OTHER SPORTS : Master’s Swings Away at Baseball Logic

In the bottom of the 13th inning of Master’s season-opening game against Hawaii Pacific on Tuesday, there was some confusion over whether Chris Hernandez should bunt or swing away with Mustang teammate Eric Beagles on first with one out. Master’s trailed, 10-9.

Both Coach John Zeller and assistant Geoff Zahn finally agreed that Hernandez should bunt. But when the count went to 3-2, Zeller and Zahn changed their minds--three times--and decided to let Hernandez, a good bunter, swing.

He drilled a game-winning two-run homer to land Master’s a 11-10 win. “It just goes to show you,” Zeller said, “that sometimes the brain turns a little too much.”

Swinging singles: Northridge’s men’s tennis team won a key CCAA match on Tuesday, defeating 11th-ranked UC Riverside, 5-4.

The Matadors, who are ranked 13th, took five out of the six singles matches. Nicholas Renard, Mark Copeland, Kevin Feinbloom, Bill Kearsley and Fran Chavez all won for Northridge. Everyone but Chavez won in straight sets. Riverside swept the Matadors in doubles, however.

A little rank: Northridge dropped two Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. games to Pepperdine and USC last week, but still moved up a notch in the rankings to No. 13.

The Matadors won a game from third-ranked Pepperdine, but were swept by USC.

Rematch: Last year, Cal State Bakersfield dealt the Northridge men’s swim team its only Division II dual meet loss in Pete Accardy’s 17 years as coach of the Matadors.

On Saturday, Northridge gets a chance at revenge when it plays host to the Roadrunners at the CSUN pool. The Matadors, ranked No. 3 in the nation, are led by All-American Jeff Kubiak. Bakersfield, the defending national champion, is ranked sixth.

In just over eight hours you can catch at least a glimpse of five different games at Northridge on Saturday.

The Matadors will begin a baseball doubleheader against U.S. International University at noon. At 1, Northridge will try to upset Bakersfield in swimming. At 5:45, CSUN’s women’s basketball team will take on No. 1-ranked Cal Poly Pomona. And at 8:05, when the women’s game ends, the CSUN men’s team will take the court against Pomona.