Northridge Gets Good Mileage From Long Drives, 7-6

Were it not for the bright red jersey with his name and number printed on the back, Jody Garcia could have been mistaken for a statue.

Garcia, the left fielder for the Chapman College baseball team, spent much of Tuesday’s game against Cal State Northridge with his hands frozen upon his knees--movement being unnecessary as four Matador home runs sailed over his head, and the fence, at Hart Park in Orange.

Scott Sharts provided two of the blasts and Mike Solar and Denny Vigo added one each as the Matadors powered past Chapman, 7-6.

Northridge improved to 9-6 overall, 4-1 in California Collegiate Athletic Assn. play. Chapman is 8-7, 1-2.

“I feel like I did back in high school,” said Sharts, who set a Southern Section record with 32 homers at Simi Valley. “It’s going my way and I like it.”

Sharts’ first home run came in the fourth inning. The solo shot off starter Dave Paveloff was his eighth home run of season and gave the Matadors a 1-0 lead.

Northridge was behind, 4-3, in the eighth when Sharts blasted a three-run shot off Paveloff (3-3).

“I thought they were going to bring a new guy in or do something like put me on,” Sharts said. “I really didn’t expect to get anything in the zone, but he hung a slider.”

Vigo, the next batter, chased Paveloff with another homer, his sixth. It proved to be the game-winner because Chapman rallied for two runs.

Sophomore right-hander Craig Clayton allowed four runs and 10 hits in seven innings to earn the victory and improve his record to 4-1. Clayton also struck out seven and walked only one.

Vale Lopez stalled a two-run Chapman rally in the ninth to earn his first save.

After Sharts’ first homer, Chapman tied the score in the home half of the fourth on a single by Doug Yates that scored Tom Allison from third.

Northridge went ahead, 3-1, on Solar’s first home run, a two-run shot in the fifth that drove in Kyle Washington.

Chapman regained the lead with a three-run seventh that was keyed by Garcia’s two-run triple to the right-field corner.

That set the stage for the Matadors’ rally in the eighth.

Eric Johnson started it with one-out double, Clayton kept it going by reaching first on an error and Sharts and Vigo finished it with their back-to-back homers.

Chapman added two runs in the ninth on a run-scoring double by Allison and a wild pitch by Lopez.