Pitching-Poor CS Northridge Gets Crushed : College baseball: Pepperdine hammers Matadors, 18-4, with nine runs in ninth against depleted CSUN staff.

First baseman Jason Shanahan didn’t need a compass, road map or canteen to find his way to the pitcher’s mound. He didn’t need smelling salts afterward, either.

The same couldn’t be said for some of his teammates.

Shanahan made only his second start in two years on the mound and pitched respectably, but Pepperdine hammered two relievers and rolled over Cal State Northridge, 18-4, Tuesday in a nonconference game at Matador Field.

Shanahan, who had pitched one inning of relief all season, was thrust into a starting role because of injuries. A little 3-in-1 oil in the ol’ arm socket and he was ready to roll.

Once he remembered where the mound was located.

“I found my way out there,” he said.

Shanahan gave up a three-run homer in the first to David Newhan, but not much thereafter. By the time Shanahan’s three-inning stint was complete, Pepperdine held a 3-1 lead.

With starting pitchers John Najar and Keven Kempton out for the season with injuries and relievers Evan Howland and James Hines sidelined with sore arms, Shanahan (0-1) got the call.

“We needed to get him a little experience,” Coach Bill Kernen said. “Because we’re going to be using him here and there.”

The next there likely will be this weekend in Hawaii, where Northridge (18-19) begins a three-game Western Athletic Conference series on Friday night. If the results are comparable to Tuesday, Kernen might make the team swim home.

Relievers Rick Orr and Jason Vargas, part of a shrinking contingent of six healthy Matador pitchers, each pitched three innings against the Waves. The results were disappointing and then some.

Solo homers by Joey Arnold in the third and Keyaan Cook in the fourth helped Northridge close to within 3-2, but matters got out of hand in a hurry. Leading, 4-2, Pepperdine scored four times in the sixth against Orr to pull away and then bombed the Matadors with a nine-run ninth.

With the Waves leading, 9-4, with two out in the ninth, Vargas seemingly had retired the side when third baseman Tyler Nelson committed his third error of the game. Two runs scored on the play, and the next seven batters banged out hits to make it a laugher.

Before the inning was over, Pepperdine (23-14) sent 15 batters to the plate and racked up 10 hits. All were season-highs against the Matador staff. All nine runs were unearned.

“I hated to do that to (Vargas),” Kernen said, “but I literally had nobody else.”

How bad was it? Tony Treul and Keith McDonald entered the game as pinch-hitters in the sixth for Pepperdine and combined for seven hits.

The Matadors surrendered season highs in runs and hits (23) and fell below .500 for the first time since they were 9-10 on March 9.