Northridge Sags as Offense Hits a Snag

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out Cal State Northridge’s key to success in baseball.

With a team earned-run-average of 5.65, the Matadors must hit consistently to win with regularity. If they don’t hit, they lose more often than not.

A case in point was Tuesday’s California Collegiate Athletic Assn. game against visiting Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Northridge’s potent bats were held to fewer than four runs for the fourth game in a row, and, not surprisingly, the Matadors suffered their third consecutive defeat.

San Luis Obispo, the defending NCAA Division II and California Collegiate Athletic Assn. champion, defeated Northridge, 5-3, in the teams’ first CCAA meeting of the season.

The Mustangs collected 10 hits, five for extra bases; CSUN had six hits. Leadoff hitter Phil James and cleanup batter Doug Nole each had two hits and a run batted in for San Luis Obispo (6-12, 2-3 in conference play), which snapped a three-game losing streak.

Sophomore Mike Solar hit his third and fourth home runs for Northridge (10-9, 5-4), but aside from that the Matadors were held in check by former Thousand Oaks High standout Dan Chergey (2-3).

Chergey, a redshirt freshman, struck out six and walked two in his first complete game.

“We’re struggling, there’s no doubt about it,” said Solar, who hit three home runs in 159 at-bats last year. “Every team gets in slumps and we’re in one right now. But you’ve just got to fight through them.”

Solar’s first home run came on an 0-1 pitch in the fourth inning and gave Northridge a 1-0 lead, and his two-run shot with one out in the ninth narrowed the Matadors’ deficit to 5-3.

“I tried to throw him a fastball inside both times,” said Chergey, who struck out pinch-hitter J. D. Haendiges and enticed catcher Mike Sims to ground out to end the game. “But I got it up over the plate and he made me pay for it.”

Trailing, 1-0, after five innings, San Luis Obispo scored four runs in the sixth off Eric Spellman (1-1).