College Baseball : Cal Poly Pomona Clinches a Tie for Title

Cal Poly Pomona clinched a tie for its sixth CCAA title since 1976--it last won in 1983--by beating defending NCAA Division II champion Cal State Northridge, 5-2, Tuesday. The Broncos are 21-5 and lead the Matadors by 3 1/2 games. Northridge is 18-9 and has three games remaining to Cal Poly Pomona’s four.

The Broncos, who won the Division II title in 1983--the back-to back titles are indicative of the CCAA’s strength--are 31-23-1 overall, but have won 23 of their last 28 games. They won five of six league games last week, including a 4-3 victory over the Matadors at Northridge.

“It’s unbelievable that we won five of six, especially since five were on the road,” said Pomona’s John Scolinos, who has a record of 1,032-772 in 38 years of coaching, the last 24 at Pomona, where he’s 656-559. “This (the CCAA race) is going right down to the wire, as usual.

“We’ve had good team efforts when we’ve won past national championships (1976 and 1980, besides 1983), but this team has the extra element of good depth. The bench has really responded.

“I have to give a lot of credit for our success to Mike Patterson. We were in a pinch (because of several injuries) and had to use him at different positions.”

Patterson, a senior, has pitched in several games and is batting .391 in 20 league games. He’s been used in right field, center field, third base and as the designated hitter.

Scolinos had said that the Broncos would need solid pitching to be in the race, and sure enough, that department also came though.

“We have four good pitchers in Mike Munoz, Kirk Washington, Charlie Webb and Darren Gonzales.”

Munoz, a sophomore left-hander, is the ace of the staff. He’s 12-6 with a 3.24 earned-run average and has won his last six decisions. In CCAA play he’s 7-1, including last Thursday’s seven-hitter over Northridge.

Gonzales, a junior right-hander who works out of the bullpen, is 5-1 with a 2.90 ERA. He’s 5-0 with a 1.72 ERA in CCAA games. “Gonzales has proven to be the best relief pitcher in the conference,” Scolinos said.

Pomona can hit, too. Second baseman John Love, with a .405 average, 8 homers and 36 RBIs, is one of seven Broncos batting .300 or better. First baseman Tom Weeks leads the club with 45 RBIs and is hitting .343 with 7 homers.

Northridge, which has won five of its last seven--the two losses were to Pomona--and 14 of its last 19, is 39-20-1 under new Coach Terry Craven, an All-American center fielder for the Matadors in 1965.

Craven was an assistant coach under Bob Hiegert for 14 years. When Hiegert, who also is the Northridge athletic director, stepped down after 18 years as head coach, Craven was the logical choice to be his replacement.

Craven inherited several players from the club that finished second in the CCAA behind Chapman, then beat the Panthers in the West Regional and went on to win the Division II World Series. That’s why the Matadors were picked to win this year’s title.

Northridge owes much of its success this season to a productive offense. The Matadors lead the league in hitting at .327 and are averaging 8.11 runs a game.

First baseman Paul Kaplan leads the team with a .398 average and has 12 homers and 44 RBIs. Center fielder Bryant Long is hitting .362 with 10 homers and 51 RBIs. The big RBI man is left fielder Mark Ban, who has driven in 74 runs and hit 19 homers to go along with a .346 average. The hottest hitter is shortstop Gary Williams, who in the last 13 games has raised his average 31 points to .364.

Left-hander Steve Sharts is the ace of the pitching staff with a 9-4 record and a 4.38 ERA. Right-hander Tom Harmon, a transfer from UCLA, is 8-3 with a 4.28 ERA. Right-hander Glen Braybrooks, a transfer from Cal State Fullerton, is the stopper out of the bullpen. He’s 7-1 with a 3.82 ERA and has six saves.

College Baseball Notes

The Broncos play at UC Riverside this afternoon, then resume their series with Northridge Friday afternoon at 2:30 at Northridge. They’ll play a noon doubleheader Saturday at Pomona. . . . The CCAA champion probably will hold the NCAA Division II West Regional. The CCAA runner-up could also get invited, as was the case last season with Northridge. . . . Redlands and La Verne tied for the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title with 14-4 records. It’s possible that both teams will participate in the NCAA Division III West Regional. Redlands beat La Verne twice in their three SCIAC meetings, but its overall record is 18-14-1. La Verne, which won its last six games, including four in SCIAC play, is 28-14. . . . Stanford clinched the Pacific 10 Southern Division title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Division I tournament Sunday by beating Arizona State, 15-10. The Cardinal, 21-6 (37-11 overall), has a five-game lead over Arizona and California, who are 16-11, with three games left. The race is for second place and an at-large bid to the tournament. Arizona (43-18) plays its final three games this weekend against Arizona State, fourth at 13-14. Cal (40-20 overall) plays its last three games against Stanford. . . . The best-of-three series to determine the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. championship will be held next Friday and Saturday and will be hosted by the division winner with the best conference record. Fresno State, which cinched the North Division title last Friday, is 21-6 with three games to play against UC Santa Barbara (15-12). The South Division title will be decided this weekend when Cal State Fullerton (18-9) plays a three-game series at Cal State Long Beach (7-20), and Nevada Las Vegas (16-11) plays a three-game series at home against UC Irvine (9-15). The PCAA winner advances to the Division I playoffs.

USC beat Cal, 11-5, Sunday to snap its 14-game losing streak against the Pac-10 Southern Division. But the Trojans lost to the Bears, 10-4, Monday, and are 5-22 going into their season-ending series with UCLA, which starts Friday night at Dedeaux Field. USC (22-41 overall) must sweep the Bruins to avoid having the worst record in conference history. UCLA was 7-23 in 1981. The Bruins, who won two of three from the Trojans in February, are 10-17 in league play and 31-29-1 overall. The second game is Saturday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium and the third game is Sunday afternoon at Dedeaux Field. . . . Arizona State center fielder Barry Bonds has hit 10 home runs in his last 11 games, including five in three games against Stanford last weekend. He leads the Pac-10 with 23. Stanford first baseman Rick Lundblade is second with 21. . . . Loyola Marymount, 26-26 after going 5-0 last week, must win two of its final three games this weekend against Nevada Reno to finish with a winning record for the first time since 1981 (32-29). . . . Loyola right fielder Billy Bean is hitting .471 (24 for 51) and has driven in 24 runs in his last 12 games. He leads the West Coast Athletic Conference in hitting at .415 (.446 in conference games) and has driven in 64 runs. Pepperdine center fielder Brad Bierley leads the league in RBIs with 67 and homers with 26. . . . Loyola center fielder Reggie Lambert is hitting .402 overall and .500 in WCAC games (42 for 84). The conference record is .492, set by Jim DiFiore of Nevada Las Vegas in 1974. . . . WCAC champion Pepperdine won all five of its nonconference games last week to improve its record to 46-9-1.