Northridge Has a Grand Time : College baseball: CSUN sweeps Hawaii in three-game series behind Howard’s dramatic eighth-inning shot.

And they call Hawaii paradise?

Sunday, home-sweet-homely Matador Field was a big slice of heaven for the Cal State Northridge baseball team, which pulled off its most stirring comeback of the season.

How wild was it? Northridge Coach Bill Kernen, not prone to superlatives, used “best” and “ever” to describe the crazy scenario.

“This was the best scene we’ve ever had around here,” Kernen said, cracking a broad smile. “The fans, the dramatic stuff, it was something to see.”

The scene stealer was Kevin Howard, whose grand slam capped a six-run rally in the eighth as Northridge shocked 24th-ranked Hawaii, 9-6, to complete a three-game sweep in a Western Athletic Conference series opener.

The Matadors (12-10, 3-0 in conference play) trailed, 6-3, entering the eighth and Hawaii right-hander Andrew McNally seemingly was cruising. With one out, though, Eric Gillespie singled and Chad Thornhill walked, prompting McNally’s removal.

To that point, McNally, a sophomore from Australia, had given up eight hits.

“To tell you the truth,” Kernen said, “I was was pretty happy to see him outta there.”

Howard turned outta there into outta here. Mark Johnson, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound freshman, came in throwing plenty of fastballs, most of which whizzed back at him with equal velocity. Jason Shanahan greeted Johnson with a single to drive home Gillespie, paring the deficit to 6-4, and Keyaan Cook singled to load the bases.

With a rabid contingent of Northridge students taunting Johnson with sing-song verbal jabs, he nicked Josh Smaler with a pitch to force in a run, bringing the Matadors within 6-5. Howard, one for 11 in the series as he stepped in, tried to keep his wits about him.

“I don’t get that excited--that’s not really my game plan,” said Howard, a junior transfer from Fresno City College. “I just watch the game and kick back.”

A moment later, the home dugout was kicking and screaming. Howard was late on a Johnson fastball, but the blast nonetheless easily cleared the wall in right and landed on the roof of a temporary classroom for a 9-6 lead.

“(Howard’s) a pretty clutch guy,” Kernen said. “I’d rather have a guy with 10 homers like that one than 20 when we didn’t need ‘em.”

Smaler went bananas as he rounded the bases, which didn’t endear him to the Hawaii players. Shortstop Sy Farinas, in fact, gave Smaler a one-finger salute. It wasn’t the index finger.

Howard’s slam, his third homer of the year, wasn’t even the coup de grace in one of the wildest innings in Kernen’s six-year tenure. On the following pitch, Johnson hit Tyler Nelson between the shoulder blades with a fastball to start more fireworks.

Johnson was ejected and both dugouts emptied. No contact was made, but play was delayed for several minutes while coaches and umpires redirected players back to the bench.

Right-hander Aaron D’Aoust (4-0) was the surprise starter for the Matadors. D’Aoust, who turned 21 Saturday, pitched the first complete game of his career. He gave up three earned runs and 13 hits and threw 130 pitches.

Trailing, 3-2, Hawaii (14-11, 0-3) scored four in the sixth, which included a solo homer by Jody Napuunoa, who had four hits. D’Aoust also gave up a single, double and triple in the inning.

“All my fault,” he said. “I wasn’t hitting my spots.”

The spotlight was stolen by Howard, though the Matadors didn’t make many friends in the process. Northridge--which plays at Hawaii on April 15-17--may have found an archrival.

“It’s going to be fun to see who they bring out and what they try to do,” Smaler said. “I feed off that stuff. I think this team does too.”

Matador Notes

Would you throw this man a strike? Freshman designated hitter Eric Gillespie had two hits to raise his batting average to a team-high .389 and has had multiple hits in an otherworldly seven of his last eight games. . . . First baseman Jason Shanahan had two hits Sunday to extend his hitting streak to 10 games, during which he has eight multiple-hit efforts and 19 runs batted in. Shanahan is batting .364. . . .

Second baseman Keyaan Cook, batting in the cleanup spot during the series, went seven for 11. . . . The nine-game hitting streak of catcher Josh Smaler ended Sunday--he was the only Northridge starter without a hit--but he scored once and drove in a run. . . .

Matador Coach Bill Kernen is one victory shy of 200 in his six-year career at Northridge. His teams are 199-105-3 and play nonconference games against the University of San Diego on Tuesday and Hartford on Wednesday before opening a three-game WAC series at Cal State Sacramento over the weekend. . . .

Hawaii, the preseason favorite to win the WAC West Division title, entered the Northridge series with an earned-run average of 5.27 and exited with a mark of 5.91. Northridge, which has won seven of eight, scored 33 runs in 24 innings. . . .

Eight of nine Matador regulars drove in runs in Saturday’s 14-4 victory. Six players did likewise Sunday. . . . Hawaii brought their bats too. The Rainbows banged out 37 hits, but stranded 29 runners. Second baseman Corey Ishigo was seven for 13 in the series and outfielder Franz Yuen was six for 12.