Northridge Keeps Title Hopes Alive

The pressure was on Cal State Northridge, but it was host Cal State Los Angeles that cracked in the Matadors’ 12-8 victory Thursday in the opener of a crucial three-game baseball series.

Northridge (32-20, 19-9 in conference play) entered the series needing a sweep to tie UC Riverside atop the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. standings.

“The win takes a lot of heat off,” said Northridge starter Craig Clayton (12-5), who picked up his seventh complete-game victory and sixth in CCAA play. “But the league is still so tight a win or a loss will decide it.”

The teams will meet again today at 3 p.m. at Northridge. The series will return to Cal State L. A. on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday’s win snapped a four-game losing streak that cost CSUN a short-lived 1 1/2-game lead in the CCAA race.

It has been nine years since the Matadors have won at least a share of a conference title.

“We were never in a position of leading (the conference),” Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said. “We were always used to chasing someone, and when we were alone at the top, we didn’t know what to do. We were thinking of the results instead of focusing on the game.”

On Thursday, it was Cal State L. A. (9-19, 19-34) that had difficulty concentrating. The Golden Eagles committed six errors and four CSLA pitchers combined to hit five Northridge batters.

Scott Sharts gave the Matadors an early lead with a two-run home run, his 22nd, in the top of the first inning. That blast moved Sharts into sole possession of second place on the all-time Northridge home run list, one ahead of Hank Clark and two behind Rondal Rollin.

But after CSLA clawed back to force a 4-4 tie, CSUN scored twice in the sixth before breaking the game open with a six-run seventh inning.

Aided by three errors, two walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch, the Matadors sent 11 men to the plate in the rally. Denny Vigo collected one of CSUN’s three hits in the inning, singling home two runs. Mike Sims singled home another.

Kyle Washington and Andy Hodgins each scored three runs for CSUN. Washington had three hits, including two doubles, and Hodgins reached base four times: twice as a hit batter, once on a walk and once on an error.