VALLEY ROUNDUP

Cal State Northridge and Cal Lutheran put their national rankings on the line today in nonconference baseball games against highly regarded opponents.

Northridge and Pepperdine meet at 2:30 p.m. in Malibu, while at the same time Cal Lutheran will play at Cal State Long Beach.

The Northridge-Pepperdine matchup is a battle of right-handers and teams that are ranked in the top six in NCAA Division I.

Fifth-ranked Northridge (36-10-1), coming off a three-game sweep of Grand Canyon College in Phoenix, will start Kenny Kendrena against Patrick Ahearn, the ace of Pepperdine’s staff.

Kendrena, winner of nine of his last 10 decisions, is 9-4 with two shutouts and a 2.75 earned-run average. He has 153 strikeouts and only 34 walks in 134 innings.

Ahearn has won nine in a row and is 11-1 overall. He has 81 strikeouts in 95 2/3 innings and has allowed only 63 hits and 16 walks.

The Waves (34-10-1) already have clinched the championship of the West Coast Conference, and the Matadors seem poised to earn their second consecutive at-large berth to the NCAA playoffs.

Cal Lutheran (31-2), the top-ranked team in Division III, will be looking for its second victory over a Division I team. Earlier this season, the Kingsmen defeated 29th-ranked San Diego State. Mike Winslow (6-1) is expected to start for Cal Lutheran against 16th-ranked Long Beach (27-17-1).