College Baseball : CSUN’s Clayton Cools Off CLU, 4-3

“Cold? Yeah, you could say that,” a blue--lipped Craig Clayton offered. “The funny thing is, it’s never to cold to hit.”

Clayton, a freshman, got his college career--and Cal State Northridge’s 1989 season--off to a memorable start Monday with a seventh-inning, game-winning home run that beat Cal Lutheran, 4-3.

But Clayton wasn’t the only one warmed by Monday’s outing. For Steve Sullivan, it’s apparently never to cold to pitch, either.

“The weather didn’t bother me all that much,” the CSUN pitcher said of the windy conditions that dropped temperatures into the mid-40s. “I felt good out there today.”

Good, not great.

Although his Matadors were in command throughout the early part of the game, Sullivan’s control became suspect in the fifth inning, when he gave up a run on two singles.

“I got a little too comfortable out there,” Sullivan said. “I still knew I could hit my spots.”

Northridge Coach Bill Kernen wasn’t as certain. When Sullivan continued having problems finding the strike zone in the sixth inning, Kernen called in reliever Brian Rosselli. But that didn’t stop CLU (0-1) from climbing back into the game.

Down 3-1 in the seventh inning, Cal Lutheran put together three singles and a sacrifice to score twice and tie the game.

Darnell Mitchell and Dan Weis began the rally with singles to left and sophomore David Leonhardt capped it, punching a 2-1 breaking pitch through the Matador infield to drive home the tying run.

Rosselli eventually settled down, retiring the next six CLU batters he faced to take advantage of Clayton’s homer.

“Cal Lutheran is a good team,” Kernen said, “but our schedule is going to get harder. If we’re going to be competitive, we’ve got to get serious.

“We played inexperienced. I’m not taking anything away from Cal Lutheran, they made a great rally. They played their hearts out. We just played green.”

But it was one of the most inexperienced of the Matadors who wound up saving the day. And he handled the game-winning at-bat the way a veteran would: Clayton came to the plate guessing for a pitch in a certain area, and he got it.

“It was belt-high,” Clayton said of the home run pitch. “I was looking for something in that area. I couldn’t believe I got it.”

Clayton, who is not known for his power, contributed in a more expected way in the early innings with error-free defense at second base and a pair of singles at the plate.

Valley 4, Fullerton 1--Freshman second baseman E. J. Pape was 3 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI for Valley in a season-opening nonconference win at Fullerton.

Catcher Eric Vargas was 2 for 4 with an RBI for Valley, and Gene Demyon added an RBI double in the third inning as Valley took a 2-0 lead.

Left-hander Joey Kane (1-0) started and scattered eight hits through 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run while walking three and striking out four.

Steve Slattery pitched the final 3 2/3 innings to earn a save.