Ivie’s Homer Ensures Northridge Split Against Pomona : College softball: Freshman second baseman blasts two-run shot to propel Matadors to 4-1 victory after 1-0 loss.

The beginning of the softball season did not go well for Tamara Ivie. After Cal State Northridge’s first 21 games, the freshman second baseman was hitting a team-low .102, and was hitless in 12 consecutive at-bats during a seven-game stretch.

Northridge Coach Gary Torgeson believes it was merely a case of Ivie getting used to the college game. “She was trying too hard in the beginning of the season,” he said. “Now she’s relaxed and playing very well.”

In Northridge’s doubleheader split against visiting Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday, Ivie, elevated from eighth in the lineup to cleanup, went three for six, including a two-run home run in the second game, which Northridge won, 4-1. The Matadors dropped the first game, 1-0.

With Northridge leading, 2-1, in the third inning and sophomore Denise Swank on second base, Ivie drilled a 1-0 pitch over the left-field fence to give Northridge a 4-1 lead. “I’m not an inside hitter,” Ivie said of her first homer of the season, “but she pitched me inside.”

Since finding her confidence, Ivie has been one of the Matadors’ top hitters, batting .421 in her last 64 at-bats to improve her average to .276, third best on the team.

Junior transfer Cami Allen (9-11), who scattered three hits and struck out four, was the winning pitcher.

Northridge (26-23) wasn’t as fortunate in the first game, leaving at least one runner in scoring position six innings in a row. Relief pitcher Kelly Cook took the win for Pomona (17-24), striking out five batters in four innings. She also drove in the game’s only run.

“I don’t think we played bad,” Torgeson said of his team’s performance in the first game. “We had the right hitters up. We had the opportunities. We just stranded a lot of people.”

The Matadors’ best opportunity came in the fourth inning when they put runners on second and third with none out.

At that time, Pomona Coach Carol Spanks moved pitcher Nicky Luce to shortstop to replace Shellie McCall, who left the game after colliding with Ivie, and brought in Cook, who struck out the next three batters.