VALLEY SPORTS ROUNDUP : Northridge Lacks Key Hits, Falls to CS Fullerton, 5-2

The motto for the Cal State Northridge baseball team is “finish it off.” Four games into the 1992 season, however, the Matadors are still trying to get it started.

The latest attempt came Monday as CSUN was held to six hits by Cal State Fullerton pitchers Bill Fitzgerald and Tony Fetchel as the host Titans won, 5-2.

As in its previous three games, CSUN (0-4) stayed close but could not come up with the big hit. CSUN wasted three important scoring opportunities and had fewer than three runs for the third time this season.

“Somebody has got to walk up there in one of those situations and do something with the bat,” said CSUN Coach Bill Kernen, whose club plays host to USC today at 2:30 p.m. “We have got to get things rolling and it better happen pretty soon.”

Fullerton (4-2) took a 3-0 lead in the first when designated hitter Tony Banks blasted a two-out, three-run homer well over the fence in right off right-hander Steven Morales (0-1).

Morales gave up two runs in the third before settling down to finish with a seven-hitter over eight innings. He struck out five, walked four and yielded four earned runs.

It wasn’t enough to compensate for CSUN’s offensive problems. Outfielder Andy Hodgins hit a solo homer in the second, but CSUN left the bases loaded in the third.

CSUN closed the gap to 5-2 on an RBI pinch single by David Prosenko in the seventh, but the team also stranded two runners that inning.