COLLEGE SOFTBALL / NCAA REGIONAL PLAYOFFS : Defensive Lapses Cost CSUN at Fresno State, 3-0

The pressure of playing in its first NCAA Division I regional took a toll on the error-prone Cal State Northridge softball team in a 3-0 loss Friday to Fresno State before an unexpectedly quiet crowd of 757.

To gain a berth in the College World Series, the Matadors must win two games today in the best-of-three series.

Ninth-seeded Northridge (45-24-1) disguised its nerves until the fourth inning, when the defense fell apart around freshman pitcher Kathy Blake.

With one out, CSUN shortstop Beth Calcante waited on a ball she should have charged, then mishandled it, allowing Rhonda Schwebach to reach base. The play was scored an infield hit.

“It was one of those balls where I couldn’t figure out what to do,” Calcante said. “I should have made the play.”

Blake walked the next batter, former Buena High standout Kim Maher, when a changeup slipped out of her hand and rolled toward home plate.

On the next pitch, Michelle Bolt singled to right field to load the bases. Michelle Bento followed with a grounder toward Calcante.

Calcante missed on a backhanded stab and the ball rolled through the legs of left fielder Kim Oakes. The two errors allowed Schwebach and Maher to score and unnerved Blake to the point of crying.

“It’s not that she’s a baby,” Calcante said. “It was not her fault, it was our fault.”

The third-seeded Bulldogs (49-14) pushed the lead to 3-0 when Misty Poplawski hit a high chopper to second baseman Denise Swank, who determined that she had no chance to cut down Bolt at the plate and instead threw late to first.

The disastrous inning finally ended when catcher Patti Pearson fielded a pop fly and third baseman Amy Colton snared a line drive.

Feeling that Blake was too upset to continue, CSUN Coach Gary Torgeson started Jackie Volkert in the fifth inning.

“Kathy was an emotional wreck,” Torgeson said. “Why feed her back out there? Kathy puts a lot of pressure on herself. She’s got to learn that those plays aren’t her fault.”

Blake, who was composed though tense after the game, said she had not wanted to be removed.

“I wanted to try and win my game,” she said.

Calcante said that she felt Blake’s removal was Torgeson’s way of saying that the Matadors couldn’t rally and would be better off saving Blake’s arm for today’s competition.

That was not the case, Torgeson said, and it turned out to be irrelevant because Volkert held the Bulldogs scoreless despite two more Matador errors.

Northridge did little to challenge the Bulldog defense or Fresno State hurler Terry Carpenter until the sixth inning. With two out, Nicole Wiggins, Jen Fleming and Swank hit consecutive singles to load the bases for Calcante, whose fly ball was run down by center fielder Schwebach. The play preserved Carpenter’s 19th shutout.