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ORANGE, Calif. - An epic series was capped by an epic game - and a crushing defeat - as the Whitman College baseball team dropped a heartbreaker to Chapman, giving up a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to fall 3-2 in game five of the NCAA Regional on Sunday afternoon at Hart Park.

The loss caps a historic season for the Blues (28-21) who won their first Northwest Conference Tournament title and competed in their first-ever NCAA Tournament.

Jake Larson was handed the ball in arguably the biggest game in program history. Larson backed up Coach Kitamura's decision with a more than serviceable outing, throwing four complete innings and leaving with the game in the balance at 2-2. Travis Craven (8-6) came out of the bullpen just two days after his game two complete game victory but would ultimately get tagged with loss.

The game's penultimate moment came in the bottom of the ninth as Mack Cheli delivered a lead-off double. Pinchrunning for Cheli, Cooper Foard took off for third on a sacrifice bunt laid down by Jarod Penniman (2 H, 2 R) and raced home after Craven, looking to make a play at third, threw an errant toss that skirted by the base as Foard took off for home and scored the gamewinner.

Whitman struck first with a run in its first at bats. Brett Williams (3 H, 1 R) opened the game with a single and later stole second to give Kyle Reisman (2 H, 1 RBI) a runner in scoring position with one out. In what proved to be an epic at bat, Reisman finally got the better of Chapman starter Tyler Peck, smacking a base hit through the left side of the infield to score Williams and put the Blues up 1-0.

Chapman responded with a run one inning later when Aaron Wong drove home Penniman for the equalizer. Whitman took the lead with a run in the fourth inning and appeared to keep it after Anthony Nevoso gunned down Joe Jimenez attempting to steal second with one out. But after a Penniman single and a Drew Littwen double, the game was tied.

The game appeared headed for a dramatic finish with both teams turning inning-ending double plays, most notably by the Blues in both the seventh and eighth innings. Craven, who tossed four-plus innings in the losing effort, had hoped to pitch his and the Blues way into extra innings, but it was not to be.

Chapman (36-11) now advances to the NCAA Super Regional set to start next weekend.