CSUN Earns 12-Day Rest After Sweep : A 12-Day Wait Begins for Softball Playoffs

Barbara Jordan, leadoff hitter for the Cal State Northridge softball team, takes it upon herself to get things going for the Lady Matadors.

Jordan, an All-American last season, often gets on base with a hit or a walk, steals second and is driven in by one of her teammates.

Saturday at CSUN, she skipped a few stages of the usual process. Jordan hit the first offering from Stanford pitcher Laura Buchanan down the left-field line and raced around the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

It was the first home run of Jordan’s college career, and it was the lone run scored in the first game of a nonconference doubleheader, which CSUN swept, 1-0, and 7-1.

“I didn’t mean to hit a home run,” said Jordan, whose effort was aided by a funny bounce to the left after the ball had hit near the chalk. “I was just trying to get a base hit.”

The two victories concluded the regular season for CSUN (46-10-1, 16-4). The Lady Matadors begin a 12-day wait for the the Western Regionals, which start May 9.

“Last year we went into the regionals with a lot of players hurt,” said Gary Torgeson, the CSUN coach. “The layoff will give us a chance to get healthy. There is no reason to think this team can’t go out and win the national championship.”

Jordan agreed.

“If we hit in the regionals like we did in the second game today--we’ll win,” Jordan said. “The layoff shouldn’t bother us. We’ll be OK.”

CSUN clinched the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. title Tuesday. The doubleheader with Stanford was a final chance for the Lady Matadors to rack up some important power points--earned by defeating Division I opponents--that figure in the ranking of Division II teams.

Stanford (4-25) plays in the Pac West Conference with UCLA, the defending Division I national champion. But calling the Cardinal a Division I power is like calling the Dodgers a good fielding team.

“I didn’t expect them to be too tough and I guess the players didn’t either,” Torgeson said. “We had some obvious lapses today.”

Despite some mistakes and a more laid-back attitude than usual, CSUN was good enough to win the first game behind the home run by Jordan and the pitching of Lisa Martin.

Martin (12-2), a sophomore, pitched a one-hitter, had six strikeouts and didn’t allow a runner past second base.

In the second game, CSUN scored three runs in the first inning, one in the fourth and three more in the fifth for an easy win. Sophomore pitcher Delanee Anderson (14-3) earned the victory, giving up three hits and striking out three.

“Our players are beginning to show their own identity now,” Torgeson said. Notes

Barbara Jordan, Kelly Winn, Lisa Hall and Nancy Lucero all had good days offensively for CSUN. Jordan had three hits, two RBIs and scored two runs. Winn had two hits, two RBIs and scored twice. Hall was 3 for 3 with two RBIs, and Lucero had two hits and drove in a run . . . .CSUN pitcher Kathy Slaten and starting catcher Jamie Gray did not play in Saturday’s doubleheader. Slaten, a three-time All-American, was out with the flu. Gray is still recovering from a knee injury.