Cal State Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said...

Cal State Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said before the baseball season that the Matadors would finish with offensive numbers similar to those of last season--even without All-Americans Craig Clayton and Scott Sharts, both of whom signed professional contracts.

He was right.

Despite the loss of Sharts, who hit 22 home runs, Northridge has 71 homers in 52 games compared to 72 in 63 games last season. The numbers don’t vary much in batting average, either.

The Matadors hit .291 last season and are at .289 going into first-round action Friday in the Midwest Regional in Wichita, Kan., against Arizona State.

If anything, Northridge’s offense has been boosted a notch. The Matadors are averaging 7.6 runs a game compared to 6.9 last season.

Baseball: Scott Mowl, the Northridge player who most closely resembles a true power hitter, has a nine-game hitting streak, currently the Matadors’ longest. Mowl, who had three homers and six runs batted in during the Carolina Invitational, is batting .321 with 13 home runs and a team-high 53 RBIs in 156 at-bats. . . . Mike Solar leads Northridge with 14 homers in 209 at-bats. . . . Northridge pitchers led the nation last season, completing 41 of 63 games. This season, the Matadors have completed 37 of 52. Northridge is 7-7-1 when it uses a relief pitcher.

Track and field: Kim Young of Northridge ran a personal best of 13.74 seconds in the 100-meter low hurdles to finish second in her heat in the Modesto Invitational on Saturday. Young and teammate Erin Morris (13.63) are closing in on the school record of 13.62, set by Jodi Anderson in 1979. . . . Tanya Lynch improved her personal best to 41 feet 5 inches in the women’s triple jump at Modesto. She ranks second on the all-time Northridge list behind Lolita Pile (42-3 1/2 in 1990).

Statistics are current through Wednesday.