THE COLLEGES / MIKE HISERMAN : Sharts Shines in Power Spectrum

He is averaging a home run every six at-bats and is on pace to crack 36 over the course of the regular season if Cal State Northridge plays its entire 60-game baseball schedule.

So the question becomes, how does Scott Sharts rate among history’s great collegiate bashers? The answer: rather well.

Pete Incaviglia, a Texas Rangers outfielder, belted an NCAA Division I record 48 home runs for Oklahoma State in 1985. But he did it in 75 games. Sharts has hit 14 home runs in Northridge’s first 23 games and at the same pace would hit 46 in 75 games.

And, had Sharts joined the Matadors straight out of Simi Valley High rather than wasted a season at Miami, Incaviglia--he of the nickname Home Run Inc.--might also be on the verge of losing his NCAA career record of 100 home runs, set from 1983-85.

Sharts has 43 in a season and a half and has another year of eligibility remaining should he spurn whichever professional team drafts him and decide to use it. (Don’t bet on it.)

Last summer, playing for Wichita in the National Baseball Congress, Sharts said he was approached most often by scouts about his pitching.

Sharts is a good college pitcher--he is 4-2 including a complete-game win over then-11th-ranked USC--but despite being 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, his fastball has usually been clocked in the low 80-m.p.h. range this season.

Indeed, he is an imposing figure on the mound but a more productive one at the plate. Along with his home runs, Sharts leads Northridge with 34 runs batted in and he is a much improved contact hitter.

Sharts has struck out 15 times in 84 at-bats--respectable for a power hitter--and he leads the Matadors with a .495 on-base percentage.

Making more consistent contact was a goal for Sharts entering this season.

“I’m right where I want to be,” Sharts said. “There was no way I wanted to start off like I did last year.”

Last season Sharts struck out 55 times in 243 at-bats, including, he said, 12 times in the first four games.

Hitting stride: Sharts is not Northridge’s only double-barrel threat. Craig Clayton has a 14-game hitting streak and also is the Matadors’ hottest pitcher.

Clayton leads Northridge with 26 runs scored, 43 hits, nine doubles and a .406 batting average. He also has struck out only three times in 106 at-bats.

And his pitching numbers are just as impressive. Clayton, who is due to start for the Matadors on Monday against Virginia Tech in the first round of the Fresno State tournament, has given up three runs and 11 hits in his past 26 innings. During that span he has 24 strikeouts and only two walks.

Clayton started his pitching streak when he shut out Cal State Fullerton, 7-0, on three hits Feb. 16. In his next start, he gave up six hits but lost, 3-2, to San Jose State. In Clayton’s last start, the University of San Diego managed only two hits--an opposite-field looper in the first inning and a dribbler up the middle in the ninth that just as easily could have been called an error.

Briefly: Classy move by the Cypress College men’s basketball players, who visited the Ventura locker room after eliminating the Pirates from the playoffs last Saturday. The Ventura players were justly congratulated for a good game and an outstanding season. . . .

It has been made obvious where the balance of powerful men’s junior college basketball teams are located. In the first round of the state tournament, Southern teams were 4-0 vs. Northern opponents. . . .

The Northridge men’s volleyball team’s next two home matches are worth watching. The third-ranked Matadors will play fourth-ranked Penn State tonight at 7:30, and UCLA, the team they are chasing in the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn.’s DeGroot Division, on March 16. . . .

Craig Clayton’s 14-game hitting streak is not a Northridge record, although school officials cannot be more specific. What is known is that Greg Shockey had a 26-game hitting streak snapped last month against USC. Shockey hit safely in the last 19 games of the 1990 season and the first seven this season. . . .

Denise Swank, a sophomore from El Camino Real High, has been tough in the clutch for the Northridge softball team. Swank is batting .347 and .533 with runners in scoring position. She also has a team-high seven stolen bases in nine attempts. . . .