COLLEGE BASEBALL : NCAA REGIONAL ROUNDUP : Northridge Keeps Hitting, Beats Portland, 12-7

Scott Richardson went 239 at-bats last season without hitting a home run for Cal State Northridge.

He had only four in 247 at-bats during the 1991 regular season.

He has three in the last three games. And so it goes for the Matadors, a team that is refusing to go quietly in its first NCAA Division I playoff appearance.

Saturday night at Fresno State’s Beiden Field, the Matadors moved a step closer to winning the West II Regional by defeating the University of Portland, 12-7.

Northridge (43-17-1) will meet Fresno State today at noon.

Fresno State eliminated Stanford, 7-5, late Saturday night.

Northridge will have to sweep a doubleheader from the Bulldogs in order to advance to the College World Series, starting Friday at Omaha.

It seems that Northridge will advance as far as its offense will take it. The Matadors had 17 hits in a 13-6 victory over top-seeded Miami (Fla.) Friday and continued to hit against Portland (31-19).

“You get in such a high gear and if you do get going, hitting gets contagious,” Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said.

All nine Northridge batters had at least one hit and all but two scored a run or more. Richardson, Andy Hodgins, Kyle Washington and Mike Solar homered. Solar had four hits and Washington had three with four runs batted in.

Northridge’s Scott Sharts, a junior right-hander, was the recipient of the support. He improved his record to 11-6 despite allowing 12 hits. Phil Geisler gave Sharts the most trouble. He was 4 for 5 with four runs batted in.

Earlier, Miami (Fla.) became the first top-seeded team in the regionals to be eliminated as the Cardinal defeated the Hurricanes, 15-7.

Stanford pounded six pitchers for 22 hits, including home runs by Roger Burnett and Chris Kemper.

Miami (46-17) scored four runs in the first inning off Jamie Sepeda, but the Cardinal reduced the deficit to one run after three innings, then added four in the fourth and five in the sixth.

“Our pitching went South. In all my years coming to the regionals, I don’t remember getting pounded like this,” Miami Coach Ron Fraser said.

Stanford’s outburst followed a 13-run, 17-hit attack by Northridge against the Hurricanes on Friday. Burnett, Kemper, David McCarty, Ryan Turner and Steve Solomon each had three hits for Stanford, which improved its record to 39-22. Kemper, a senior second baseman, had four runs batted in, including three on a fourth-inning home run that gave the Cardinal a 7-4 lead.

For Miami, Gino DiMare had three hits Charles Johnson and Donald Robinson each homered, but the Hurricanes were shut out over the final 4 1/3 innings by reliever Aaron Dorlarque, who yielded only one hit in improving his record to 9-2.

MIDWEST REGIONAL

California 10, Ohio State 8--Matt Luke had an RBI triple and Mike Harrison a run-scoring sacrifice fly to break an 8-8 tie to give the Golden Bears a victory over the Buckeyes in a second round game at Wichita, Kan.

Luke’s triple scored Jon Zuber from first base in the sixth inning to give Cal a 9-8 lead. Chris Clapinski scored on Harrison’s fly ball in the eighth.

Pinch-hitter Greg Frey, the three-year starting quarterback for the Buckeye football team, hit a two-out, three-run home run in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game 8-8.

All the offense supported Matt Toomey (5-5), who retired seven of 10 batters in 2 1/3 innings for the victory. Zuber moved from first base and got the final three outs for his sixth save.

California (36-25), which finished third in the Pacific 10 Southern Division, plays top-seeded Wichita State (61-12) today in a game of unbeaten teams. The Buckeyes (52-12) will then face East Carolina (30-23-1) in an elimination game.

Wichita State 13, Baylor 7--Todd Dreifort and Mike Jones each had three RBIs as the Shockers eliminated the Bears.

Wichita State has won 45 of its last 50 games. After giving up a grand slam to Mike Bohny for a 4-3 Baylor lead in the second inning starter Tyler Green (11-1) gave up just three hits and one run over the next five innings.

ATLANTIC REGIONAL

Florida State 5, Alabama 2--Reliever Tim Davis had 12 strikeouts and gave up one run in seven innings to help the Seminoles to a winner’s bracket victory over the Crimson Tide at Tallahassee, Fla.

Top-seeded Florida State (55-13) is the only unbeaten team in the regional and needs just one more win to earn its fourth trip in six years to the College World Series.

Davis (9-1) came into the game with the bases loaded and one out in the second inning and pitched out of the jam. He struck out the side in the sixth and ninth innings and gave up two singles and Jerry Shelton’s solo home run in the fourth inning.

“That was as dominating as I’ve seen a left-hander in this ballpark,” Florida State Coach Mike Martin said. “We’ve never had a left-hander who could throw four pitches like he did today.”