CSUN Stalls Sacramento Playoff Bid

The battle lines have been drawn and Cal State Northridge learned Friday it is in for a weekend-long war.

Cal State Sacramento is fighting for an NCAA Division I baseball berth and the Hornets came to Matador Field for the opener of a three-game series hoping a sweep might vault them into contention.

At best, Sacramento (27-18) will have to settle for two out of three. Mike Solar’s three-run home run with two out in the bottom of the 11th inning powered eighth-ranked Northridge to a 10-7 win.

Solar’s blast, which sailed well over the wall in left-center field, was his team-high 12th homer. It also was the first game-winning home run of his career. He celebrated by raising both arms high above his head on the way to first base.

Such revelry was short-lived. Solar and other players from both sides know they might be headed for an arduous weekend. “No matter where we play or what the circumstances are, we always seem to play tough ones with them,” Solar said.

Emotions were high Friday, spilling onto the field twice for bench-clearing face-offs in the fifth inning.

The first confrontation started when Northridge’s Andy Hodgins got caught in a rundown between third and home. Hodgins met the tag of shortstop Todd Hall with a forearm. Moments later, Scott Richardson, who advanced from first to third during the rundown, went nose to nose in a shouting match with third baseman Bruno Haro.

Both benches--and the Hornet bullpen--emptied, but no punches were thrown and the players were separated. Moments later, however, tempers again flared and Richardson and Haro went at it. Again, only insults were traded.

Richardson ended up scoring on a wild pitch to give the Matadors (31-8-1) a 4-1 lead.

But the game took on new intensity thereafter. Sacramento struck back in its next at-bat, scoring twice on solo home runs by Jon Beauchemin and Gaylon Johnson, the former punctuating his feat by sprinting around the bases and then pausing before home plate to accentuate his final step.

Mike Sims answered for Northridge, belting a two-run homer to left in the sixth. But the Hornets came back in the seventh to trim the Matadors’ lead to 6-5 on a two-run single by Casey Simpson.

A one-out double by Johnson in the eighth chased Northridge starter John Bushart and brought on Kenny Kendrena.

The Matadors’ ace gave up a pinch-hit single by Steve Kristy that tied the score, 6-6. Still, he was in position to pick up the win after Northridge’s Mike Shepard hit a solo home run in the bottom of the inning. But he could not hold the lead. In the ninth, the Hornets tied the score, 7-7, on a double by Hall and a single by pinch-hitter Will Fitzpatrick.

Kendrena pitched 2 2/3 innings, getting all but one of the outs via strikeouts.

Tony Ljubetic earned the win, pitching a scoreless 11th inning--with a big assist from Sims. Matt Martinez led off the Sacramento 11th with a single, but in trying for his 34th stolen base, was gunned down by Sims throwing from his knees.