Northridge Turns Up the Heat : College baseball: Matadors move to within a half-game of front-running UC Riverside in the CCAA standings with a 12-10 victory over the Highlanders.

After running hot and cold in the first half of the baseball season, Cal State Northridge’s offense has sizzled in the past two weeks.

The Matadors, who had scored eight or more runs in seven of their past eight games heading into Thursday’s California Collegiate Athletic Assn. showdown with first-place UC Riverside at Matador Field, extended that streak by defeating the Highlanders, 12-10.

The victory moved Northridge (29-16, 16-6 in CCAA play) to within a half-game of Riverside (33-13, 17-6) in the conference standings with two games remaining in the three-game series.

Riverside, the 12th-ranked team in NCAA Division II, will play host to seventh-ranked Northridge today before concluding the series at CSUN on Saturday.

CSUN will then close the conference season with three-games series against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal State L. A.

“This win helps a lot,” designated-hitter Eric Johnson said. “We’re playing each game pitch by pitch, but it sets the tone for the rest of series.”

Johnson, a freshman from Chatsworth High, was two for five, drove in five runs and scored twice as Northridge won its seventh consecutive CCAA game and ninth in its past 10.

Johnson’s two-out, two-run home run in the fourth tied the score, 2-2, and his two-out, three-run double in the eighth broke an 8-8 deadlock.

Northridge held what appeared to be a comfortable 7-3 lead after seven innings, but Riverside scored five runs off Matador starter Vale Lopez in the eighth to move in front.

Lopez, who threw 161 pitches in 8 2/3 innings, retired Scott Hayward on a grounder to third to start the inning, but the next six batters reached base.

Designated-hitter Chad Townsend (two for five) singled and John Holmes and Mark Saugstad walked to load the bases.

After Scott Einhorn (three for six) singled in Townsend and Lopez walked Matt Davis to force in Holmes, Pete Weber doubled down the right-field line to clear the bases and give Riverside an 8-7 advantage.

Ruben Ayala grounded to third and Logan Ostrander popped to short to end the inning.

“I wanted to leave Vale in there as long as possible,” CSUN Coach Bill Kernen said. “He wasn’t pitching poorly, but he got a little too careful in the eighth. The walks really hurt him. . . . If there had been two outs, I might have brought in Craig (Clayton), but I didn’t want to do that with only one out.”

Kernen finally went to Clayton in the ninth, but not until Riverside had scored two runs to narrow the score to 12-10 and had put runners on first and third with two out.

“I wasn’t surprised (Kernen) went with me as long as he did,” said Lopez (8-4), who gave up 12 hits, walked six and struck out six. “He likes people to finish what they start, but he had to bring in Craig.”

Clayton fell behind, 2-0, in the count to Weber before striking him out on a 3-2 foul tip to end the game.

After his rocky eighth, Lopez struck out the first two batters he faced in the ninth, but he hit Holmes with a pitch and gave up a single to Saugstad.

Einhorn struck out, apparently ending the game, but he reached first base when the ball got away from catcher Mike Sims.

Davis followed with a two-run single, and Clayton took the mound from his position in left field.

“The dropped third strike was unfortunate,” Kernen said. “But you’ve got to give them credit for swinging the bats. They didn’t roll over and die when they were down.”