CSUN Falls Short at Long Beach, 10-7 : College baseball: Matadors can’t make it all the way back after 49ers jump on Kempton for six runs in first.

Cal State Northridge pitcher Keven Kempton put the 23rd-ranked Matadors into a six-run hole Tuesday night. They never climbed all the way out, falling, 10-7, to fifth-ranked Cal State Long Beach at Blair Field.

In the first inning, Kempton (9-4) walked leadoff hitter Cobi Cradle and gave up a run-scoring triple to Sean Davisson. Then, he walked John Swanson and Kevin Curtis to load the bases. After striking out Jeff Liefer, he walked Rudy Rodriguez on four consecutive pitches, allowing Davisson to score.

The next batter, designated hitter Brian Smith, ripped a 1-and-2 pitch 400 feet over the center-field fence. The grand slam by Smith, a transfer from Pierce College and a graduate of Agoura High, gave the 49ers a 6-0 lead.

“Momma said there’d be days like this,” Kempton said. “My arm was a little sore and I was a little frustrated with the umpire because he wouldn’t give me the outside corner.”

Long Beach (36-17) added a run in the fourth when Cradle hit a two-out single, stole second and scored on Davisson’s single to right.

In the fifth, Curtis led off with a single to center, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Smith’s two-out hit to left. John Strauss followed with a towering double to left, scoring Smith and driving Kempton out of the game.

It was the first time Kempton did not complete a start, ending a streak of 12 consecutive complete games.

“I wanted to finish,” he said. “I gave it 110%, but it just wasn’t there today.”

Kempton’s replacement, Evan Howland, gave up a run-scoring single that increased the 49ers’ lead to 10-3.

Over the last three innings, he held the 49ers scoreless.

“That’s the best stuff he’s had by far,” Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said.

It was a marked contrast to Howland’s performance earlier this season against the 49ers. They scored five runs and drove the freshman from El Camino Real High out of the game in the third inning.

“I’ve been working with a new slider that takes off a little more and is tighter and I had more pop on my fastball,” Howland said. “My plan for the season was to get better and better. There isn’t a pill I took, as coach would say.”

Northridge (31-17) scored three runs in the fifth, two runs in the sixth, and one each in the seventh and ninth. But it lacked clutch hitting, stranding six runners.

Matador Notes

The 49ers clinched the Big West Conference title Sunday and earned the conference’s automatic berth in the 48-team NCAA tournament. As a result, Coach Dave Snow made a few changes in the lineup, including starting seldom-used right-hander Julio Colon.

Colon (2-4), who was taken out of the rotation in late March after losing his first three starts, entered the game with a 7.81 earned-run average. Through the fourth inning he looked like the ace of the staff, limiting the Matadors to three hits and allowing his infield to turn three double plays. . . . Catcher Mike Sims extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a single in the seventh inning.