Slaten Puts the Finishing Touches on Northridge’s Sweep

There is nothing unusual about the Cal State Northridge softball team being in the NCAA Division II Western Regional playoffs. CSUN has won the regional four years in a row and has won three consecutive national titles.

But something unusual did occur Friday at Lady Matador Field.

Pitcher Kathy Slaten, who had pitched every inning of every postseason game for CSUN during that three-year reign, was on the bench when the Lady Matadors played UC Davis.

The three-time All-American had to wait until the sixth inning of CSUN’s 3-0 win over Davis before going in to earn a save in relief of sophomore Lisa Martin. Slaten started the second game against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and pitched a one-hitter as the Lady Matadors beat their California Collegiate Athletic Assn. rivals, 1-0.

CSUN (48-10-1) can win the double-elimination regionals by beating San Luis Obispo (32-18-1) today at noon. A second game, if necessary, is scheduled at 2 p.m. The Lady Matadors must win just one of the games to advance to the Division II World Series May 16-18 in Akron, Ohio.

Davis, which also lost 2-1 to San Luis Obispo, was eliminated from the regional and finished the season 30-12.

“There were two reasons I didn’t start Slaten,” CSUN Coach Gary Torgeson said. “First, Lisa Martin earned the opportunity to start. Second, I didn’t want to use Slaten if I didn’t have to. I wanted her ready for San Luis Obispo. That team has been her nemesis.”

San Luis Obispo had come into the regional with a 3-1-1 record against CSUN, but the Slaten that pitched Friday was different from any the Lady Mustangs had seen before.

Slaten moved away from her power game--she struck out only two batters--and concentrated on spotting the ball in the strike zone. Her only mistakes were a walk she issued to Carmen John in the fifth and a two-out single by Kecia Gorman in the seventh that spoiled Slaten’s bid for a no-hitter.

“SLO was seeing me for something like the sixth time this year,” said Slaten, who has a record of 19-2 in postseason competition. “I can’t blow it by them anymore. My goal is to get back to nationals. Maybe then I’ll get some strikeouts.”

CSUN didn’t seem to benefit much from the absence of San Luis Obispo pitcher Randie Hill, who had befuddled the Lady Matadors during the regular season. Hill was 3-1-1 and had been able to stifle the Lady Matadors with good control and help from an excellent defense.

But on Friday--20 minutes after pitching her team to a 2-1, 11-inning win over UC Davis--Hill wasn’t able to answer the bell for the start against CSUN.

Sophomore Patty Zoll started in place of Hill and did a good job of holding the Lady Matadors at bay for most of the game. Zoll was victimized by a lack of offensive support from her teammates.

“Hill was tired and we figured that Northridge hadn’t seen Zoll this year,” said Becky Heidesch, the San Luis Obispo coach. “It almost worked. They didn’t do much.”

But CSUN left fielder Beth Onestinghel did plenty.

Onestinghel, who already has set a CSUN season record for runs batted in, improved her season total to 30 with a single to right that scored Lisa Hall with the game-winning run in the fifth inning.

Hall had reached base on the first of two singles she had in the game. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Lori Shelly and went to third when Barbara Jordan followed with a two-out single.

Kecia Gorman, the San Luis Obispo catcher who broke up Slaten’s bid for a no-hitter with a single to right in the bottom of the seventh inning. Gorman also

“We’re just a little disappointed,” said Gorman, who drove in the game-winning run in the Lady Mustangs’ 11-inning win over Davis earlier in the day. “We didn’t do anything offensively today. We just need to hit.”

Notes

Today’s starting pitcher: CSUN’s Kathy Slaten (20-4-1) vs. Cal Poly’s and Randie Hill (20-12-1). . . . Kelly Winn, Terri Lamoree and Jamie Gray all had RBI singles for CSUN in the Lady Matadors’ win over Davis. . . . Lisa Martin pitched an impressive five innings for CSUN before giving way to Slaten in the sixth inning. Martin gave up two hits, had one strikeout and did not walk a batter. . . . Kecia Gorman played at Thousand Oaks High. . . . Davis’ loss to San Luis Obispo was especially tough for the Aggies, who had beaten the Lady Mustangs twice last week in the Sacramento Tournament.