Small Hits Add Up for CSUN : College baseball: He slams two home runs and Contreras shuts down St. John’s for 3-1 victory.

Andy Small spoiled a pitching duel at the NCAA West Regional on Thursday at Packard Stadium.

Fortunately for Cal State Northridge fans, he ruined the five-hit effort of St. John’s left-hander Tom Danulevith, as opposed to the five-hit performance of Northridge right-hander Marco Contreras.

Small homered twice, driving in all three Matador runs in a 3-1 victory.

With Greg Shepard aboard on a first-inning walk, Small powered a belt-high fastball over the right-field wall for a 2-0 lead.

St. John’s (25-19) drew to within a run in the third when leadoff hitter Rich Howard reached base on an error by first baseman Jason Shanahan and scored on Anthony D’Esposito’s triple to right.

Contreras stranded D’Esposito, sandwiching two strikeouts around a groundout by leadoff hitter Kevin Murphy. Down, 3-0, in the count against Murphy, Contreras delivered two strikes. After Murphy fouled off the next two pitches, Contreras induced a comebacker to the mound.

Contreras and Danulevith shut down both sides in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. Then Small gave the Matadors breathing room with his solo homer in the eighth.

On a 0-and-1 count, Danulevith delivered an inside fastball.

“I thought he was thinking breaking ball so I thought I’d surprise him,” Danulevith said. “But he was thinking fastball again. He’s a perfect definition of what separates good hitters from great hitters. Any small mistake I made he took advantage of. I tip my hat to him.”

Small’s blast, his 20th of the season, cleared a 30-foot advertising fence beyond the center-field wall.

“I was just trying to hit the ball hard,” said Small who moved into fifth on Northridge’s all-time list of single-season home run leaders.

“He’s a big-game guy,” teammate Keven Kempton said.

Danulevith (6-5) allowed only three other hits and struck out six.

Contreras (8-4) tossed a five-hitter, struck out nine and walked only one.

Along with his bulldog effort in the third, he came through in the eighth after Jason Loscalzo singled and Murphy reached base on shortstop Andy Hodgins’ fumble of a potential inning-ending double-play ball.

With one out and the potential winning run (Murphy) on first, Contreras struck out Brian Fitzsimmons and got Brett Barkewicz out on a shot back to the mound.

His battle with Fitzsimmons was tense. On a full count, Fitzsimmons fouled off two outside pitches. Then Contreras froze him with an inside pitch.

“I felt he was leaning over the plate and I thought an inside pitch would surprise him,” Contreras said. “And it did.”

The count was full for Barkewicz too. His line drive hit Contreras. Dazed, Contreras picked up the ball and threw Barkewicz out easily at first.

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The Matadors (35-18) will play defending NCAA champion Pepperdine (41-15) tonight in the second round of the West Regional.

The teams split during the regular season. On May 18, Northridge rallied from an 8-0 first-inning deficit to defeat the Waves, 10-9 in 10 innings. On April 20 in Malibu, the Waves pounded Northridge, 14-2.

Kempton (9-4) will start for Northridge. He started the May 18 game and was removed with none out in the first after allowing two doubles, two singles and a walk. “They’ll see me and think, ‘We hit this guy hard last time,’ ” Kempton said.

Kempton believes it will be different this time because the 10-day break between starts has done wonders for his sore elbow.

“This is the best it’s felt in four weeks,” Kempton said. “I feel great. It’s gonna be a dogfight with Pepperdine because we’re ready and I’m ready.”

Pepperdine Coach Andy Lopez said he will start either freshman left-hander Greg Gregory (7-2, with a 2.58 earned-run average) or freshman right-hander Jason LeBlanc (7-3, 2.82).

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Northridge designated hitter Keyaan Cook did not start for the first time since March 31.

“I thought Cook had been struggling lately,” Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said. “It’s unusual for me to do that (sit down a starter) before a regional, but we’ve had such a large gap (eight days) between games. It’s something I do from time to time, sit someone down to see if it will help clear their mind.”

Kernen has been concerned by Cook’s swing mechanics and pitch selection. “We’re gonna need him to be hitting,” Kernen said. “Our lineup is better when he’s in there.”

In his last three games, Cook is three for 12. The game before that, he went three for four with a home run. He is batting .303 this season with 33 runs batted in.

Reserve outfielder Jonathan Campbell started in place of Cook. It was his first start since May 5. Campbell went one for three and stole a base. He is batting .257 with 15 RBIs.

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Catcher Mike Sims said he had no difficulty catching with an unfamiliar glove.

“I think I caught one of the best games I have all year,” he said. “I was real tentative with the glove so I made sure I stuck with every pitch.”

Sims borrowed the glove and a mask from Pepperdine. All of his equipment, including his bat and uniforms, were stolen from the Northridge clubhouse this week.