, 0-1) picks up its first loss of the season after starting out 6-0, with four wins at Austin College and two at home over La Sierra.
The Tigers had chances in the eighth and ninth too, with runners on base in each inning.
In the eighth, Logan Allen (Atascadero) doubled to right center with one out and in the ninth, Smith led off the inning with a single up the middle, but each time Oxy came up empty handed.
Aldape went 2 for 3 with a run scored and Smith was 2 for 4 with an RBI.
Chapman got a pair of runs in the third and one more in the fourth.
With the bases loaded in the third, the Tigers nearly turned a 6-4-3 double play that would have ended the inning, but the ball squirted past Aldape at first, allowing Adam Velez to score from third and Eddie Aguayo to score from second.
In the Panthers next turn at bat, Greg Dillon singled to center, scoring Andrew Carbajal.
Joseph Kling (Kirksville, Mo.) went seven innings with two earned runs and retired 10 consecutive batters at one point, from the fourth to the seventh, in a losing effort for the Tigers.
Chapman's Justin Hanks (Valencia) went 6.1 innings, earning the win, and Taber Watson struck out five in a 2.2-inning save.
The teams are back in action tomorrow with a doubleheader at Chapman. The first game is scheduled for 11 a.m.