Northridge Teams Up to Overcome St. Mary’s

By Cal State Northridge Coach Bill Kernen’s way of thinking, Sunday’s 2-1 nonconference baseball win over St. Mary’s was a real team effort. Trouble was, a big part of his team wasn’t there to see it.

Outfielder Greg Shockey was scratched from the lineup and sent to the hospital complaining of stomach cramps early Sunday, and shortstop Mike Solar joined him a short time later after gashing the middle finger of his throwing hand during batting practice. That suddenly left Kernen with two gapping holes to fill.

Which is where Vale Lopez and Ted Weisfuss come in. Lopez, making his first start of the season, fired a masterful three-hitter and Weisfuss, subbing for Solar, drove in the winning run with a double in the bottom of the ninth.

“That’s exactly what a team does,” Kernen said. “When someone goes down, you pick up for them. When something happens, you overcome it. A good team will overcome adversity.”

To do that, CSUN (6-1) had to overcome another formidable foe: St. Mary’s left-hander David Norris. Though eight innings, Norris (1-2) had CSUN stymied, scattering seven hits and allowing just two runners to reach second base.

But that was a ragged effort compared with Lopez’s gem. Lopez (1-0) struck out seven, did not walk a batter and set the Gaels (6-4) down in order six times.

“That was an outstanding pitching performance,” Kernen said. “It was pretty much of a domination. He only made one mistake all day.”

But that mistake cost him a run. With the game scoreless in the third inning, Lopez let a 2-1 fastball get away from him and James Mouton promptly lined it over the left-field wall.

Lopez recovered quickly, however, setting down the next 10 batters in a row, and his teammates got the run back in the fifth. After just missing a home run with a foul drive down the left-field line, Kevin Ogle settled for a line-drive double into the left-center-field gap. One out later, J.D. Haendiges blooped an opposite-field single to left to score Ogle.

That was the extent of the offense until the ninth. Dennis Vigo led off with a line single to left and after Rusty McLain dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt, Norris walked Ogle to get to Weisfuss. But the strategy backfired when Weisfuss ripped a 1-0 fastball over the left-center-field wall on a bounce.