CSUN’s Orr Closes Door on Fresno St. : College baseball: Reliever gets final five outs in Northridge’s 9-8 victory.

Cal State Northridge pitcher Rick Orr demonstrated his closer’s mentality by throwing his first two warm-up pitches over the catcher’s head and into the backstop when he entered the eighth inning of Sunday’s game against Fresno State.

“I wasn’t worried,” Orr said. “I knew I’d been throwing well in the bullpen.”

Faced with runners at second and third and one out and the host Matadors clinging to a one-run lead, Orr got the last five outs, allowing Northridge to score a 9-8 Western Athletic Conference victory.

Orr’s save was the first for the Matadors this season and came in dramatic fashion. Northridge was leading, 9-7, entering the eighth, but two errors gave the Bulldog a chance to tie the score.

After starter Aaron D’Aoust (5-1) got the first out, third baseman Tyler Nelson dropped a towering popup from Josh Kaitfors, who scored after singles by Kevin Gunther and Matt Curtis. Center fielder Joey Arnold mishandled Curtis’ single, enabling both runners to advance. On Orr’s second pitch, pinch-hitter Kyle Fielstad hit a line drive directly at first baseman Jason Shanahan. Orr retired the next batter on a ground ball to get out of the jam.

“I think D’Aoust would have been OK if we catch the popup,” Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said. “That changed everything. We tried to hold together, then we got lucky with the line drive. The same thing happened to us earlier in the game so it evened out.”

In the ninth, after walking James Borges with one out, Orr got Javier Renteria on a ground ball to Nelson, who started a game-ending double play.

After two scoreless innings, Fresno State (15-15, 3-3 in conference play) took a 3-0 lead in the third inning on Curtis’ double and run-scoring singles by Ryan Wood and Borges. The Matadors (17-14, 6-3) came back with four runs in the bottom of the third when they sent nine men to the plate and chased starter Brendan Behn. Fresno State replied with four runs in the fourth, which included a two-run homer by second baseman Jim Fisher to take a 7-4 lead.

But the Matadors scored five runs on five hits in the fifth, including four runs off reliever Chad Cattaneo (1-3). “We held together and didn’t fold,” Kernen said. “We really held together well offensively and came back twice; not many teams can do that. It showed the character we have.”

Leading the 13-hit attack was left fielder Brian Vasey, a utility player batting ninth. He had three hits and drove in three. “It was the first time in a while that I’ve played three games in a row,” Vasey said.

Kevin Howard also had three hits for the Matadors.