No Late Heroics for Northridge, 6-5

Revenge was on the minds of many of the Cal State Dominguez Hills baseball players in Saturday’s 6-5 win over visiting Cal State Northridge.

It was especially so for George Scott: The Toros’ center fielder had gone hitless in four at-bats the day before in a 10-9 loss to Northridge in a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. game.

“We were all kind of upset,” said Scott of the loss, in which Northridge scored three runs to win in the bottom of the ninth on consecutive homers. “We wanted it today; we felt we owed it to them.”

Scott waited until the final inning Saturday to redeem himself.

With two out and the score tied, 5-5, in the bottom of the 11th, Scott (two for six) smacked a line drive to left-center field to drive home Fred Camarena with the winning run.

Camarena had reached second on a fielder’s choice after Bill Keep was thrown out trying to advance from second to third.

Northridge led, 5-4, going into the ninth, but the Matadors couldn’t hold on.

Camarena doubled home Eddie Luna, who had reached base on a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, to tie the game. The Toros had a chance to win but Todd Denhart (2-2), who entered the game in the ninth in relief of starter Vale Lopez, retired the next two batters to send it into extra innings.

“The games are going to be like this all year long,” said Dominguez Hills Coach Bill Wing, as Northridge lost its first game in four tries in conference play. “It’s a competitive conference and on any given day, anybody can win.”

Early in the game, it looked like it would be Northridge.

The Matadors built a 4-0 lead after three innings, scoring in each frame. In the first, Craig Clayton doubled to score Greg Shockey, who was hit by a pitch to open the game. Clayton later scored on Denny Vigo’s single.

Northridge (8-6) also added runs in the second and third innings. Scott Richardson singled to score Mike Sims in the second and Scott Sharts scored on a sacrifice fly in the third.

“We just self-destructed,” Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said. “We made too many mental errors and just shut down after the fourth inning.”

Northridge, which had 10 hits, was held hitless in the last four.

Dominguez Hills (5-1, 1-1) scored a run in the fourth and added three more in the sixth to tie the game, 4-4.

Northridge went ahead in the seventh when Eric Johnson, who doubled to open the inning, scored on Clayton’s single.

In the 11th, Scott doubled off Denhart, whom he had struck out against twice in the Northridge victory on Friday when Denhart earned the decision.

Eric Fletcher earned the save for Dominguez Hills, pitching the final 4 2/3 innings.