CSUN Rallies in 9th Inning to Stay Alive in CCAA Race

It does not take a rocket scientist to pick the Cal State Northridge baseball fans out of a group.

The Matador fans are the ones with their fingernails bitten to the quick and pacemakers under their shirts.

Those cardiac kids of the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. had their faithful on pins and needles again Saturday before pulling out a 5-4 conference victory over Chapman with a two-run rally in the ninth inning at Northridge.

The victory kept Northridge (28-17-1, 14-11-1 in conference play) in the CCAA title chase. But the Matadors must their remaining five conference games, and CCAA-leading Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (19-10) must lose its remaining game--against Northridge on Tuesday--if the Matadors are to tie for the title.

Only three teams will go to the NCAA Division II Western regionals. The CCAA champion automatically earns a berth. Northridge Coach Bill Kernen concedes that his team’s chances of making the regionals are slim if the Matadors don’t win the conference title.

“It’s a long shot,” Kernen said. “We’re going to have to charge down the stretch.”

Northridge charged down the stretch Saturday to defeat Chapman for the second time in three days.

The Matadors, who have won 11 one-run decisions and five two-run decisions this season, handed Chapman (23-26, 11-16) its eighth one-run conference loss.

Northridge was sailing along with a comfortable 3-0 lead after seven innings before senior left-hander Fili Martinez (7-4) gave up a two-run homer to Chris Cutliff in the eighth, sending Matador fans to their cuticles.

Martinez seemed to recover in the ninth, striking out the first two batters, but Jason Rolish singled to left and Ken Briggs smashed a towering home run to left-center to give Chapman a 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the inning.

But as Matador fans have learned, it’s never over until it’s over.

Freshman Mike Solar led off the bottom of the ninth by lining his first collegiate home run over the left-field wall to tie the score.

Chapman freshman Pete Coleman (1-3), who had not allowed a hit in 4 1/3 innings of relief until Solar’s homer, seemed to unravel at that point, giving up a double to Greg Shockey and an infield single to Randy Thompson, putting runners on first and second with nobody out.

Matt Patuano, a submarining senior right-hander, relieved Coleman and got Craig Clayton on a fly to deep center, but Shockey, representing the winning run, tagged and went to third on the play.

That brought Ted Weisfuss to the plate, and he fisted a 1-0 pitch down the right-field line for a single, scoring Shockey to end the game. It was Weisfuss’ fourth game-winning hit this year.

“Our games have been close all year, and we always find a way to win,” Weisfuss said.

Martinez, who had a two-hit shutout after six innings, settled for an eight-hitter, striking out eight and giving the Matador staff its 31st complete game of the season.

“I should have been able to close the door,” Martinez said. “I choked is what I did. I hung the breaking ball and they hit it. I’m just glad the team came back to win it.”