CS Northridge Storms Past Riverside Into 1st Place, 16-5

Cal State Northridge powered past UC Riverside and into first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. on Friday with an offensive assault that is fast becoming standard.

The Matadors, on the strength of two home runs by Scott Sharts and one by Denny Vigo, pounded Riverside, 16-5, at the Riverside Sports Complex to move a half-game in front of the Highlanders in the CCAA race.

The seventh-ranked Matadors, who last won the conference championship in 1981, improved to 30-16, 17-6 in CCAA play; Riverside, ranked 12th, is 33-14, 17-7.

“That was an extraordinary offensive performance,” Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said.

And yet it wasn’t.

Northridge pounded out 14 hits, but the Matadors have been knocking around opposing pitchers and scoring runs in bunches with regularity of late.

Northridge has won 18 of its past 22 games, eight of its past 10. The hard-driving Matadors have scored eight or more runs in nine of their past 10 games and in their past five have broadsided opponents for 57 runs.

“We’ve shown we can put up some big numbers in a hurry if we get it rolling,” Kernen said. “That’s what power does for you.”

Sharts’ 18th and 19th homers moved him into a third-place tie on the Northridge single-season home run list with John Balfanz and Mark Ban.

It was the fourth time this season that the 6-foot-6 sophomore from Simi Valley has hit more than one home run in a game.

Sharts’ solo shot to right in the first inning gave the Matadors a 1-0 lead. His two-run blast to center in the eighth sailed over the 15-foot fence 400 feet from home plate and put the Matadors ahead, 15-5.

Vigo’s 17th homer, a three-run shot in the fifth, proved to be the game-winning hit for the Matadors.

After spotting Northridge a 5-1 lead, the Highlanders came back to tie the score with four runs in the third.

After Greg Shockey and Sharts singled, Vigo chased Bob McElderry (5-3) with a drive that stayed just inside the left-field foul pole.

Vigo also delivered a two-run single in the seventh that gave the Matadors a 12-5 lead.

“We’re getting better and better every day,” said Vigo, who moved into the team lead in runs batted in with 49.

“There is no stress in our dugout because we know that someone is always going to pick us up.”

Friday, freshmen Mike Sims and Scott Richardson stepped to the fore. Sims had three hits, including a pair of doubles, and drove in three runs. Richardson singled and also hit a two-run triple, his fifth three-base hit.

Almost overshadowed in the offensive explosion was the continued excellence of sophomore right-hander Craig Clayton, who pitched his sixth complete game and improved to 11-3.

Clayton gave up five runs and six hits in the first three innings, then settled down and shut out the Highlanders on two hits the rest of the way.

Northridge’s victory, coupled with Thursday’s 12-10 win against the Highlanders, ties the season series between the teams at 2-2.

Northridge will play host to Riverside today at Matador Field in the series finale before concluding its conference season with three-game series against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal State Los Angeles.

In early March, the Matadors were 7-5 in the CCAA and laboring to stay in the race. Now they’re in position to break the tape first.