SDSU Unceremoniously Deflates CSUN : College baseball: Kempton provides CSUN’s best pitch--after 7-3 loss.

For Keven Kempton, Sunday was a spirited new beginning. For his Cal State Northridge teammates, it probably marked the end of the road.

Kempton, a Matador pitcher, proposed to his stunned girlfriend at home plate after the crucial series finale with San Diego State. It was a moving, well-orchestrated event that included all of Kempton’s teammates and nearly caused Kempton’s new fiance, Alison Anding, to swoon with emotion.

Reality set in moments later for the Northridge baseball team: The Matadors had just stumbled, 7-3, in a Western Athletic Conference showdown at Matador Field to fall 1 1/2 games behind San Diego State in West Division play.

A gold band was exchanged at home plate, but the first-place Aztecs (30-19, 12-6 in conference play) took a major step toward taking the WAC brass ring. Most of the Matadors smiled for the cameras, but there was no masking their disappointment. “A win would have been real nice,” Northridge second baseman Steve Moreno said. “It sure would have topped it off.”

Had the Matadors (24-25, 12-9), who have three conference games to play, completed the three-game sweep, they would have moved into first. Instead, they must hope the Aztecs flop in their remaining three-game sets with Fresno State and Cal State Sacramento.

It was an uphill march from the beginning when center fielder Jeff DaVanon homered off Matador right-hander Marco Contreras (6-6) to open the game. DaVanon singled home another run in the second and socked a two-run homer in the sixth to stake the Aztecs to a 7-1 lead.

Northridge didn’t muster much of an attack against junior right-hander Vern Pallett, who threw a seven-hitter. Pallett served up solo home runs to Kevin Howard, Eric Gillespie and Moreno, but avoided the big inning.

“He didn’t give us anything,” Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said. “Geez, did he walk anybody?”

The answer: One, and that baserunner was erased on a double play. All told, Pallett (3-3) needed only 93 pitches.

The scrappy Moreno, playing because of a teammate’s injury, had two hits, including his first homer since high school. “If we had 14 guys like Moreno,” Kernen said, “it wouldn’t have been close.”

Now, the SOS call goes out to Fresno and Sacramento. Northridge has one WAC series remaining--at Fresno State on May 13-15. “We need help,” Kernen said. “To ask this group to go up to Fresno and sweep isn’t realistic.”

Contreras was roughed up for six hits in the first two innings--three for extra bases--as the Aztecs jumped to a 4-0 lead. Contreras, who completed his 11th game in 13 starts, gave up five earned runs and 14 hits. “We got outplayed in all parts of the game,” Kernen said, shaking his head. “That’s pretty much it.”

As a result, the season is pretty much over.