CS Northridge Returns to Series and Passes Its First-Round Test

Making its first appearance in the NCAA Division II baseball World Series since 1984, Cal State Northridge made a lasting impression.

The Matadors had a tournament-record 23 hits, including four home runs, to rout Lewis (Ill.), 18-5, in a first-round game Sunday.

Lewis, which had 13 hits, and Northridge combined to set a tournament record with 36 hits.

In the second round Tuesday night, Northridge (37-21) will meet New Haven (Conn.), which beat Columbus (Ga.), 15-4, in the second game Sunday. New Haven is 31-4.

Center fielder Greg Shockey led the Matadors by reaching base in all six of his plate appearances. Shockey had two doubles, two singles and walked twice. He also scored three runs.

Mike Solar, Scott Sharts, Eric Johnson and Kyle Washington hit the home runs. Solar and Sharts each hit two-run homers in the third inning when the Matadors scored six times.

Sharts’ homer, his 27th of the season, was a prodigious blast that landed in a garden of ivy more than 50 feet up an embankment behind the 380-foot sign in center field.