Neal Helps Deal CSUN Pair of Losses : College baseball: Former Westlake High player has six hits, five RBIs in sweep by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

For Rob Neal, maybe there is something to be said for over-analysis.

The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo outfielder has been limited to designated-hitter duty for 1 1/2 seasons because of an ailing shoulder.

Instead of cruising the outfield, he paces the dugout. Fidgets on the bench. Hangs on the cyclone fencing. Does the rah-rah thing.

“It gives you too much time to think about hitting,” he said. “When you play the outfield, you think about other things. When you’re the DH, all you think about’s that last at-bat.”

That last one Saturday killed Cal State Northridge. The way Neal swung the bat, they might never let him near a glove.

The junior All-American candidate from Westlake High banged out six hits and drove in five runs as the Mustangs swept a nonconference doubleheader from Northridge, 6-3 and 4-3.

The doubleheader was necessitated because a storm is expected to hit the region today, when the final game originally was to be played. For Northridge, which was swept in the season-opening three-game series, there are plenty of black clouds.

“That was gorgeous, huh?” Northridge Coach Bill Kernen asked.

The ending was particularly unappealing. In the seven-inning second game, Northridge scored in the sixth to pull even, 3-3. Right-hander John Najar, however, issued a two-out walk to Mark Townes in the bottom of the seventh and everything began to unravel from there.

Najar unloaded a pair of wild pitches to move Townes to third. With a 3-and-0 count on No. 3 hitter Jon Macalutas, Kernen elected not to groove a pitch and ordered an intentional fourth ball to put runners on the corners.

Next up? Neal, rated the No. 1 pro prospect in NCAA Division II by Baseball America magazine. He hit a chopper down the line and over the head of third baseman Tyler Nelson to drive home Townes with the winning run.

Neal buried the Matadors in the nine-inning first game as well. He tripled twice--matching his output for the entire 1993 season. It was Neal’s two-run triple that keyed a four-run rally in the seventh, breaking a 2-2 tie.

Neal wasn’t the only San Luis Obispo player with area ties who left a mark. Tony Kuper, a freshman right-hander from Grant High making his first collegiate appearance, won the opener with two innings of three-hit relief. Senior Keven Kempton, a 10-game winner last season, allowed six earned runs and 10 hits over eight innings and took the loss.

Junior right-hander R.J. Simone, who played at Hart High and College of the Canyons, went the distance in the second game for the Mustangs, giving up two earned runs on seven hits.

“I had butterflies,” said Simone, who was making his first appearance as a Mustang. “But they went away after the first couple of pitches.”

Some of the Matadors’ pitches floated to the plate like butterflies. In the three-game series, each Northridge starter gave up at least one run in the first inning, making for an uphill climb.

Starters Marco Contreras, Kempton and Najar allowed 18 earned runs and 28 hits over 22 2/3 innings. The trio also walked or hit 17 batters and threw seven wild pitches.