CSUN Finds Rallying Point for Title Game : College baseball: Matadors to take their final swings in Division II in World Series championship contest.

Cal State Northridge, a baseball team building for tomorrow, will try to become national champion today.

Northridge will field a team of five freshmen and four sophomores against Jacksonville (Ala.) State at noon (PDT) in the NCAA Division II championship game at Paterson Field.

The game will mark the end of an era for a school that historically has been a national power in Division II athletics.

Beginning in the fall, Northridge will compete at the Division I level in every sport but football.

Preparing Northridge for its rise in class was Coach Bill Kernen’s top priority when he took over the Matador baseball program two years ago.

“We’re not trying to win a Division II championship,” Kernen stated shortly after he was hired in June, 1988. “We’re building toward a Division I championship someday.”

Progress has been made more quickly than anticipated.

After a 12-12 start this season, Northridge (39-21) has rolled through the second half.

Since rallying from three runs down to defeat Cal State Dominguez Hills, 10-9, on April 12, the Matadors have won 17 of 21 games against Division II teams.

The Dominguez Hills game is considered by coaches and players as the turning point of Northridge’s season.

Before the Matadors came up in the eighth inning that day, Kernen impressed upon them the importance of coming back to win the game. CSUN already was trailing first-place UC Riverside by three games in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. standings.

“We had to prove to each other that we could get things done when we really needed to,” Kernen said.

The Matadors responded with four runs in the eighth and won, 10-9.

Two weeks later, after a similar chat, Northridge scored five runs in the eighth to overtake Riverside, 12-10.

Therefore, Thursday’s rally against Lewis (Ill.) University came as no surprise.

What else but an eight-run eighth inning should have been expected after Kernen huddled his team together for a pep talk?

Northridge, limited to three singles and down by six runs after seven innings, won, 8-6.

“Since that Dominguez game, every time he’s told us we’re going to come back, we’ve done it,” said Scott Sharts, whose 28th home run, a three-run blast over the scoreboard in left, provided CSUN’s margin of victory.

“He has great confidence in us. And now we have it in ourselves.”

Kernen, an assistant at Cal State Fullerton when the Titans won a Division I championship in 1979, said he has never been around a youthful team that responded in such a way.

“Every championship team I’ve been around has that quality about them,” Kernen said. “They know there’s a certain time to bear down and find a way to win. But most of them were veteran teams that took a few years to develop the knack.

“For this team to accomplish what it has so early is pretty extraordinary.”

The addition of Sharts, a transfer from Miami, certainly helped Northridge’s progress.

The 6-foot-6, 240-pound sophomore from Simi Valley is the top power hitter in Division II. His 28 home runs is a school record and his 73 runs batted in also leads the team.

Sharts also is formidable on the mound; he will take a 6-2 record into today’s game.

Craig Clayton, 12-6, will be CSUN’s first reliever should Sharts falter. Clayton also is batting .386 with 11 home runs and 54 RBIs.

Jacksonville State (42-9) is expected to counter with Todd Altaffer, a 6-3 left-hander who is 11-3 with a 1.82 earned-run average.

Outfielders Mark Adams and Merritt Bowden are Jacksonville State’s top offensive threats. Adams, the Gamecocks’ leadoff hitter, is batting .383 and has been caught only twice in 29 base-stealing attempts.

Bowden, the No. 3 hitter, is batting .389 with 11 home runs and 63 RBIs. He has stolen 25 out of 26.

Jacksonville State reached the final with a victory over Philadelphia Textile (3-1) and a pair of wins over Tampa (10-8 and 3-0).

NCAA DIVISION II TITLE GAME Matchup: Cal State Northridge (39-21) vs. Jacksonville (Ala.) State (41-9)

Site: Paterson Field, Montgomery, Ala.

Time: Noon, PDT

Weather: Partly cloudy skies with a chance of thunderstorms. Temperatures in the low 80s.

Radio: Live on KCSN 88.5-FM TV: Delayed 5:30 p.m. PDT, Prime Ticket