Angry Coach Exits Early Despite CSUN Softball Title

Members of the Cal State Northridge softball team thought they had reason to celebrate.

The Lady Matadors, the top-ranked team in Division II, clinched their eighth consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship by sweeping a doubleheader from UC Riverside, 2-0 and 6-4, Thursday at home.

Coach Gary Torgeson, however, was anything but pleased with Northridge’s occasionally sloppy play and left without congratulating his team. Assistant coach Debbie Ching was left to preside over the postgame fallout.

“He was a little upset with the inconsistent play,” Ching said of Torgeson. “We’ve got to stay tougher mentally. This is a critical time and we need to get our act together.”

Although the Lady Matadors have learned to accept Torgeson’s no-nonsense approach, they were hoping for at least some praise.

“I’m excited we won,” said junior shortstop Anna Getherall, who had two hits and drove in two runs in the second game. “The games don’t always go the way it’s written in the playbooks.”

Lisa Erickson, another central figure in the Northridge sweep, echoed those sentiments.

“We can’t let our coach’s attitude upset us,” Erickson said. “We played hard and we came out on top.”

Thanks in no small measure to Erickson. The junior outfielder scored four runs, three in the second game, and had five hits to increase her school record for hits in a season to 96.

In the first game, Northridge (53-15 overall, 15-3 in conference play) stranded runners in scoring position in three of the first four innings. But catcher Char Schmitt broke the spell in the fifth with a two-run single that snapped a scoreless tie.

That was all junior right-hander Debbie Dickmann (26-4) needed to register her 50th career shutout and 16th this season. She pitched a three-hitter, striking out seven and walking two.

In the second game, Northridge held a seemingly comfortable 3-0 lead after three innings before slipping a bit.

UC Riverside (24-25, 4-14) scored an unearned run in the fourth and added three more in the seventh on a hit, a walk and two errors.

But Northridge, behind Heather Lindstrom’s six-hitter and a three-run fifth inning, weathered a self-induced storm to clinch the title with two games remaining.

“We decided to drag the game out and give coach a heart attack,” Lindstrom quipped.