CSUN’s Sharts Belts Out Inevitable Hit in 4-2 Win : College baseball: Junior slugger sets school record with top-of-the-charts 43rd career home run. It comes without fanfare but keys the victory.

The question was never whether he could but rather when he would.

Ever since Scott Sharts first was penciled in to the third slot in the Cal State Northridge batting order 1 1/2 seasons ago, the school career-home run record has been on the endangered list.

Would Sharts break the record?

Does Lassie come home?

Sharts, a junior who transferred from Miami after his freshman year, answered the “when” part in the sixth inning against UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday at Matador Field. His prodigious two-run blast to left-center field off Gaucho starter Scott Longaker provided the eventual winning run in Northridge’s 4-2 victory.

It was Sharts’ 14th home run of the season and the 43rd of his Northridge career, breaking the previous mark held by John Balfanz, who played for the Matadors from 1985-87.

The team’s reaction was less than energetic.

“I wasn’t exactly on pins and needles wondering if he’d do it,” Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said.

Sharts said he rarely had thought about the record. “These last couple of weeks, with how I’ve been swinging and how comfortable I’ve been feeling, I knew it was just a matter of time,” he said. “I was more concerned with the team.”

Indeed, Northridge came into Tuesday’s game reeling a bit after a loss and a tie in a doubleheader Sunday against the University of San Diego. “We played better, we played like we can,” said Craig Clayton, who broke a scoreless tie in the sixth with a leadoff home run, his third homer of the season. “It was important for us not only to win but to get back to playing like we should.”

To that end, Northridge (15-7-1) was impressive in just about every department.

Pitching: Ken Kendrena (4-1) threw a three-hitter in his second complete-game victory.

Defense: The Matadors turned two double plays, including one to end the game. Kendrena made a tremendous play to field a bunt up the third-base line and throw out Mike Clapinski at first base. Catcher Kyle Washington, filling in for injured Mike Sims, threw out Jerrold Rountree attempting to steal second. It marked only the third time Rountree had been caught in 22 attempts.

Offense: Scott Richardson and Mike Solar each had two hits and Clayton hit in his 14th consecutive game. CSUN had eight hits, including six off Longaker, who had pitched 14 consecutive scoreless innings against CSUN going into the sixth.

Longaker (4-1), a breaking-ball specialist, had shut out Northridge seven days ago.

Northridge scored its runs in a hurry. After Clayton’s homer, Richardson singled and Sharts quickly made it 3-0.

Kendrena, mixing a slider with a split-finger fastball, took a no-hitter into the seventh but Rich Haar led off with a line-drive single to left. Haar later scored on a sacrifice fly, and Santa Barbara (11-6-1) made it a one-run game in the eighth on a home run by Dusty Madsen. The Matadors added a run in the eighth on a double by Solar that scored Greg Shockey.

Still, the day belonged to Sharts. The record homer came on a curve that Longaker said was a good pitch. “I think he must of been sitting on a curveball,” Longaker said. “It wasn’t a mistake.”

Maybe the pitch wasn’t, but the pitch selection was. Sharts had lined a one-hopper at Haar, the third baseman, on a curve his previous at-bat.

“He came right back with it and I was looking for it,” Sharts said. “He happened to put it right where I wanted it.”

It landed in the record book.