Chapman University

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Founded: 1861 Enrollment: 10,000 Played baseball since: 1926 Team name: Panthers School colors: Red and black Home ballpark: Hart Park Conference: SCIAC (NCAA Div. III)

Chapman University traces its beginnings to the 1861 founding of Hesperian College in Woodland, Calif., north of Sacramento. One of the first racially-integrated and co-ed colleges in the country, the school moved to Berkeley in 1896 when it merged with Pierce Christian College to create the Berkeley Bible Seminary. In 1912, the campus moved across the bay to San Francisco and was renamed the California Bible College. In 1920, the school was purchased by the California Christian College and moved to Long Beach where the merged schools were renamed the California School of Christianity. Three years later, the name was changed back to the California Christian College. In 1934 it was renamed again, to Chapman College – after a board member and donor. The school moved to its present campus in Orange in 1954, and took its present name in 1991.

It was in Long Beach that the school first fielded an intercollegiate baseball team in 1926. The school joined the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1951-’53. From 1978-’79, and again from 1992-’93, they were in the NCAA Div. II California Collegiate Athletic Association. From 1995-2012, they competed in the NCAA Div. III as an independent before re-joining the SCIAC.

1968 the Panthers won the small college NCAA College World Series, and also won the NCAA Div. III College World Series in 2003 and 2019.

Baseball Almanac lists seven former Panthers who have made it to the Major Leagues. They include Cy Young-winning pitcher Randy Jones and his San Diego Padres teammate, infielder Tim Flannery, who also later served as third-base coach for the San Francisco Giants. Pitcher Gary Lucas also joined them on the 1980 Padres roster, while third baseman and catcher Marty Castillo had several clutch hits for the Detroit Tigers against Flanngery’s Padres in the 1984 World Series.

Home games are played about a mile south of campus at the municipal W.O. Hart Park. The bleachers can seat 1,000.