Fresno’s Fall to Improving Santa Clara No Big Surprise

Santa Clara’s 10-9 upset Tuesday of top-ranked Fresno State may have shocked the college baseball world, but at least it wasn’t a complete surprise.

When the Broncos ended Fresno’s 32-game winning streak, they had just finished beating Loyola Marymount in three of four games over the weekend, knocking the Lions out of the lead in the West Coast Athletic Conference and out of the pollsters’ Top 10. A few weeks earlier, they gave new WCAC leader Pepperdine a tough four-game series.

“I think Santa Clara’s the most underrated team on the West Coast,” Loyola Coach Dave Snow said, only hours before the Broncos knocked off Fresno, which had risen to No. 1 in both national polls. “They have three pretty good pitchers and they’re very tough at home. They gave us a rough go.”

Santa Clara, 37-15, hopes to get an NCAA bid and has a slim chance of sharing the WCAC title. The Broncos are 14-4-1 with a four-game series against USF this weekend and a makeup game against St. Mary’s left. Pepperdine, 17-2-1, and Loyola, 16-4, play four against each other. Pepperdine needs to split while Loyola needs to win three to guarantee a tie for the title.

Baseball games have been rained out and snowed out and blacked out, or called on account of bad weather or poor field conditions, but for one of the first times in memory--on an otherwise bright, sunny day--Saturday’s high gusts led to a wind-out at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

A strong ocean breeze normally becomes noticeable in later innings of games at Toros field, whipping in from right field toward home plate. But Saturday’s gusts grew so strongly in the second game of a double-header, Toros sports information director Tom Neff said, that players could barely stand in the batter’s box.

With the Toros having a man on second base and leading the game, 3-1, in the third inning, UC Riverside Coach Jack Smitheran requested that the game be suspended. With Riverside holding a tenuous lead in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. while the Toros are playing out the string in last place, Dominguez Hills Coach Andy Lopez lived up to his reputation as a gentleman, allowing the game to be stopped until conditions were better. Conference games were completed under similar circumstances at two other sites.

It was a classy move by Lopez. His teams won the last two CCAA titles, so he understood the position Smitheran was in. Still, he probably was giving Riverside new life when he made the magnanimous gesture. Given the almost-constant howling winds, Neff said, “nobody was going to score again.”

The Toros, however, showed some mettle by finishing the game Tuesday, building the lead to 10-3 and holding on for a 10-9 victory, their third in a row. The loss knocked Riverside into a virtual tie for first with Cal Poly Pomona.

College Notes

The Dominguez Hills baseball team (16-27 overall, 7-17 in CCAA), on a three-game winning streak, plays a three-game home stand against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (24-23, 13-11), with a 2:30 game today and a noon double-header Saturday . . . Andy Lopez, the Dominguez Hills baseball coach, said he has not formally applied for the Cal State Northridge job because he is seeking the job at Cal State Long Beach. However, he said he has had informal contact with a Northridge official . . . With one week left in the regular baseball season, Dominguez Hills infielder Ruben Jauregui continues to lead the CCAA in hitting by a comfortable margin at .400. Next comes Cal Poly Pomona’s Dave Hajek at .371 . . . The Toros’ Lenny Hokanson set a school season record with his ninth triple. The hit was a big one, knocking in two runs in the 10-9 victory against UC Riverside on Tuesday . . . Dominguez Hills sophomore outfielder Maria Romero set a women’s softball school season record with her 25th run batted in last week . . . Westchester High graduate Mica Lewis is batting .343 for Cal State Los Angeles, ninth in the CCAA, and ranks among leaders in runs (45), stolen bases (24) and triples (3) . . . Debbie Higa is one of 32 women selected to compete in the NCAA Division II singles tennis tournament for Cal State L.A. The sophomore from North Torrance is 16-11 this season and ranked 12th. Cal State was also invited as a team to the tourney that starts May 8 at Sonoma State.

Jim Gormley of Harbor College shot an even-par 72 in the Southern Californi Regional Championships at Simi Hills this week to qualify for Monday’s state community college championships at South Hills in Covina.