Irvine Keeps Northridge Winless, 4-1 : College baseball: Matadors (0-3) manage only four hits and again are shocked by an upstart.

The frustration of Cal State Northridge’s tortoise-like start in baseball all but disappeared Friday at Matador Field.

It was replaced by anger and confusion.

After going to great lengths to transform a collection of small ponds into a playable surface, the Matador offense turned to muck. Northridge produced only four singles against UC Irvine’s David Bladow in a 4-1 loss.

The Matadors, ranked 11th in the preseason, are 0-3, marking the first time since 1979 that Northridge has opened a season in such a tailspin. Unsung and unranked Irvine is 4-2.

“That’s as good an 0-3 club as there is in the country,” Irvine Coach Mike Gerakos said of the Matadors. “Of course, that doesn’t do them any good.”

Or make them feel any better.

“It’s tough to swallow,” said Scott Richardson, Northridge’s second baseman. “It’s hard to explain.”

Northridge had several chances against Bladow, a lanky 6-foot-3 right-hander, but three long drives died against the cold and wind in center field and the Anteaters turned two other hot smashes into double plays.

“That’s baseball,” Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said by way of explanation. “We didn’t get rewarded for what we did.”

The most encouraging development of the day for Northridge was the acceptable performance turned in by pitcher Kenny Kendrena, whose record is the same as the team’s.

Kendrena, a senior right-hander who was 13-2 last season, said he found a “groove” for the first time this season. He allowed nine hits, but he struck out eight, walked only two, and, with the exception of a fastball that Irvine’s Matt Filson hit for a home run, kept his pitches down in the strike zone.

“That’s the Kenny we know,” Richardson said. “We got a glimpse of the Kenny who was an All-American.”

It was, however, but a glimpse. A run-scoring double by Corey Parker put Irvine ahead, 1-0, three batters into the game.

Northridge tied the score on Kyle Washington’s run-scoring single in the fourth, but the Anteaters pushed across single runs in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings. The Matador bullpen was busy from the fifth inning on, but Kendrena, whom Kernen said “pitched well enough to win,” went the distance.

Meanwhile, Bladow spent the sixth, seventh and eighth innings teetering on the brink of trouble. He stranded five runners in those innings and another was wiped out on a double play.

“It seems like whenever I need a clutch pitch it just comes, lately,” said Bladow, who improved to 3-0 and lowered his earned-run average to 0.64.

Northridge’s fortunes obviously are going in the opposite direction.

“They have a solid club and a good lineup,” Gerakos said of the Matadors. “It’s just a matter of time before they get it going.”

Exactly when is becoming an increasingly puzzling question.

“When you have a race car and are revving it high, you’re either going to sputter or take off at 250 miles per hour,” Kernen said. “We’ve sputtered some. We need to play to rev it up. Playing a game a week isn’t going to do it.”

Weather permitting, the Matadors are scheduled to travel to Irvine today for a 1 p.m. game, then return to Matador Field at the same time Sunday to conclude the three-game set.

Though downcast, Richardson said he remains confident.

“The guys who have been here know what is going to happen,” he said. “When it does, we’re going to be (tough) to stop.”