CSUN Begins Final Push for NCAA Berth

Despite losing its past two games--both to fourth-ranked Pepperdine--Cal State Northridge remains in good position to earn an invitation to the 48-team NCAA baseball regionals that begin next week.

The Matadors are 36-12-1 and ranked eighth in the nation by Collegiate Baseball magazine heading into their final three games of the regular season this weekend in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Because Northridge is an independent and does not play a conference schedule, the Matadors’ postseason fate rests with an NCAA playoff selection committee, which will fill 24 at-large berths.

Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said he has received “positive feedback” from sources close to the committee. However, he warned that the Matadors “still have some work to do” and can’t afford to be outplayed in their games against North Carolina State, North Carolina and Wake Forest.

Northridge will take the field today at 1 p.m. (PDT) against 16th-ranked North Carolina State, which defeated third-ranked Clemson on Wednesday to win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.

The NCAA regional field will be announced Monday at noon, live on the ESPN cable network. But even if Northridge does receive an at-large berth, the Matadors probably will not be playing close to home.

Though four of Collegiate Baseball’s top 10 teams--Pepperdine, Northridge, Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Fullerton--are from Southern California, none will play host to a regional. Tucson is the site of the westernmost regional.

Other regional sites are Gainesville, Fla. (East); Baton Rouge, La., (South I); Tallahassee, Fla., (South II); Starkville, Miss., (Mideast); Coral Gables, Fla., (Atlantic); Austin, Tex., (Central); and Wichita, Kan., (Midwest).

The West regional date has not been set, but the East, Mideast and both South regionals will begin May 21. The others begin the next day.

The eight regional winners advance to the College World Series in Omaha, beginning May 29. Last year, CSUN reached the title game of its regional before falling to Fresno State, 6-5.