THE COLLEGES : Cal Lutheran Baseball Players Deliver Their Best Pitch to Jazz Up Season

Forget about the Kingston Trio. How about the Kingsmen nine?

The Cal Lutheran baseball team has been making beautiful music on and off the field with a sterling record and a golden a cappella ensemble.

After sweeping a doubleheader at Redlands recently, Cal Lutheran’s baseball players were eating in the school cafeteria when they noticed a lovely Redlands woman.

Smitten, they followed the student to her dormitory and serenaded her from outside the building. Their rendition of “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” reportedly drew applause from a crowd that gathered around the slugger-singers.

“They sounded pretty good,” Cal Lutheran Coach Rich Hill said. “Just like a group of college baseball players would sound.”

Hill might be a little tone-deaf when it comes to rating the musical talents of college baseball players, but there is no doubt the Kingsmen (12-5) are in the midst of their “Glory Days.”

Switch-hitter: The Cal State Northridge baseball team, which started the season with 11 position players, has only eight who are still healthy.

Outfielder Greg Shockey has an injured wrist, outfielder Andrew Hodgins has a broken hand, and shortstop Mike Solar has a hand injury.

CSUN was so pressed for manpower against U. S. International on Saturday that Solar, prevented by his sore hand from batting right-handed, turned around and batted from the left side for the first time. He doubled up the alley in left-center field.

Solar looked so natural at the plate that Matador fans did not seem to notice the switch, Coach Bill Kernen said.

“Mike Solar has played here for two years and all of a sudden he comes up left-handed, doubles, and no one says a word about it,” Kernen said. “I thought it was pretty impressive.”

Birthday bash: Steve Ross’ 21st birthday celebration was a painful one. Valley College’s sophomore shortstop, a former standout at Providence High, suffered a slight shoulder separation at practice and is expected to be out for about two weeks.

Cause of injury: Partying a bit too heartily.

“All the guys just tackled him and wrestled him to the ground on his birthday,” Valley Coach Chris Johnson said. “It’s my fault for encouraging it. I hate to see that happen to him. He’s a nice kid.”

Valley (7-14-2, 3-5), which had lost three Western State Conference games in a row before a victory over Bakersfield on Tuesday, will play host to Glendale today at 2 p.m.

“It’s been pretty much Murphy’s Law,” Johnson said. “Whatever could go wrong, has.”

Ratings game: Northridge lost two of three games last week and still managed to crack the Top 10 in the NCAA Division II baseball rankings. The Matadors fell to 13-12 overall but are ranked ninth--higher than any other team in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

First-place UC Riverside (21-8), which leads CSUN by 1 1/2 games in the CCAA standings, is ranked 17th, while fourth-place Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (10-16), the defending national champion, is No. 14.

Armstrong (Ga.) State is 23-1 and ranked No. 1. At least that figures.

Duke before Kingsmen: The Cal Lutheran men’s basketball banquet, which had been scheduled for tonight, has been postponed because of UCLA’s success in the NCAA tournament.

Brad Holland, a UCLA assistant, is the Kingsmen’s scheduled guest speaker. But after the Bruins upset Kansas, 71-70, in the East Regional’s second round in Atlanta on Sunday, Holland went to East Rutherford, N. J., for tonight’s regional semifinal against Duke.

Making his pitch: Northridge’s pitching staff may receive a significant shot in the arm this weekend with the return of right-hander Scott Sharts.

Sharts, a transfer from Miami, has pitched in only two games this season after experiencing tendinitis in the elbow of his throwing arm. The 6-foot-6 sophomore is due to throw in practice today and could pitch this weekend against either Pacific or Cal State Sacramento if his arm isn’t sore Friday.

Sharts was 20-4 in his career at Simi Valley High. He has pitched only seven innings this season, allowing three earned runs on five hits with 11 walks.

On deck: Since stepping in for the injured Dave Toledo a month ago, Canyons freshman shortstop Charlie Fowlks has hit in all 13 games he has started.

Center fielder Ron Robarte has hit safely in 20 of the Cougars’ 21 games and has a 10-game hitting streak.

Not far behind are left fielder Gary Morgan and designated-hitter Bill Horvat with hitting streaks of eight and seven games.

The Cougars will play today at Bakersfield.

Kirby Lee and staff writers Mike Hiserman, John Ortega and Brendan Healey contributed to this notebook.