CSUN’s Title Hopes Sent Sprawling : Kernen: Northridge coach is already charged up about taking a young, capable team to Division I next season.

Coach Bill Kernen succeeded Saturday where the rest of the Cal State Northridge baseball team failed.

Minutes after Jacksonville (Ala.) State’s 12-8 victory over Northridge in the NCAA Division II championship game, Kernen managed a smile.

OK, maybe only a half-smile. But there it was, anyway.

It came in response to the question: Did the loss, albeit in the title game, cast a pall over the rest of Northridge’s season?

“Not for me it doesn’t,” Kernen said. “It’s not fair to think of the entire success of your season based on one game. One game, nine innings in three hours, can’t possibly wash away all the good that’s happened.”

Indeed, few figured Northridge, with a lineup consisting entirely of freshmen and sophomores, would make it as far as the championship game.

Or the championship tournament.

Or the West regional.

Or that it would win a share of the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. title.

“We’ve come a long way down the road this year,” Kernen said. “We probably did more than we ever expected to do at this stage of our development.”

Northridge’s baseball team will begin playing in Division I next season, as will the rest of the school’s teams with the exception of football.

The loss to Jacksonville State marked Northridge’s last game in Division II, in which the school won 34 national championships in 12 sports.

Looking back would have been convenient Saturday, but Kernen was focusing on the future.

“Our objective all along was to put together a Division I team here and go through every experience we could and take advantage of it so we can be legitimate next year,” he said. “We were able to go through every experience we possibly could, including playing in the championship game.”

That in itself was an accomplishment for a team that had a 12-12 start and at one point trailed front-running UC Riverside, a team of juniors and seniors, by 3 1/2 games in the CCAA standings.

“As young as we were, we did a helluva lot,” said Scott Sharts, one of the Matadors’ crusty old sophomores.

“We had a phenomenal season, really. We beat some good teams and it should really help us next year.”

Northridge, which finished 39-22, went down in typical fashion.

The Matadors had 13 hits, including home runs by Clayton and Sharts, two of the finest underclassmen at any level of collegiate play. Each has earned a tryout for the team that will represent the United States in the Goodwill Games this summer.

In its four Division II World Series games, CSUN had 69 hits and scored 52 runs.

“That Cal State team has a good group of hitters,” Jacksonville State Coach Rudy Abbott said. “I’m sure they’ll do well in Division I. Hell, I’ve coached 21 years and never won a national championship before this. Division II is tough enough for me.”

Kernen, who almost won a title in only his second season at Northridge, said the Matadors will be better for the experience.

“Next time won’t be the first time,” he said. “That’s an experience factor you can’t give somebody. You have to live it. Sometimes it’s bitter and it doesn’t feel good. We can build on that next season to make ourselves better.”

Kernen passed on that sentiment in a postgame meeting with his players.

“It’s hard to swallow right now, but it’s important for us to remember how this feels. We have to take it back next year and make it work for us.”

Jacksonville State, Kernen said, simply played a better game Saturday.

“If we would have come out and self-destructed or completely flopped, I’d feel a lot more down about it,” Kernen said. “We got beat. They’re a good team.

“Maybe even better than us,” he added. But he didn’t sound convinced.

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE: THE CHAMPIONSHIP YEARS Since Cal State Northridge began com peting at the NCAA Division II level in 1969, the school has failed to produce a national champion in just five of those years.

YEAR SPORT 1968 Men’s gymnastics 1969 Golf Men’s gymnastics Men’s tennis 1970 Baseball 1971 None 1972 None 1973 Golf 1974 Golf 1975 Men’s swim/diving Men’s track 1976 None 1977 Men’s swim/diving 1978 Men’s swim/diving Women’s track* 1979 Men’s swim/diving Women’s track* 1980 Women’s volleyball* Women’s track* 1981 Men’s swim/diving 1982 Men’s swim/diving Women’s gymnastics Women’s swim/diving Women’s tennis 1983 Men’s swim/diving Softball Women’s volleyball 1984 Baseball Men’s swim/diving Softball 1985 Men’s swim/diving Softball 1986 None 1987 Softball Women’s swim/diving Women’s volleyball 1988 Women’s swim/diving 1989 Women’s swim/diving 1990 None

* denotes Assn. for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) title.