CSUN Gets In Its Own Shots Against Cal Lutheran : Baseball: Small hits two home runs and Matadors (8-0) put a muzzle on talkative Kingsmen in 11-4 victory.

What a difference a lead makes. For pitcher Evan Howland, it meant not having to be so fine. And for his Cal State Northridge teammate, Greg Shepard, it meant “sticking it in their face.”

The foils for such effrontery were the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen, who briefly enjoyed a one-run lead Wednesday against the host Matadors, who are ranked 14th in Division I.

“They were ragging on us and they were out of their dugout,” Shepard said. “It is a pride thing because they should not come out here and do that to us.”

A three-run home run by Andy Small put an end to the taunting, enabled Howland to gain command and launched Northridge to an 11-4 triumph over the Kingsmen (4-2), the 1992 Division III College World Series runners-up.

Matador Coach Bill Kernen juggled the batting order, and Northridge (8-0) responded with 14 hits, six for extra bases.

With the Matadors trailing, 4-3, Shepard led off the bottom of the third inning with a double. After Shepard was erased on a fielder’s choice, Mike Sims doubled to left, setting the stage for Small, who had hit a bases-empty homer in the first inning.

Cal Lutheran starter Sam Arroyo fell behind in the count 2-and-1 and left a curve hanging over the inside part of the plate. Small belted it more than 400 feet, over the left-field fence and beyond a large tree, to give Northridge a 6-4 lead.

“It was what I was looking for,” said Small, who was moved from fourth to fifth in the batting order because Kernen was displeased with his .231 average with runners in scoring position.

“That was big,” Kernen said. “They took the lead and we took the lead back in an answer-back situation. That’s what we call it. You see good teams do that. That was the turning point.”

When Howland returned to the mound with a two-run lead he was a different pitcher than the one who relieved starter Jason Shanahan with two on and one out an inning earlier.

Against Scott Sebbo, the first batter he faced in the third, Howland allowed a run-scoring hit. Then, he walked Chris Fick, loading the bases for Joe Cascione.

Cascione grounded to Small, who started a 5-4-3 double play that prevented a potentially explosive inning.

Given a lead, the freshman from El Camino Real High held Cal Lutheran scoreless, allowed only two more hits and one more walk, and struck out four.

“I did get more comfortable,” Howland said. “When you have the lead you don’t work against yourself. You don’t have to be fine. I didn’t have a bread-and-butter pitch. I was just mixing things up.”

Howland, 11-2 last season for the Conquistadores, earned his first victory as a Matador in his second relief appearance.

Kernen replaced Howland with Johnny Najar at the start of the ninth inning only because Najar, who struck out two and allowed one hit, needed game experience.

By that time the score was lopsided, courtesy of a four-run seventh inning in which three Kingsmen pitchers combined to hit a batter, walk four others and allow two hits. One of those hits was a double by Shepard, who went four for five to extend his hitting streak to five games and boost his batting average to a team-leading .400.

As usual, the senior right fielder expected more of himself.

“I only thought I hit the ball good on two at-bats,” Shepard said. “The other two I was down in the count and I fought my way up the middle and to the opposite field. I’m still not happy with the way I’m hitting, but I’ll take four for five.”

Kernen believes the key to Shepard’s improvement--he hit .266 last season--is selectivity.

“He’s more selective so he has more pitches he can drive,” Kernen said. “Last year he was a little overaggressive. He tried to do too much.”

Northridge took a 3-0 lead in the first inning, scoring on an error, a groundout and Small’s home run.

Cal Lutheran answered in the second inning with David Chapman’s two-run home run, his second of the season. The Kingsmen used three hits in the third to take their short-lived 4-3 lead.

Matador Notes

Northridge senior pitcher Steven Morales, who is expected to be the ace of the staff, underwent acupuncture treatment Wednesday for soreness in the muscles below his elbow. If the treatment is effective, Morales could make his season debut in relief next Tuesday against Chapman or in a relief role in the series March 5-7 against Cal State Sacramento.