Small Leads Northridge to 12-0 Win in Opener

Andy Small, weary of batting practice, was eager for the 1993 baseball season to begin.

So he pounced on the first pitch aimed his way Friday afternoon at Cunningham Field and deposited the fastball over the left-center-field fence, following two baserunners home.

Small’s three-run blast in the first inning launched Cal State Northridge toward a 12-0 season-opening triumph over the University of San Diego. Right-hander Marco Contreras shut out the Toreros (4-1) with a seven-hitter.

Small, a senior third baseman from Washington State, sat out the 1992 season under transfer rules.

“I’ve waited a long time for that,” Small said. “I was pumped up and ready to go. It took me a while to come back down to earth.”

Indeed, Small was so excited after his fence-buster that teammate Andy Hodgins had to remind him repeatedly to breathe.

“It was a good start for me,” said Small, who had three hits. “It was important for us to score first.”

After designated hitter Keyaan Cook scored on a hit by Hodgins, second baseman Chris Olsen stroked a three-run home run during a four-run second for a 7-0 advantage.

“I had a good pitch to work with and I made the best of it,” said Olsen, a senior from Cerritos who hit two home runs last season. “It’s not what I look for, but if it happens, it happens.”

Greg Shepard’s solo home run in the fifth increased the lead to 8-0.

In the sixth, Shepard’s run-scoring single to right drove in Hodgins for a 9-0 lead, and the Matadors scored three more runs in the ninth on four hits, including a leadoff double by Shepard, a senior right fielder who went three for five.

Buoyed by the support, Contreras, a transfer from Citrus College, struck out seven and walked two.

“Marco set the tempo the whole game by shooting them down,” Small said. “Even when they had runners on base, I was confident that they were not going to score.”

A diving catch by left fielder Joey Arnold in the first inning and double plays by the Matadors in the third and fourth kept Contreras from facing no more than four batters per inning until the sixth, when he allowed a leadoff single and a one-out walk.

After his wild pitch enabled a San Diego player to reach third base for the first time in the game, Contreras fielded a grounder and caught the player in a rundown between third and home, instead of throwing to second to start what could have been an inning-ending double play.

Fortunately, Contreras induced the next Torero batter to ground out, and the shutout endured.

“I was hoping for the shutout and Simsy (catcher Mike Sims) kept telling me I better go nine,” Contreras said. “It feels great. I wanted to come to Division I and compete against the best and so far it is going better than I expected.”

With a mix of fastballs and sliders, Contreras consistently varied his location, shaving the corners, inside and outside.

“What saved me a lot was location,” Contreras said. “Simsy called all the pitches. I shook him off maybe once.”

Northridge will resume the three-game series today at 1 p.m.