Cal Lutheran has defeated Southern California Intercollegiate...

Cal Lutheran has defeated Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams by an average of 12 runs a game in baseball. Overall, the Kingsmen, ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division III, have defeated opponents by an average of 8.8 runs. Cal Lutheran (26-1, 12-0 in the SCIAC) has not scored fewer than six runs in a conference game.

However, the Kingsmen still have their toughest conference games ahead. Cal Lutheran will play a doubleheader against 30th-ranked La Verne today and has a three-game series with 25th-ranked Redlands on April 24-25.

Cal Lutheran has a minuscule earned-run average of 1.53; opponents’ ERA against the Kingsmen is a whopping 10.06. Five Cal Lutheran pitchers have ERAs of less than 1.34. Cal Lutheran’s batting average is .335; opponents are batting .192 against the Kingsmen. Fourteen Cal Lutheran batters are hitting .300 or above.

Darrell McMillin, Cal Lutheran’s center fielder, has 15 home runs in 97 at-bats, an average of one home run every 6.47 at-bats. McMillin also has nine doubles, nine stolen bases and is batting .402.

Cal State Northridge started the week with a 2.75 ERA--eighth best among Division I teams and second best on the West Coast. Top-ranked Wichita State led the nation with a mark of 2.06. San Jose State was second at 2.37. After three games this week, Northridge’s ERA had dropped to 2.71.

Northridge’s Kenny Kendrena, a senior right-hander, has 112 strikeouts in 101 1/3 innings, raising his career mark to 240--just 13 short of Craig Clayton’s school record. Kendrena has 21 complete games, one shy of Clayton’s school mark.

Northridge batters have struck out 215 times and walked only 141. Matador pitchers have recorded 311 strikeouts while allowing only 86 walks.

Softball: In the most recent NCAA statistics--through games of April 5--the 18 wins by Northridge freshman Kathy Blake ranked sixth among Division I pitchers. Her 0.73 ERA ranked 34th. Blake (19-4) had a 10-game winning streak snapped by Arizona on Wednesday. She allowed only one run on three hits in four innings, but the Wildcats won, 2-1, in eight innings.

Northridge’s fielding percentage of .966 was eighth-best in the nation.

Nicole Wiggins, a junior, is batting .500 (six for 12) for Northridge as a pinch-hitter.

Men’s volleyball: Craig Hewitt, a sophomore from Chatsworth High, leads Northridge in hitting percentage at .418, 10th best in the nation. Coley Kyman is next at .414 and averages 5.6 kills and 2.2 digs a game. Axel Hager leads the Matadors in digs per game at 2.4.

Track and field: Garrett Noel became Northridge’s fourth provisional qualifier for the NCAA Division I championships last Saturday when he threw a season best of 224 feet 5 inches in the men’s javelin to finish third in the Fresno Relays at Fresno City College.

Northridge’s other qualifiers are Gil Carrillo (men’s javelin), Charlotte Vines (women’s 100), and the women’s 400-meter relay team of Joy Polk, Dee Dee Small, Erin Morris and Vines.

Provisional qualifiers will be invited to the NCAA meet if the number of automatic qualifiers is below the desired number.

Glendale’s Robert Nelson and Oscar Perez moved to second and third on the all-time Vaquero list in the 3,000-meter steeplechase when they finished one-two in the event in 9 minutes 4.50 seconds and 9:13.96 in the Fresno Relays.