College Notebook : Northridge Bullish on Softball

The Cal State Northridge softball field’s official name is “Lady Matador Field,” but nowadays people have started calling it “The Bullring.”

If the name sticks, it will be one of the few plazas de toros in the world in which the matadors do most of the goring.

In the three seasons Gary Torgeson has led the onslaught as head coach, the Lady Matadors have:

--Won three California Collegiate Athletic Assn. championships.

--Won three NCAA Division II Western Regionals.

--Won the last two national championships and finished second in 1982.

--Compiled an overall record of 120-49-5 and a home record of 58-20-3.

This season, Northridge appears to have the kind of talent it needs to win its third national title in a row.

The Lady Matadors are off to a 7-1 start and are missing only one starter from the team that went 51-12-2 last season.

Torgeson says his team’s strengths--in order--are Kathy Slaten, defense, hitting speed, experience and a good backup pitcher in Desiree Molnar.

Question: What else is there?

After Slaten, a junior pitcher, the order in which the strengths were listed did not matter. Around Northridge she is known as “Kat.”

Last season, all she did was lead the nation’s Division II schools in wins (39), shutouts (32), strikeouts (478), innings pitched (343) and no-hitters (11). Her earned run average was 0.22 and she was most valuable player of the team, the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. and the West Regional tournament. She was also an All-American.

Torgeson says Slaten is among the top five softball pitchers in the nation--at any level. And she is at her best in clutch situations.

In 95 innings of playoff competition in two seasons, she has not allowed an earned run. Last season, she struck out 32 batters in 22 innnings during the playoffs.

So far this season, she is 4-0 with a no-hitter

and has 45 strikeouts in 29 innings.

Because Slaten is in top form this early, Torgeson is afraid the team will become overconfident.

“In the past we have sometimes been up for the

big teams--the Division I schools--and then a little lax against our Division II opponents,” Torgeson said. “If our athletes are smart, they’ll change that around. It’s nice to beat the biggies, but winning our conference should be our No. 1 priority.”

Northridge will have plenty of chances to knock off a few Division I giants before conference action begins.

Of the team’s first 20 games, 14 are against Division I teams--including perennial national powers Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Fullerton and defending Division I national champion UCLA.

“Basically, we play a Division I schedule, Torgeson said. “We have to play the best in order to play our best.”

Division I teams have little to gain and everything to lose by playing Northridge because of the way collegiate softball teams are ranked.

Northridge, being a Division II team, earns six points for beating a Division I team and three points for losing to one. Against Division II competition, the Lady Matadors earn five points for winning and two for losing.

Division I teams are graded on much the same scale. UCLA can therefore gain two more points by losing a doubleheader to Cal State Fullerton (or any other Division I team) than it can by losing a doubleheader to Northridge.

“We play them because I believe we are a team capable of playing on the Division I level,” Torgeson said. “They play us because they think they’re better than we are and won’t lose.”

“They” are historically wrong.

Torgeson’s teams are 57-42-6 against Division I competition, including 5-1 this season.

“I wouldn’t say we beat up on Division I teams, but we do hold our own,” Torgeson said. “We split with the top teams more often than not. They lose a few points, but I’m not worried that they will stop scheduling us. They have to at least believe they can sweep us.”

Next up, the Murderers’ Row of college softball. CSUN will play doubleheaders against Cal Poly Pomona (at CSUN on Saturday), Cal State Fullerton (at Fullerton on Feb. 20) and UCLA (at CSUN on Feb. 27).

“We’re good,” Torgeson said. “How good, we’ll find out. Real soon.”

I went to a fight and a basketball game broke out . . .

When the Cal State Northridge men’s team played host to UC Riverside last Saturday night, there were five fights, 48 personal fouls, three technical fouls and two players ejected.

The officials finally walked off the court with 32 seconds remaining in the game after the final brawl cleared both benches.

Said one spectator: “I guess they figured they had finally completely lost control.”

Northridge won, 78-63, to remain tied with Cal State Dominguez Hills for the lead in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

The Matadors have won seven of their last eight and are 7-2 in the CCAA, 15-8 overall. Riverside, the defending conference champion, is 5-4 in the conference and 16-7 overall.

CSUN injury update: Troy Dueker will be lost to the Northridge men’s basketball team for at least a week with an infected toe on his left foot. A freshman guard from L.A. Lutheran High, Dueker is averaging 1.3 points and 0.3 rebounds a game.

Meanwhile, the CSUN women’s team is down to eight healthy players. Michelle Ruess, a 6-3 freshman center from La Reina High is the latest to succumb to injury.

Ruess dislocated her kneecap during practice this week. She is out for the year.

With Ruess out, coach Leslie Milke has been forced to use assistant coach Paula Moran and graduate assistant Darlene Branigan to fill out five-on-five teams in practice.

Moorpark College pitcher Steve Wapnick, a second-round draft choice of the San Diego Padres in baseball’s winter draft last month, is also being wooed by several colleges.

The sophomore right-hander from Monroe High has already taken recruiting trips to Loyola Marymount and Fresno State. UCLA, among others, has also expressed interest.

When Wapnick was in Fresno last weekend, the Bulldogs just happened to be playing Loyola Marymount. Fresno won a three-game series by scores of 7-2, 1-0 and 1-0. Wapnick also saw the Bulldogs’ basketball team upset University of Nevada, Las Vegas, before a record crowd. Both games left him impressed with Fresno State’s athletic programs.

Wapnick has told friends he will only sign a professional contract that includes a signing bonus comparable to the monetary value of a college scholarship.

Ray Young, who formerly played for Moorpark College and Carson High, pitched for the Dodgers against USC last Sunday. Young, who plays for a Dodger farm team, went two innings and gave up three runs. USC won, 6-5.

Jon McGihon recorded the first hole in one in the history of the Cal State Northridge golf team last Friday.

McGihon hit the shot with a two iron on the 193-yard 15th hole at Simi Valley Golf Course.

Northridge defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills, 376-383, in the team competition.