Northridge, Santa Barbara Play to Tie in Game Stopped Because of Darkness

Darkness finally ended what the baseball teams from UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge could not on a soggy field Tuesday at Northridge.

The nonconference game was halted after 10 innings with the score tied, 2-2. The teams are scheduled to meet again next week at Santa Barbara and might finish the suspended game then.

Junior right-hander Steven Morales was the only pitcher used by Northridge (5-4-1), which took a five-game winning streak in the contest. Morales (1-1-1) scattered five hits, struck out six, walked five and lowered his earned-run average to 2.93.

Santa Barbara’s Jeff Antoon, a 1988 graduate of Notre Dame High, drove in both runs for the Gauchos (13-4-1).

Antoon hit a solo home run in the second inning, his fourth, and picked up another run batted in with a sixth-inning groundout that scored Rich Haar from third.

Northridge scored in the first inning on a double by Andy Hodgins that drove in Scott Richardson and Mike Solar. But over the next nine innings, the Matadors stranded nine runners and twice hit into double plays.

Greg Shepard had the only multiple-hit game for the Matadors, going two for four with a double. David Waco, an ’88 graduate of Chatsworth High, was two for four for Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara starter Chris Johnson struck out five and walked three in seven-plus innings. He gave way to Steve Lane after failing to retire the first two batters he faced in the eighth.

Lane worked three innings, yielding one hit, two walks and striking out five.

Santa Barbara left seven runners on base.

Northridge is scheduled to play at Cal State Long Beach at 2 this afternoon, weather permitting.