Bushart Keys CSUN Victory With Shutout

The scouts came in droves to see Cal State Northridge left-hander John Bushart pitch Sunday at Matador Field. But his velocity was so unimpressive that they didn’t need their radar guns.

What the guns could not measure was Bushart’s competitiveness in the Matadors’ “must-win” Western Athletic Conference Western Division game.

With a painful twinge in his shoulder that limited his fastball to the 70 m.p.h. range, Bushart compensated with sharp control for his second shutout of the season in Northridge’s 6-0 victory over San Diego State.

In notching his sixth complete game, Bushart (7-2, 2.46 earned-run average) tossed a five-hitter with one walk and seven strikeouts. The junior from Thousand Oaks High threw 86 pitches, the fewest number thrown in a Northridge shutout in Bill Kernen’s five seasons as coach.

“My arm’s been bugging me, but you still gotta go out there and throw,” Bushart said.

Bushart was backed by several outstanding plays: a throw by left fielder Jonathan Campbell that nailed Malcolm Warfield at the plate in the seventh, third baseman Tyler Nelson’s leaping snag of a liner in the fifth, shortstop Andy Hodgins’ throw to first from deep in the hole in the ninth, and catcher Mike Sims’ throw out of Joe Ariaudo during an attempted steal in the second.

Northridge is 22-11, 8-7 in WAC play; the Aztecs are 14-27, 2-8.