Resurgent Northridge Faces Dominguez Hills

The Cal State Northridge baseball team spent the past nine days practicing, playing intra-squad games and doing all that it could to maintain the momentum generated by winning three of four conference games before the break.

The Matadors resume their California Collegiate Athletic Assn. schedule today at Cal State Dominguez Hills with a chance to climb back into the race for the conference title.

Northridge (14-23 overall, 5-7 in CCAA play) is sixth in the seven-team conference with 18 games left. First-place UC Riverside is 13-5, but Northridge is only three games behind second-place Cal Poly Pomona (8-4). Today’s game against cellar-dwelling Dominguez Hills (12-24, 3-14) might be exactly what the Matadors need to continue their climb up the standings.

“We expect to win all the time,” Northridge Coach Terry Craven said. “But when you are playing the last-place team, it’s incumbent on you to win.”

Northridge is led by outfielder Lenn Gilmore, who is batting .359 with 12 home runs and 46 runs batted in. Utility man Chae-Ho Chong and outfielder John Bonilla are both batting .367.

The Matadors will start junior left-hander Fili Martinez (1-2, 6.02 earned-run average), who has pitched impressively in his past two outings. On March 26 against UC Riverside, Martinez pitched 8 innings, gave up six hits and left the game with a 6-3 lead, but reliever Cary Snyder surrendered a grand slam and CSUN lost. On April 2, Martinez pitched a four-hit shutout to beat Riverside.

Dominguez Hills, the two-time defending conference champion, still is struggling to overcome the injuries that have left the Toros with 16 healthy players.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate coaching a year like this,” said Dominguez Hills Coach Andy Lopez, whose team has lost its past seven games. “I just want to finish the season with nine healthy bodies.”

Dominguez Hills has the conference’s leading hitter in third baseman Ruben Jauregui (.411). But the Toros are batting just .250 as a team in conference play.

Defense also has been a trouble spot for Dominguez Hills. Last season, the Toros committed 57 errors in 58 games. This season they already have 84.

Sonny Griffin, a freshman left-hander from Lakewood High who has pitched just six innings this season, will make his first start today against Northridge.

“It really hurts me to say this but, realistically, we’re the only team out of it,” Lopez said of the conference race. “But as goofy as it sounds, we can still show up and ruin someone’s day just like everybody else.”