Coach Locates Switch After Power Outage

Dan O’Sullivan had one home run in 57 plate appearances before The Master’s College began a stretch of five games in six days last week. The lone homer was struck in his first at-bat of the season.

“He was hitting the ball well for average, but he wasn’t finishing his swing,” Master’s Coach Chris Harrison said. “He was coming off the ball a little bit at contact instead of staying through the ball.”

Harrison noticed the problem about 125 pitches into a 150-pitch batting practice session with O’Sullivan.

“He got me to square my shoulders more and hit down through the baseball rather than coming off it,” O’Sullivan said. “The last 25 pitches I hit about five or six home runs and a couple of others off the fence.”

In his next 18 at-bats, he had 11 hits and 15 runs batted in. Seven of the hits were home runs, and he raised his batting average to .443.

“Coach knows hitting,” O’Sullivan said. “But I’ve never had advice work for me like that.”

O’Sullivan, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound junior, had 10 home runs last season, second-best on the team.

“I know I can hit home runs, but to hit seven in a week? I don’t think that will happen again,” he said.

Perhaps not.

Against Point Loma on Tuesday, he was 0 for 3.

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE

BASEBALL

Until Northridge’s second-line pitchers improve, the 14th-ranked Matadors (17-5) probably will struggle in nonconference games.

With Western Athletic Conference Western Division three-game series usually scheduled for weekends, Coach Bill Kernen cannot afford to use his top three pitchers--John Bushart, Marco Contreras and Keven Kempton--for midweek nonconference games. Still, he’d like to see better efforts than the recent 12-4 loss to Cal State Fullerton and the 20-2 loss to Cal State Long Beach on Tuesday.

Kernen has been concerned about the team’s pitching depth because right-hander Steven Morales has been limited to one brief appearance because of an elbow/forearm strain that has hampered him all season.

“I don’t know if we’ll ever have Morales (on a regular basis) so it’s a huge concern,” Kernen said. “I would have recruited another pitcher if I had known that I wasn’t going to have him.” . . .

Senior right fielder Greg Shepard made his first error of the season Saturday in a 10-3 victory in 10 innings over San Diego State. Shepard had difficulty picking up Heath Hayes’ double down the line and his throw landed in the Aztec dugout, giving Heath a trip around the bases on a double and two errors. . . .

Trivia question: Who led the Matadors in batting in 1959?

In WAC play, Keyaan Cook is hitting 1.000 with runners in scoring position. He also is two for five as a pinch-hitter in the last four games. . . . Shortstop Andy Hodgins doubled in three at-bats during the 20-2 loss to Long Beach, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. . . .

Third baseman Andy Small had an eight-game hitting streak end against Long Beach. He has homered three times in the past six games. . . . Pitchers Marco Contreras and Keven Kempton share similar numbers: Contreras has pitched 44 2/3 innings and has a 2.42 earned-run average. Kempton has pitched 44 innings and has a 2.45 ERA. . . . According to a UCLA official, more than 80 scouts attended the CSUN-UCLA game last week. . . .

Trivia answer: Pete Cassidy, CSUN basketball coach, with a .333 average.

VOLLEYBALL

Consistently being inconsistent is a trademark of the Northridge team.

So when the Matadors swept Loyola Marymount, 15-7, 15-6, 15-5 on Tuesday, Coach John Price was pleasantly surprised.

“We didn’t rely on emotion,” Price said. “We were steady. That match went how it should go, which is not always the case with us.”

The sciatic nerve problem that has pestered senior blocker Ken Lynch all season has become worse in recent days, causing numbness from the lower portion of his back to the middle of his left calf. “It’s really to the point now where the only thing that is going to make it better is to rest,” Price said. Lynch’s 5.86 kills a game average as of March 17 ranked him 10th in the nation. . . .

Coley Kyman claimed his fifth school record for a career when he recorded three assisted blocks in Saturday’s match against San Diego State. Kyman added three more blocks against Loyola Marymount on Tuesday, giving him 388--six more than Raphael Tulino totaled from 1988-91. Kyman also is the leader in kills, kill attempts, digs and total blocks.

SOFTBALL

Coach Gary Torgeson second-guessed himself after darkness caused Northridge’s nonconference game against Kansas on Tuesday to end in a 1-1 tie after 15 innings.

In the 12th, Torgeson ordered Beth Calcante, the Matadors’ top run-producer, to bunt with one out, moving the potential winning run to second base. Kansas countered by intentionally walking Tamara Ivie to bring up freshman Scia Maumausolo, who had struck out in her previous five at-bats.

Maumausolo struck out again.

“(The intentional walk) wasn’t very smart was it?” Torgeson said. “I didn’t think they would walk Ivie, but later I complimented their coach for doing it. We all have our moments of brain-deadness.” . . .

In November, Calcante had a tumor removed from under her right (throwing) arm. She still has not regained full strength; occasionally she throws the ball underhanded from her position in left field. However, Calcante can--and will--come over the top if the situation warrants it.

In the first inning against Kansas, she threw out the Jayhawks’ Krissy Carpenter, who was attempting to score from second on a single. . . .

Midway through the Kansas game, Northridge pitcher Kathy Blake said she pulled a muscle under her right (throwing) arm. “Every time I lifted my arm, I could feel it,” she said.

So go figure: In the first seven innings, Blake allowed eight hits. In the last eight innings, she gave up only three. . . . The Matadors concluded what was supposed to be a 14-game home stand with an 11-1-1 record. Northridge’s scheduled doubleheader against Kansas on Tuesday was limited to a single game, the 1-1 tie.

TENNIS

Amy Marks ran her team-best singles record to 16-2 by defeating Jackie Deford of Oregon, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, on Tuesday. After transferring to Northridge from Colorado in the fall of 1990, Marks was 1-1 for the Matadors in 1991. She was 0-3 in singles in ’92 when she suffered a broken clavicle. The NCAA granted her a medical redshirt for that season, leaving her with two more full seasons of eligibility.

Marks is undefeated when playing the No. 5 (5-0) and No. 6 (7-0) singles spots this season. She is 1-1 in the No. 4 slot and 3-1 in open play. Marks and partner Monica Kocian also have a team-best 9-3 record in doubles.

Northridge lost its nonconference match to Oregon, 5-4, dropping the Matadors’ record to 10-4.

GOLF

Jeff Sanday has finished in the top 10 in five of Northridge’s six tournaments. He also has the Matadors’ only Division I tournament victory--a win in the Cal State Sacramento invitational earlier this month. Sanday’s victory was the first by a Northridge player since Bob Burns won the 1990 NCAA Division II championship.

TRACK & FIELD

Matador assistant Tony Veney was particularly pleased with the 200-meter performances of senior Charlotte Vines, freshman Cherise Ellison and junior Janine Stewart in the Collegiate Classic on Saturday at Cal State Long Beach after the trio finished second (24.66), third (24.77) and fourth (24.78), respectively. Stewart, a transfer from San Diego State, moved to eighth on the all-time Matador performer list in the women’s 400 meters when she timed 55.62 to finish second in the Collegiate Classic. . . .

The women’s 400-meter relay team of senior Joy Polk, sophomore Kisha Arnett, sophomore Tamika Bradfield and Vines finished second in 46.17 in the Collegiate Classic. The time moved them to 10th on the all-time Matador list. . . . Huge fields are expected in several events in the Northridge Invitational at CSUN on Saturday. Matador Coach Don Strametz said that there were 126 entries in the men’s 200 meters and 109 in the men’s 1,500 by Wednesday afternoon.

JUNIOR COLLEGES

BASEBALL

Antelope Valley’s victory over Citrus on Saturday snapped a six-game losing streak for the Marauders (3-13, 2-7 in Foothill Conference play). Antelope Valley, which last season lost 12 in a row in one stretch, also had a five-game losing streak earlier this season. . . . The Marauders are batting .253 and their pitching hasn’t responded. Right-hander Chad Hamilton (0-1) has the team’s lowest earned-run average at 3.86. The staff (5.38 ERA) has given up 177 hits and 58 walks in 145 innings. . . .

Pierce second baseman Herman Merchan sat out Tuesday’s Western State Conference game against Bakersfield while recovering from an injury.

Coach Bob Lofrano said Merchan was spiked on the index finger of his glove hand--which many players stick outside the glove--when he tried to tag a runner in a game against Santa Barbara City on Saturday.

The cut required stitches but Merchan might return to the lineup today.

BASKETBALL

Several Ventura players are on their way to recruiting trips to Division I schools, Pirate Coach Philip Mathews said. Calvin Curry, a 6-foot-6 forward who was the Western State Conference North Division player of the year, will visit Washington State this weekend. He already has visited Oklahoma and plans to visit Arizona State, Georgetown and Hawaii.

Stephane Brown, a 5-10 guard from Channel Islands High, will visit Texas Christian this weekend and has scheduled trips to Drake, Hawaii and Morgan State. He already has visited Oregon State. Forward Michael King is getting ready to visit Hawaii, Northern Arizona, Morgan State and Sacramento State. Also looking at four-year schools is guard Donyhel Johnson (Cal State Los Angeles, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Fresno State).

CAL LUTHERAN

BASEBALL

After Cal Lutheran knocked off UC San Diego, 3-0, on March 10, Coach Rich Hill gave the team a week off to enjoy spring break. Cal Lutheran practiced only once--last Wednesday--before meeting Montclair State on Thursday.

The result was predictable. The Kingsmen lost, 8-1, snapping a four-game winning streak. . . . Cal Lutheran has won all nine Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games, outscoring opponents, 121-21.

Staff writers Fernando Dominguez, Mike Hiserman, Theresa Munoz and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.