CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE NOTEBOOK : Grandmother Offers CSUN Vocal Support

No matter where the Matadors roam--San Diego, Orange County, Sacramento, even Hawaii--they can count on the relentless cheers of Jan Peralta, their super fan.

Peralta wears a Northridge cap and T-shirt and keeps a score book for each game. She supports each player as if he were her own although she is related to only one player, pitcher John Bushart, one of her seven grandchildren.

“You can always see her and you can always hear her,” said Bushart, a junior from Thousand Oaks High. “She’s a big baseball fan, but she’s a die-hard CSUN baseball fan. She calls us her team.”

Peralta has not missed a game this season and she plans to attend each Northridge game, even a three-game series in Hawaii. . . . In four seasons, right fielder Greg Shepard has never been the subject of more abuse than the treatment he received from several hundred Cal State Sacramento fans last weekend. The boisterous group was seated only a few yards from Shepard in bleachers outside Hornet Field that are frequented by those who do not want to pay the price of admission. Remarkably, Shepard brushed off the barrage of insults.

“I actually liked it,” he said. “I thrive on that kind of stuff. It was funny. There were not a lot of gross comments. It was in good humor.”

At various points throughout the series, a member of the right field rowdies would yell, “What’s the matter with Shepard?” And the rest of the crowd would reply, “He’s a bum.”

Although the Matadors lost two of the three games, Shepard let his bat do the talking--he batted .538 in the series. . . .

Because right-handed pitcher Steven Morales remains sidelined because of a sore right elbow and forearm, his contributions have been limited to vocal support from the bench. “I feel if I’m not in the game I want to be the most involved,” he said. . . .

Before Friday’s game, Shepard led the team in batting average with runners in scoring position (.667), on-base percentage (.532), doubles (six), walks (13) and batting average among starters (.408). He was second in runs batted in with 16 despite batting leadoff the past four games.

SOFTBALL

Friday’s doubleheader sweep of South Carolina marked the start of a 14-game home stand for the Matadors. South Carolina, ranked 16th, is the first of four nationally rated teams coming to Matador Field this month. The others are No. 9 Massachusetts on March 16, No. 12 Nevada Las Vegas on March 19 and No. 13 Kansas on March 23.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Coley Kyman was not at his best Wednesday in a match against top-ranked Pepperdine, but, typically, he picked up the pace when it mattered most.

Already trailing two games to none, Northridge rallied from a 7-1 deficit to post a 15-13 victory in the third game, gaining a reprieve and avoiding the embarrassment of being swept at home.

Then Kyman, who had only two blocks in the first three games, went to work. The two-time All-American, a senior, had a solo block and six assists in the fourth game, leading the Matadors to a 16-14 win that forced a fifth game, won by Northridge, 15-11.

Kyman, a 6-foot-5 middle blocker, received credit for 10 blocks--nine assists and one solo--in the match. His second block made him Northridge’s career block leader, moving him ahead of Raphael Tulino. Kyman has 474 blocks. Tulino had 465. . . .

Pepperdine still leads its all-time series with Northridge, 17-8, but since Kyman and Ken Lynch joined the team in 1990, the Matadors have won seven of eight meetings. “We joke about it because it’s always been a rivalry for us,” Coach John Price said. “Just recently it’s become a rivalry for them.”

Staff writers Mike Hiserman and Theresa Munoz contributed to this notebook.