Lady Matadors Win Softball Opener, 4-2

Call it first-game championship jitters.

Call it a lack of concentration.

But after playing three flawless defensive games to win the Midwest regional, Cal State Northridge played sloppily in the first round of the NCAA Division II Final Four at Midland Currie Stadium on Friday night.

Still, the Lady Matadors defeated Missouri Southern State, 4-2, to advance to the second round.

Northridge (50-19) will play two-time defending Division II champion and California Collegiate Athletic Assn. rival Cal State Bakersfield at 7 tonight in the double-elimination tournament. Northridge has won three of five games against Bakersfield this season.

The third-seeded Roadrunners defeated No. 2 Bloomsburg (Pa.) University, 8-2, on Friday.

“I don’t know what it was, but we did things today that we haven’t done all season,” Northridge Coach Gary Torgeson said. “Last week, we didn’t make an error in three games. But we make two of them today and let another ball drop that I thought should have been caught.”

Having scored three runs--two unearned--in the top of the seventh to take a 4-0 lead, top-ranked Northridge committed two errors--leading to two unearned runs--in the bottom of the inning.

Missouri Southern (36-8), which had won the South regional as the third-seeded team, put the tying run at the plate before Debbie Dickmann (27-7) struck out pinch-hitter Karen Doak to end the game.

Dianne Miller doubled to right-center and Carrie Carter walked to start the inning for the Lady Lions, but Leslie Myers flied out to left fielder Erin McGuire. But McGuire’s throw got away from shortstop Anna Getherall, allowing Miller and Carter to move to second and third.

Robin Herschbach flied out to Lisa Ferracone in right for the second out, but Kim Fellow’s grounder went off Dickmann’s glove, allowing two runs to score.

Dickmann then struck out Doak to quell the rally.

“I’m not really sure what happened to us in the last inning,” Northridge catcher Patti Pearson said. “But nobody panicked, except maybe Coach. Everyone else remained calm.”

Pearson was one of the reasons Northridge clung to a 1-0 lead entering the seventh. The sophomore snuffed out potential Missouri Southern rallies in the third and fourth when she threw out runners attempting to steal second base.

Getherall started Northridge’s three-run rally in the seventh with a two-out double and went to third on McGuire’s infield single.

Danielle Wood singled in Getherall, and Leilani Artis followed with a grounder that went under shortstop Myers’ glove and allowed McGuire and Wood to score.

“This (win) should get us going,” said Pearson, an All-CCAA selection. “I think we’ll be a lot looser (Saturday).”