Van Heerde Adds Depth to CSUN’s Pitching : College baseball: Sophomore makes his first start and leads Matadors to 13-4 victory over Portland.

The pitching staff of the 13th-ranked Cal State Northridge team proved to be a little deeper than imagined Wednesday afternoon when Jason Van Heerde made his college debut as a starter at Matador Field.

Van Heerde, a sophomore from Rialto Eisenhower High who made four brief appearances in relief last season, struck out six and gave up only four hits in seven innings during a 13-4 nonconference win over Portland, becoming the sixth pitcher to win for Northridge (11-2).

“I thought he did really well for his first start,” Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said. “That was probably the highlight of the day.”

Van Heerde ran into trouble only twice--in the first inning and the sixth.

His first slider of the game was deposited over the left-field fence by leadoff hitter Ben Ortman and it looked like the start of a long day for the 6-foot-5, 180-pounder.

“It just wasn’t an aggressive pitch, it was three-quarter speed,” Van Heerde said. “Coach has been saying solo home runs won’t beat you. It’s the walks before the home runs that will beat you.”

Van Heerde kept his composure and struck out the next batter, Les Dennis.

From the second through the fifth, he sat the Pilots (5-5) down in order, including three strikeouts in the fourth.

In an admitted lapse of concentration in the sixth, he issued a one-out walk to Ortman, allowed him to steal second on a pitch in the dirt, balked him to third, and allowed him to score on a wild pitch.

Again, Van Heerde quickly regained his command and retired the next four batters.

“I was pleased,” Van Heerde said. “It has been difficult waiting around. I just wanted to take advantage of the chance to play.”

Erik Lazerus had similar feelings after going two for three with two runs batted in and a sacrifice fly in his first collegiate start.

“I try and stay ready at all times and when I get my chance I just use it,” said Lazerus, a sophomore from University High who was limited to three at-bats last season.

Lazerus almost missed his rare opportunity because of the flu.

“Before the game, Coach kept asking me if I was all right,” Lazerus said.

In fact, Lazerus was weak.

“But I’m not gonna tell him that,” Lazerus said. “And once the game started, I felt fine. My adrenaline was flowing.”

Northridge trailed, 1-0, in the third when Lazerus got the first of 14 Matador hits.

He stole second and teammates Greg Shepard and Andy Small drew walks to load the bases.

Mike Sims’ walk drove in Lazerus and Jason Shanahan’s single to right drove in Shepard for a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth, David Prosenko drew a one-out walk, stole second and scored on Lazerus’ ground-ball single to left.

The Matadors scored two runs in the sixth on one-out singles by Prosenko and Chris Olsen, Lazerus’ sacrifice fly and Shepard’s run-scoring single.

In the seventh, with Andy Small and Sims aboard after a walk and a bunt single followed by a wild pitch that advanced both runners, Shanahan delivered a full-count two-run single to center, giving Northridge a 6-2 lead and opening the flood gates for an eight-run inning.

“I pride myself on being an RBI guy,” said Shanahan, who has a team-high 17 RBIs.

Matador Notes

Designated hitter Keyaan Cook has fallen out of favor with Coach Bill Kernen. Kernen said Wednesday that he had a “little” on-the-field problem with Cook during the Cal State Sacramento series last weekend. “We need to discuss things and get things settled before he plays again,” Kernen said. “It is not even a major kind of a deal. We are making adjustments to each other’s styles and we hit a little bump in the road.”

Although Cook, a transfer from LSU, has not played the past two games, it is not necessarily because of this situation, according to Kernen. He said he wanted to give other players, primarily Jonathan Campbell and Erik Lazerus, a chance to play. . . .

Catcher Mike Sims laid a bunt down that died between the third baseman and the pitcher, extending his hitting streak to eight games. . . .

Keven Kempton (2-1, 2.77), Marco Contreras (2-1, 1.05) and Evan Howland (1-0, 4.15) are the scheduled starters for the Matadors’ three-game home series against Wyoming Friday through Sunday.