COLLEGE BASEBALL: DAILY PLAYOFF REPORT : CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE : Longtime Friends Turn Foes for a Day

Greg Shepard and Jeff Matranga, longtime friends who keep in touch by telephone, were talking about the playoff possibilities for their respective teams several weeks ago.

“He said to me, ‘I’ll be looking to throw against you guys in the regional,’ ” Shepard said. “As soon as I saw (the pairings) I couldn’t believe it.”

But it was true. Shepard and Matranga, teammates on the now-defunct United States International University baseball team, faced off in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional. Matranga pitched for Arizona State and Shepard played right field for Northridge.

On Friday, Shepard won what Matranga called “a personal battle” and Northridge won the game, 5-1.

Shepard reached base three times in four plate appearances and knocked his friend down in the fifth inning with a one-hopper up the middle.

“When he looked over at me on first I gave him the, ‘Uh, missed you by six inches,’ ” Shepard said.

Shepard said he and Matranga, best friends at USIU last season, had not talked to each other at the regional.

“I didn’t want to be buddy-buddy,” Shepard said. “I didn’t come here to be that way so I tried to avoid him. I thought about calling, but I didn’t.”

Shepard and Matranga are the only USIU players who transferred to schools that made the playoffs this season. Matranga (10-7) allowed seven hits and struck out 11 in a complete-game effort, but he was victimized by a four-run, fourth-inning rally by Northridge. Shepard started the rally with a walk.

David Eggert will be Northridge’s starting pitcher tonight against Oklahoma State. Eggert, a senior left-hander, is 8-2 and his 2.44 earned-run average is best among active Matador starters.

Jacob Cruz, an Arizona State freshman from Channel Islands High, struck out as a pinch-hitter to end Friday’s game.

Cruz is batting .301 and has played in 33 of the Sun Devils’ 55 games. He has only one extra-base hit--a double--among 15 hits but is considered a top defensive outfielder.

Bob Hiegert, Northridge’s athletic director, received an award for meritorious service to NCAA baseball. The award was presented Friday in Montgomery, Ala., site of the Division II championships.

Hiegert was Northridge baseball coach from 1967-84, compiling a 609-412-9 record and winning Division II national titles in 1970 and ’84. He also is past chairman of the Division II Baseball Committee.