COLLEGE BASEBALL / NCAA REGIONAL PLAYOFFS : Northridge Beats Pepperdine

The last time Keven Kempton of Cal State Northridge pitched against Pepperdine, he lasted less than an inning.

But Friday night, the junior right-hander pitched a complete game as Northridge beat the defending national champion Waves, 7-6, in the West Regional at Tempe, Ariz.

Pepperdine was the only Southland team to lose Friday. Northridge, Cal State Long Beach and UCLA all improved to 2-0 in the double-elimination regionals, and USC and Cal State Fullerton won their openers.

Winners of the eight, six-team double elimination tournaments advance to the College World Series June 4-12 at Omaha.

Kempton (10-4) last faced Pepperdine on May 18 when he gave up four hits and a walk and was replaced with none out in the first inning.

Friday night, he gave up six hits and struck out seven for the Matadors, who will play Arizona State, a 6-5 winner over Minnesota, today at 11 a.m.

Pepperdine plays St. John’s in an elimination game at 2:30. The winner plays the loser the of the Northridge-Arizona State game in an elimination game at 7 p.m.

Jason Shanahan had three hits for Northridge, including a solo home run in the fifth inning against reliever Mauricio Estavil that proved to be the game-winning hit.

Mike Sims also had three hits and drove in a run for Northridge.

Pepperdine, trailing 7-6, threatened in the bottom of the ninth when David Lovell singled with one out. He was forced at second on Eric Ekdahl’s grounder, and Kempton struck out Matt McElreath to end the game.

EAST

Pinch-hitter Brian Smith drew a bases-loaded walk from Jay Powell with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning as Long Beach eliminated Mississippi State with a 2-1 victory at Tallahassee, Fla.

Long Beach will play Florida State, a 7-3 winner in 10 innings over Notre Dame, in game between two unbeaten teams.

John Swanson, who hit a solo homer for Long Beach during the first inning, singled to start the ninth, but was thrown out at second on a sacrifice attempt by Kevin Curtis. One out later, Curtis advanced to third on bloop single by Rudy Rodriguez. Both runners advanced on a passed ball, and Brian Whatley was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Smith worked the count to 3-2 before Powell forced in the winning run with a pitch that was low and outside.

David Goldstein (2-2) pitched three innings in relief of Mike Fontana for the victory.

CENTRAL I

John Myrow had a two-run triple and a two-run homer to lead UCLA to a 9-4 victory over Hawaii at College Station, Tex.

UCLA will play Texas A&M;, a 10-5 winner Friday over Lamar, today in a game between 2-0 teams.

Hawaii took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on two hits and two errors.

Mike Mitchell homered for UCLA in the second and Myrow added a two-run triple as the Bruins took a 6-3 lead.

UCLA’s Dave Ravitz hit a solo homer in the sixth and Myrow added his homer in the eighth.

Jon Van Zandt (7-7) gave up four runs and nine hits in six innings. Ryan McGuire pitched three hitless innings for his second save.

CENTRAL II

Tony Nieto gave up a run and six hits in 7 2/3 innings as USC defeated Kentucky, 7-1, at Austin, Tex.

USC plays Fullerton, an 11-5 winner over Maine, tonight.

USC scored three runs in the first inning and three in the third.

“We’re not deep on the mound, so to get this many innings out of Nieto is very, very important,” USC Coach Mike Gillespie said.

Nieto (8-4) has won five of his last six starts.

Kurt Bierek and Aaron Boone each drove in two runs for USC.

Fullerton scored two runs on squeeze plays, two runs on wild pitches, two runs on errors and another on a sacrifice fly against Maine.

Jeremy Carr and Jeff Ferguson each drove in two runs for the Titans, who stole seven bases.

Mike Parisi (10-3) allowed two runs and five hits in six innings for the victory.