Northridge Braces for a Rigorous Start : College softball: Road doubleheaders, tournaments dominate early portion of Matadors’ schedule.

A deeper, quicker, slap-happy Cal State Northridge softball team will make its debut Sunday in a doubleheader at UC Santa Barbara.

The Matadors have doubled the size of their pitching staff, added a catcher who can platoon with returning starter Patti Pearson, and recruited several slap (fake bunt and half swing) hitters.

Northridge Coach Gary Torgeson, however, will not be able to ease his team into the long grind.

Throughout February and early March, the Matadors will play four doubleheaders and three tournaments on the road, with several of the top teams in the country providing the opposition.

Upcoming are doubleheaders against top-ranked UCLA, second-ranked Fresno State and fifth-ranked Cal State Fullerton. One of the tournaments is at No. 3 Arizona, the defending NCAA champion, and another is at No. 8 Nevada Las Vegas.

“I think it’s going to be a really tough opening month, but if we can survive that then I think we’ll be in good shape,” said Torgeson, whose team is unranked in the Associated Press preseason poll. “Playing top competition early in the year is only going to help make us stronger through the middle and the end of the season.”

The schedule toughens again in April when the Matadors take on Arizona, fourth-ranked California, 10th-ranked Utah and 12th-ranked Cal State Long Beach.

Northridge finished the 1991 season, its first in Division I, with a 34-32 record.

The Matadors broke into the rankings at No. 16 on April 3 after sweeping Arizona State and splitting a doubleheader against Arizona on a four-game trip.

A 4-7 finish might have cost Northridge an at-large berth in the 20-team NCAA tournament. Four key players were injured and the roster, through attrition, was reduced to 13 players.

“It was rough the first time around in Division I but now we know what to expect,” said Torgeson, who guided the Matadors to four NCAA titles and a 457-140-5 mark in nine seasons at the Division II level.

“We’ll be a little more confident, a little more aware of what’s going on this time.”

Pitchers Kathy Blake and Jackie Volkert will combine with returning starters Heather Lindstrom and Cami Allen to form the nucleus of the pitching staff.

Like Allen, Blake is a power pitcher, and her pitches have been clocked at 64 m.p.h. The 5-foot-8 freshman was USA Today’s California Division 2-A Division player of the year after going 24-2 with two no-hitters for Paso Robles High last season.

Volkert, a transfer from United States International (which dropped its program), is an off-speed specialist, as is Lindstrom.

Blake is scheduled to start against the Gauchos in one game Sunday and Allen (12-16, 1.89 earned-run average in 1991) probably will start the other.

Lindstrom, a senior who went 16-10 with a 1.47 ERA last season, is expected to start Wednesday against the top-ranked Bruins.

Allen and Lindstrom will have to adjust to catcher Missy Cress, a Moorpark College transfer who will spell Pearson, who caught 65 of 66 games last season.

When Pearson is not catching, she is expected to be the designated-hitter. Last season, the senior from Fallbrook High hit .370 with runners in scoring position.

The Matadors, who have all but two starters returning, are also deeper in the infield. The addition of third baseman Amy Colton, a transfer from Chaffey College, has allowed Beth Calcante to play shortstop.

Last season, Calcante played every position but pitcher and was particularly uneasy at third base.

Calcante, a sophomore from Newbury Park High, led Northridge with a .345 average and had eight doubles, five triples, two home runs and 22 runs batted in.

Sophomore Tamara Ivie has moved from second base to first, and the new second baseman is Denise Swank, who split time at shortstop and third base last season.

The outfielders are senior Kim Oakes in left, sophomore Jan Fleming in right and sophomore Terri Pearson in center.