Cal State Northridge Baseball Team Returns to the Top 20 After 0-4 Start

Cal State Northridge, which started the season 0-4, re-entered Collegiate Baseball magazine’s Top 20 this week in the No. 19 position.

The Matadors’ nine-game unbeaten streak was snapped Wednesday by host UC Santa Barbara.

Northridge (9-5-1) announced it will make up a rained-out game against UC Irvine at 7 p.m. on April 9 at Anteater Field.

The Cal Lutheran baseball team moved up to third in the American Baseball Coaches’ Assn. NCAA Division III Top 20 poll this week. The Kingsmen (16-0, 9-0 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) were ranked seventh in the ABCA preseason poll.

John Najar, a top pitching and hitting prospect when he graduated from San Fernando High two years ago, has left the Fresno State baseball team.

Najar pitched sparingly as a freshman in 1991 and appeared in only one game this season, giving up a grand slam on his first pitch against Cal.

Tim Costic, former City Section player of the year at Monroe High, has played his way out of Fresno State’s starting lineup.

Costic, a junior outfielder, went 0 for 8 in Fresno’s Big West Conference opener against UC Santa Barbara, dropping his batting average to .164. He has three home runs.