Conventional Practice Goes by the Boards

Most sports teams stick to a certain routine for warmups, and the Cal State Northridge men’s volleyball team is no exception.

However, it is safe to say that the Matadors’ routine is, well, anything but.

Before practices, Northridge players warm up by playing their own version of indoor soccer. The team is divided in half with Gary Reznick and Chris McGee, the club’s senior setters, serving as captains.

With the bleachers in the school’s gymnasium pushed back, the entire floor is considered in play. The “soccer” ball actually is an old volleyball. A section of wood wall planking marks the goal.

The competitors attack the game.

“They go for it,” Coach John Price said. “Last year it was getting a little out of hand. Guys were driving each other into the bleachers.”

Last year, the split squads played one best-of-seven soccer series, then switched sports--to basketball, using all six baskets in the gym simultaneously.

“It was pretty funny to watch,” Price said. “Normally in basketball you want to stay between your guy and the basket. But the way they played it, your guy could just change directions and run off to another basket.”

Added Price: “It’s a change of pace. Besides, it’s better than jogging in a circle.”

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE

Lacking the Write Stuff

To say that Hawaii has a huge baseball following would be an understatement. Hundreds of fans--kids and adults alike--routinely wait outside the Rainbow locker room for autographs.

One adult fan even presented the Matadors with a baseball to sign. Maybe the Northridge players thought the guy was a little old for such activity. By the time the ball was handed to Coach Bill Kernen, it had mysteriously been autographed by John Wooden and Wilt Chamberlain.

*

Tyler Nelson laid down the sacrifice bunt that moved the eventual winning run into scoring position during Northridge’s 2-1 victory over Hawaii last weekend. In the process, it cost him a noteworthy streak.

Nelson was 0 for 2, ending a streak of 33 consecutive games in which he has reached base. He has reached base in all but two of the Matadors’ 43 games and has an on-base percentage of .441.

“Bunting is kind of a new thing for me,” Nelson said. “I’m hitting down in the order because my batting average isn’t real high, so I’m trying to find other ways (to contribute).”

Nelson , a junior third baseman from Simi Valley High, is batting .269 and has three sacrifice bunts.

*

Fame is fleeting.

In the 2-1 victory, catcher Eric Gillespie delivered what proved to be the winning run with a clutch single in the fifth. Later that night, Gillespie was excitedly watching the TV sports highlights of the game.

He was identified as “Eric Gullipsee.”

Cracked Gillespie: “What’s a guy gotta do?”

*

The Matador foursome of Marshall Evans, Troy Collins, Chris Brown and Akiem Brown--no relation to Chris--moved to second on the all-time school list in the 1,600-meter relay Sunday by timing 3 minutes 10.32 seconds to finish second in their heat of the Mt. San Antonio College Relays.

But they did not get rave reviews from Coach Don Strametz, who noted two major blunders during the race.

The first was a poor baton pass between Evans and Collins that cost Northridge a few tenths of a second.

The second--and bigger--gaffe was Akiem Brown’s decision to run the anchor leg in Lane 2 on the outside shoulder of Cal State Los Angeles’ Keadrick Washington instead of tucking in behind him until the final straightaway.

That decision might have cost Northridge--which finished behind Cal State L.A.--three- or four-tenths of a second.

“I don’t know what (Akiem) was thinking, but it wasn’t smart,” Strametz said. “The (1,600) relay didn’t run very smart, but still ran the second-fastest time in school history. That shows you that they’re capable of running much faster.”

*

More than anything else, home- field advantage for the Northridge softball team translates into better home- run production.

The fourth-ranked Matadors (35-6) have hit 24 home runs, including 13 in their last 10-game home stand. In 18 home games this season, Northridge has hit 17 homers. In 23 road games, the Matadors have hit only seven.

Coincidence? Not likely.

“Our field is a home-run field,” Coach Gary Torgeson said. “We practice on it every day and we visualize on it every day. I think we’re gonna be a long-ball hitting team when we’re at home.”

Northridge ripped an NCAA-record 40 home runs last season. The chances of catching home-run leader Arizona--which had clubbed 62 going into Wednesday’s doubleheader against Arizona State--are slim, but Torgeson said defending the home-run title was never a goal this season.

“We’re at 24 now and we may very well reach 40,” Torgeson said. “But (this season) we want to make better contact and get base hits. We don’t want to rely on the long ball like we did last year.”

JUNIOR COLLEGES

Timely Thoughts

A new rule this season in college baseball that forces a batter to keep at least one foot in the batter’s box--except under specific circumstances--to speed up games is getting mixed reviews at the junior college level.

In essence, the rule says that a batter can’t fully step out of the box once he steps in unless he fouls off a pitch or calls time out. An automatic strike is called if a batter breaks the rule.

“I’m not sure if it is speeding up games because I’m not timing the games,” said Chris Johnson, Valley coach. “I’m old-fashioned. There’s no time clock in baseball and I think that’s one of the appeals of the game.”

But John Klitsner, the Mission coach, doesn’t see a problem with keeping the games from dragging eternally.

“I like it. I think it’s a good idea,” Klitsner said. “The games seem to be going a little bit faster, and it’s been used under pretty good discretion by the umpires.”

Canyons Coach Len Mohney also likes the spirit behind the rule but is not sure whether it has made an impact on the length of his team’s games.

“I don’t know if we’ve had faster games, but if we had, it might be because we haven’t hit,” Mohney said.

THE MASTER’S

Big Boost

The Mustang baseball team has struggled through a tough season, but the club gave itself a major boost Tuesday by upsetting Cal State Dominguez Hills, which entered the game ranked second in NCAA Division II play.

“We figured it might go this way and we’d play our best baseball the last two or three weeks of the season,” Coach Chris Harrison said. “That was a good win for us.”

The victory was made possible by clutch performances from a few unlikely sources.

David Scott and Matt Henzie, the sixth and seventh batters in the Mustang lineup, combined for seven hits, and Tony MacCaughtry, usually an outfielder, held the lead in 4 2/3 innings of relief pitching.

Around the Campuses . . .

* If Northridge somehow manages to win the Western Athletic Conference West Division title, first baseman Jason Shanahan would be a top candidate for player of the year. Shanahan has a 10-game hitting streak, is batting .341 and leads the team in RBIs (40, tied) homers (seven), stolen bases (six) and total bases (92). In 15 WAC games, Shanahan has been particularly torrid. He is batting .426 with four homers, 21 RBIs and has a .721 slugging percentage.

* Chris Beck leads the NAIA District 3 with 119 strikeouts. The Master’s College right-hander has a 56-strikeout lead over Jeff Beckley of Southern California College. With the exception of Beckley, Beck has fanned more than twice as many batters as any other pitcher in the district.

* Jeff Tomlinson, The Master’s senior catcher, is among NAIA District 3 leaders with a .346 batting average, 45 hits, 29 runs scored, three triples and 12 stolen bases.

* Teresa Stricklin solidified her hold on second on the all-time Northridge list in the women’s discus when she threw a personal best of 164 feet 9 inches to win the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational last week. Stricklin’s previous best was 161-3, set last season.

* Northridge catcher Eric Gillespie, who already has seen duty at designated hitter, also has played in left and right field over the past week. Gillespie, a freshman, is batting a team-high .342.

Staff writers Fernando Dominguez, Steve Elling, Mike Hiserman, Paige A. Leech and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.