Cal State L.A. Ends CSUN Jinx : Frustration of Four Narrow Losses Fades in 5-2 Conference Win

John Herbold was just about at the end of his rope. Four times this season his Cal State Los Angeles baseball team had been on the verge of beating Cal State Northridge, only to see the Matadors pull out a victory.

Los Angeles had been beaten three times by one run--including once in the ninth inning and once in the 10th--and had also lost a two-run decision to Northridge. It was getting so frustrating for Herbold that he was thrown out of Friday’s 10-inning loss to the Matadors.

But the Matador magic finally disappeared Saturday as the Golden Eagles defeated Northridge, 5-2, in a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. game at Los Angeles.

“I was wondering if it was ever going to end with those guys,” Herbold said.

It did Saturday, in the regular-season finale between the clubs.

Freshman left-hander Paul Spere (4-1), making only his second conference start, scattered eight hits to pick up the complete-game victory. Spere, who threw just 94 pitches, struck out two and walked one.

“I was just trying to change speeds and keep the ball down,” said Spere, who is 2-0 and has allowed just three runs in conference play .

Northridge Coach Bill Kernen summed up the defeat simply: “If we hit, we win. If we don’t, we lose. We got no production from the middle or top of the lineup.”

But Los Angeles did.

The Golden Eagles (18-22 overall, 8-9 in conference play) erased a 1-0 deficit in the third inning. William Silvan singled under third baseman Denny Vigo’s glove, Frank James followed with a double and Rex De La Nuez, batting third in the lineup, cleared the bases with a three-run home run to left field off Matador starter Vale Lopez (4-6).

“I think Denny should have made the play,” Kernen said. “It’s a reaction thing. You either get it or you don’t.”

CSUN (20-12, 9-8-1) got one run back in the fourth when Chae-Ho Chong was hit by a pitch, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Vigo’s single to left.

But the Golden Eagles touched Lopez for another run in the seventh and added a fifth run, in the eighth, off reliever Dan Cory.

Lopez went 6 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and four earned runs before leaving with a sore shoulder.