THE COLLEGES : Robart Finds Painful Way to Reach Base as Canyons’ Designated-Hittee

When Ron Robart goes to the plate, he must wonder if his College of the Canyons’ teammates have pulled a variation of the old grade-school prank and taped a “Hit Me” sign to the back of his jersey.

Over 27 games before Wednesday, Robart was hit by a pitch 15 times, a school single-season record.

Robart, a sophomore center fielder from Monroe High, says he’ll defend the batter’s box like a goalie.

“Basically, I just want to get on base,” Robart said. “I figure the box is mine so if the ball comes at me, I don’t have to move.”

Robart said the season’s most painful beaning came on a pickoff throw--not on a pitch--that hit him squarely in the back as he dived back to second base.

With a team-leading .433 batting average as the leadoff hitter, Robart has a .603 on-base percentage and has scored nearly two runs a game. His uniform gets so dirty his teammates call him “Pigpen.”

Young gun: Coach Bill Kernen’s emphasis on youth in the Cal State Northridge baseball program has allowed a number of first-year players--such as Scott Richardson--to make their mark.

Richardson, a freshman second baseman from Eisenhower High in San Bernardino, played a pivotal role during a recent streak in which the Matadors won 12 of 15 games.

Against Cal Poly Pomona on Friday, Richardson had a perfect bunt single, a stolen base and an outstanding defensive play on a ball he had to charge.

“Scott has come further as a freshman than anyone who’s been in the program the last two years, with the possible exception of (pitcher-outfielder Craig) Clayton,” Kernen said. “He’s given us more than we could have expected at this point.”

Richardson, batting .276 with seven doubles, two triples, 12 runs batted in and six stolen bases, said it was just a matter of time.

“I’m starting to feel more confident and comfortable,” he said. “The last five or six games, I’ve been playing like I’m capable.”

Back on track: After a seven-year hiatus from intercollegiate competition, Marlene Wilcox (formerly Harmon) is competing for Cal State Los Angeles.

Wilcox ranks fifth in the heptathlon--100-meter hurdles, shotput, high jump, 200 meters, long jump, javelin and 800--on the all-time United States list with 6,215 points. She made her Cal State L. A. debut at the Sun Angel Classic at Arizona State on Saturday.

With Wilcox, 27, running the third leg (56.0-second split) on the Golden Eagles’ 1,600-meter relay, Cal State L. A. clocked 3 minutes 50.23 seconds to become a provisional qualifier for the NCAA Division II championships.

As a Thousand Oaks High senior, Wilcox won the state title in the long jump, leaping 20 feet, 8 3/4 inches. That summer she placed fourth in the pentathlon at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore.

In 1983, Wilcox won the heptathlon for Cal State Northridge at the Division II championships, placed third in The Athletics Congress meet and 11th in the World Championships in Helsinki.

Wilcox, married to former “CHiPs” star Larry Wilcox, placed sixth in the heptathlon in the 1984 Olympic trials and ranked no worse than seventh nationally from 1980-84, but injuries have hampered her since.

Although she competed for Northridge in 1983, Wilcox is eligible to compete at Cal State L. A. without having to sit out her first year because she competed only one year for CSUN and hasn’t competed at the college level in the past two seasons.

Looking ahead: In what could be a preview of next month’s California Collegiate Athletic Assn. track and field championships, Cal State L. A. will play host to Northridge, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal State Bakersfield in a CCAA quadrangular meet Saturday.

Though Cal State L. A. is the four-time defending CCAA men’s champion, Golden Eagle Coach John Tansley is predicting a Northridge landslide victory.

“It should be a great meet with all the top conference teams,” Tansley said. “(San Luis Obispo) looks very good in the distances and Bakersfield can surprise, but Northridge should be a runaway winner. They’re going full bore into this meet. They looked good earlier in the season and are looking better now.”

Track stats: When Kim Young ran the 100-meter low hurdles in 13.96 seconds to win her qualifying heat in the Fresno Relays on Saturday, she not only solidified her position as No. 5 performer on the all-time Northridge list, but became the first Lady Matador since 1983 to crack the 14-second barrier in the event. . . . Chris Perry tied the Northridge freshman record in the men’s long jump at Fresno, leaping 24 feet 5 3/4 inches to place fourth in the intercollegiate-open competition.

Gary Klein and staff writers Brendan Healey, Kirby Lee and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.