CS Northridge Reaches Division II Softball Final Four for the Final Time

For the ninth--and final--time in the last 10 years, Cal State Northridge will play for the NCAA Division II softball title when the national championships start Friday at Currie Stadium in Midland, Mich.

The Lady Matadors saw to that by defeating host Augustana College, 2-0, Sunday for the Midwest Regional title.

Northridge (49-19), which is headed for the Division I ranks next season, rolled through the regional with victories over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (1-0) and Nebraska Omaha (3-0) on Saturday, before shutting out Augustana on Sunday.

Senior Debbie Dickmann, coming off two-hit and no-hit efforts Saturday, allowed only two singles against the Vikings.

Though she was not as overpowering against Augustana (two strikeouts) as she was against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (10 strikeouts) or Nebraska-Omaha (nine), Dickmann (26-7, 20 shutouts) was every bit as effective.

Only one Augustana (47-8) runner reached second--in the fourth inning, Kathy Orstad hit a ground ball that took a wicked hop over shortstop Anna Getherall’s left shoulder for a hit before advancing on Kim Sudbeck’s sacrifice.

But Orstad advanced no further as Ferris Grund and Chris Ross grounded out to Getherall.

“My body felt good, but my arm felt tired today, which is to be expected,” Dickmann said.

The win was the seventh in a row for Northridge and the 19th in CSUN’s last 21 games. But more important is the fact that it propels the Lady Matadors into the Final Four, which they missed last season after losing to Cal State Bakersfield in the West Regional final.

“That makes it a lot more sweeter,” Dickmann said. “Any time you get to the Final Four, it’s special. But after losing last year, we really wanted to go back.”

Northridge scored the only run Dickmann would need in the top of the first. Lisa Erickson, who was 4 for 8 and scored three times in the tournament, singled, went to second on Getherall’s sacrifice, took third on a passed ball, and scored on Erin McGuire’s single.

The Lady Matadors added an insurance run off Teresa Hartman (44-8) in the fifth. Lesley Plank led off with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Lisa Ferracone, who took second on Krista Miller’s sacrifice, went to third on an infield single by Leilani Artis and scored on a wild pitch.

“You never know what’s going to happen, but I felt like we only needed to get one run to win today,” Northridge Coach Gary Torgeson said. “Last year, Debbie came into the playoffs hurt and tired, but this year, she’s peaking. She hasn’t thrown as many innings and it shows.”

Dickmann was one of six CSUN players named to the All-Region team. The others were outfielders Erickson, McGuire and Artis, second baseman Plank and Getherall.

“We seem to be on a roll, but I still feel like we’re capable of playing better that we did here,” Torgeson said. “Our pitching was there and our defense was there, but we’re still not hitting the ball like we’re capable of. “Hopefully, that will change this week.”