Contreras Breathes Life Into CSUN, but San Diego State Rallies for Split

Less than two weeks ago, Cal State Northridge Coach Bill Kernen pronounced his team dead and criticized his players’ heart.

Sunday at San Diego State, the Matadors came alive and then died, defeating the Aztecs, 7-2, in the first game before losing, 12-7.

The split gave the first-place Aztecs (23-15 overall, 8-4) two victories in the three-game series and left Northridge (19-19, 7-5) one game out in the Western Athletic Conference.

The results might not have been exactly what Kernen sought, but he said he “didn’t have any problem with the effort.”

Of the six players he benched for lack of intensity, the three non-pitchers--Keyaan Cook, Kevin Howard and Josh Smaler--had all seen action by the end of the series.

“They wanted to have another shot at it,” Kernen said. “And they said they were going to come together as a team, play hard every day and take care of their responsibilities in the classroom and off the field. So I’m giving them another chance to do that.”

In the first game, senior Marco Contreras (5-4) went the distance for the ninth time in 10 starts and picked up the victory, allowing seven hits, striking out three and giving up no earned runs. A passed ball and a dropped fly ball helped the Aztecs score their only runs.

Up 2-0 in the top of the sixth, the Matadors made it 5-0 when center fielder Joey Arnold drove in two runs with a double to the warning track and then scored on a single to right by Tyler Nelson.

Overall, Northridge collected 13 hits, led by two-hit performances from Arnold, Cook, Jason Shanahan and Jonathan Campbell.

Game 2 was a wild one. The Matadors fell behind 4-0 but then sent three Aztec pitchers to the dugout during a seven-run third.

Shanahan, who finished three for four, clubbed a three-run home run, his sixth. Smaler tied it with an RBI single. Another run came in on a sacrifice fly from Campbell. And Eric Gillespie and Arnold followed with RBI singles to make it 7-4.

But the Aztecs came back, scoring three in the fourth, four in the fifth and another in the sixth to take a five-run lead. Matador starter Aaron D’Aoust gave up eight earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.

And after the third inning, Northridge slumbered at the plate the rest of the way.

“Explain to me how you can get eight zeros and a seven,” Kernen said.

“But,” he added, “we hit the ball OK. We got enough to win all three games if we had quality pitching. That’s something we haven’t had all season.

“Our ERA is about double what it usually is. And we’ve had that happen quite bit. We’ve scored enough runs pretty much all year long. We just haven’t gotten the pitching that would win those games.”

Considering two of Northridge’s starting pitchers are out with injuries, Kernen said he doesn’t think they will contend if their ace, Contreras, doesn’t win the rest of the way.

Contreras agreed.

“That’s how I’m taking it,” he said. “I have to win every single one of my games from now on and keep the run total down. They gave us seven runs today, we gave up 12. We can’t be doing that.”

Asked if he will be feeling extra pressure the rest of the way, he said: “I think I pitch better that way, because when I’m more relaxed I give up a lot of runs.”

Northridge is now halfway through its 24-game WAC schedule and will travel to Hawaii this week for a three-game series against the Rainbows.