Matadors Play Hardball in Softball Sweep

Mercy, mercy.

That sums up Cal State Northridge’s sweep of Southern Utah in a Western Athletic Conference softball doubleheader Friday.

The sixth-ranked Matadors pounded 33 hits in nine offensive innings against Southern Utah for 10-0 and 19-0 victories. Both games were called after five innings because of a 10-run mercy rule.

“You know you kind of hate to win like that,” said Northridge Coach Gary Torgeson, who watched the Matadors capitalize on 11 errors. “I felt really sorry for them.”

While Torgeson was feeling sorry for the Thunderbirds, the Matadors (16-2, 2-0 in WAC play) were securing the 600th victory for Torgeson, who is in his 13th season at Northridge. Torgeson’s Matador teams are 600-208-8.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Torgeson asked. “It’s hard for me to believe we’ve won all those games. I know we’ve won a bunch, but it still seems like a lot to me.”

Senior right-hander Amy Windmiller made No. 600 most memorable by pitching her second consecutive no-hitter. Windmiller, who allowed only one baserunner in five innings in the second game, no-hit Missouri on March 12.

Windmiller (7-1), who didn’t know she had thrown a no-hitter until it was announced over the public address system after the game, lowered her earned-run average to 0.24.

“Just as long as we win, I don’t care (about no-hitters),” she said.

Windmiller, who struck out 12 of 16 batters, had a tough act to follow. Junior right-hander Kathy Blake (6-1) tossed a one-hitter in the first game, surrendering a bloop single to Danielle Sandberg leading off the fifth. Blake has not given up an earned run in 42 innings this season.

For Northridge batters, it was day to improve their statistics. The Matadors collected a school record 21 hits in the second game. Northridge’s first six batters improved their batting averages. Shannon Jones went five for six with four runs batted in.

Jones, who hit a three-run home run in the second game, improved her average from .425 to .478. Jennifer Parker, a part-time starter who did not play in the first game, went four for four in the second game and raised her average to a team-high .600.

In the first game, Tamara Ivie’s two-run double keyed a three-run first inning. Northridge extended the lead to 5-0 in the fourth when Ivie’s single to center field drove in Jen Fleming and Beth Calcante.

Game 2 got truly ugly for Southern Utah (4-12, 0-2) in the third inning when Northridge scored nine runs on eight hits and four errors to take a 13-0 lead. An inning later, the Matadors added six runs on six hits.