VALLEY SPORTS ROUNDUP : CSUN Defeats Reno 10-7 in an Unpredictable Game

If unpredictability rates among the beauties of baseball, then Cal State Northridge and Nevada Reno played a real beaut of a game on Monday in the Fresno State Tournament.

Going into their opening-round game as two of the hottest teams in college baseball, Northridge and Reno combined for 17 runs, 20 hits and nine errors that led to seven unearned runs.

Northridge won, 10-7, pushing over what proved to be the winning run in the fourth inning on a walk, a stolen base, a throwing error and a sacrifice fly. For the day, a fairly typical rally.

“That was ug-ly,” Matador Coach Bill Kernen said, accenting both syllables to drive home the point. “That could have been a 10-1 or 10-2 blowout, but it turns into a dogfight because we can’t play catch.”

Northridge (12-5-1) committed all five of its errors in the first three innings, allowing the Wolfpack to scratch back from an early 4-0 deficit to gain a 5-4 lead.

Reno, which had won 13 of its last 14, scored five times in the second and once in the third against Northridge right-hander Kenny Kendrena. Only two runs were earned.

The Wolfpack (17-5) also took its turn playing Matador defense. Scott Christy, Reno’s third baseman, opened the third with back-to-back errors. That set the table for Scott Mowl, who promptly cleared the bases with a line-drive over the right-field fence. Mowl’s homer, his first of the season, put the Matadors (12-5-1) in the lead for good, 7-5.

“That was really a big deal because it put us back in charge,” Kernen said.

After Reno scored in the bottom of the third to pull within a run, Northridge pushed over single runs in the fourth, fifth and eighth to extend its advantage.

Meanwhile, Kendrena (4-3) settled into a groove. From the fourth inning through the eighth, he limited the Wolfpack to three hits. The senior right-hander finished with 13 strikeouts and four walks in winning his fourth consecutive decision.

Northridge, which has lost only one of its last 14 games, was paced on offense by Scott Richardson and Greg Shockey. Richardson had three hits, including a two-run double in the second, to extend his hitting streak to 17 games. Shockey had a solo home run in the first and a run-scoring triple in the eighth.

Mike Sims also had two hits for the Matadors, but Kyle Washington went hitless in five at-bats, ending his 16-game hit streak.

Northridge plays Wyoming today at 10 a.m. as the round-robin portion of the tournament continues.

In a Junior College game:

Canyons 4, Oxnard 3 (10 innings)--Mark Corrales hit a solo home run with two out in the 10th to give host Canyons a Western State Conference win.

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

Royal 13, Chaminade 9--Paul Taylor hit two home runs for Royal (3-2) in a nonleague game at Chaminade. Brian Powers hit his third home run for Chaminade (3-3).