CSUN’s Batting Practice Continues Against UCLA : College baseball: Two days of extra hitting pays off for the Matadors in a 15-1 rout of the Bruins.

Having spent the previous two afternoons taking batting practice until dark, the Cal State Northridge baseball team knocked UCLA’s lights out, 15-1, in a nonconference baseball game before a crowd of 569 at Matador Field on Wednesday.

In all, Northridge (31-12-1) had 16 hits, including two doubles, two triples and home runs by Scott Sharts, Kyle Washington and Craig Clayton.

Jim Bonds, who specializes in throwing the long ball as UCLA’s second-string quarterback, served up the long ball as the Bruins’ starting pitcher Wednesday.

He pitched to five batters and threw five strikes, two of which ended up sailing over the left-field wall. By the time Bonds was chased after recording just one out, UCLA trailed, 4-0.

“That set the tone for the day right there,” said Bill Kernen, Northridge’s coach. “It made (starting pitcher) Sharts relax and gave us an instant reward for the work we’d put in the last two days.”

Four Bruin relief pitchers did not fare much better as Northridge gave Kernen, its third-year coach, his 100th win.

Three of the Matadors’ first-inning runs came on Sharts’ 20th home run, tops in the nation. But that was just the start of a big day for Sharts. He would add a two-run single and a triple in his next four at-bats, a performance matched only by his masterful pitching.

Knowing that his best pitch, the fastball, was lost before warmups, Sharts (9-4) relied on his curve and split-finger changeup in limiting the Bruins (18-22) to six hits.

“I was looking for something straight and trying to lay off the junk, but he kept throwing it for strikes,” said UCLA’s Joel Wolfe, the Bruins’ top hitter and a former Chatsworth High standout. “It was definitely one of the best pitching performances against us this year. He shot us down.”

Sharts faced the minimum number of batters through 6 2/3 innings. The Bruins’ only hit to that point was a third-inning single to left by Gary Hagy, who stayed on the basepaths all of three pitches before Matt Schwenke hit into a double play.

Sharts retired the next 11 batters in order before Chris Pritchett lined a single to right with two out in the seventh.

Michael Moore, who followed Pritchett, broke up the shutout when he went the opposite way and drove a double into the gap in right-center.

Sharts also allowed back-to-back singles to Wolfe and Chris Lohman to start the eighth, but right fielder Washington ended that threat by recording three outs in a row--the final two on a shoestring catch and by running down a drive headed for the corner.

Northridge’s victory, its fifth in seven games against teams from the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division, came on the heels of a 12-1 loss to San Diego State on Sunday.

“After getting blown out like that we wanted to go out and punch it in somebody’s face,” Sharts said. “We didn’t care who it was.”

Bad timing for the Bruins, whose losing streak was extended to eight games.

It also marked a milestone for Kernen, who didn’t bother to wax sentimental after the game.

“The 31st win for our team is a lot more important than win 100 for me,” he said.