CSUN Hits Roller Past Riverside to Win, 1-0

UC Riverside Coach Doug Urda discovered Friday that there is no defense for no fence.

Urda and his team learned that lesson the hard way when Cal State Northridge outfielder Priscilla Rouse hit a line drive into the gap in right-center field during Friday’s game in CSUN’s Tournament of Champions.

Normally, Rouse’s hit would have been stopped by the chain-link fence that encloses Lady Matador Field. But the game was being played on one of two auxiliary fields set up to handle the 13 teams in the tournament.

Rouse’s ball kept rolling for a home run that gave Northridge a 1-0 win over Riverside. Before the day was through, the Lady Matadors won two more games, over Cal State Hayward and St. Mary’s, to remain undefeated after the first round of pool play.

“I knew I hit the ball hard, but I didn’t realize it was going to take off like it did,” said Rouse, a junior whose homer was the first this season for Northridge. “I was surprised when I came into third and they were waving me home.”

Rouse broke up a pitching duel between CSUN’s Kathy Slaten and Riverside’s Tracy Webber.

Webber entered the game with just three earned runs given up in 104 innings this season.

Slaten (7-3) had six strikeouts, scattered three hits and was never in trouble.

The Lady Matadors beat Hayward, 1-0, as CSUN pitcher Lisa Martin turned in her finest performance of the season. Martin, a sophomore, allowed just one hit and struck out six.

Northridge (21-6) scored the winning run in the fourth inning. Left fielder Beth Onestinghel led off with the first of her two triples. First baseman Kelly Winn hit a ground ball to shortstop Trini Sanchez, whose error allowed Onestinghel to score.

Northridge beat St. Mary’s, 6-4, but CSUN Coach Gary Torgeson wasn’t thrilled with his team’s performance.

“We played the worst game, defensively, that I’ve seen in five years,” Torgeson said. “There are some seniors on our team who aren’t turning in the kind of performances that they’re capable of.”

Northridge made two errors, but the Lady Matadors took advantage of four St. Mary’s errors in the sixth inning and scored five runs.

CSUN’s Delanee Anderson (8-1) pitched 5 innings and extended to 62 the number of innings she has pitched without giving up an earned run.

The Lady Matadors resume pool play today with games against Mankato State, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State Chico.

Games begin at 8 a.m.

Notes

Chapman College, the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II, also finished the first day undefeated. . . . CSUN is ranked third in Division II. . . . CSUN Coach Gary Torgeson said that Lisa Martin will pitch against Mankato State, Kathy Slaten will face Dominguez Hills and Delanee Anderson will go against Chico.

Today’s tournament schedule:

8 a.m.--Augustana vs. CS Sacramento, UC Riverside vs. CS Hayward and CS Chico vs. St. Mary’s.

9:30 a.m.--S.F. State vs. CS Bakersfield, Mankato State vs. UC Riverside and Cal Poly SLO vs. CS Sacramento.

11 a.m.--UC Riverside vs. CS Chico, St. Mary’s vs. CS Dominguez Hills and Chapman vs. Bakersfield.

12:30 p.m.--Chapman vs. Cal Poly SLO, CS Bakersfield vs. CS Sacramento and CSUN vs. Mankato State.

2 p.m.--S.F. State vs. Augustana, CSUN vs. CS Dominguez Hills and CS Hayward vs. Mankato.

3:30 p.m.-- CSUN vs. CS Chico, Cal Poly SLO vs. S.F. State and CS Dominguez Hills vs. CS Hayward.