Ex-CSUN Athlete Is Killed in Car Crash : Ventura: David Eggert, 24, who signed with Montreal Expos baseball club in ‘92, apparently fell asleep at the wheel of his car.

A minor league pitcher and former Cal State Northridge standout was killed over the weekend after he apparently fell asleep at the wheel of his car and crashed into a tree near the junction of the Ventura Freeway and California 126, authorities said.

David Eggert, a former Ventura College and Cal State Northridge standout who signed a contract with the Montreal Expos baseball club in 1992, died at the scene of the crash about 2:15 a.m. Sunday, Ventura County medical officials said.

The 24-year-old Ventura native had come home for the off-season and was preparing to report to spring training in March.

“He could hit a baseball a long way,” said his father, also named David Eggert. “He was a strong boy.”

Senior Deputy Coroner Zelmira Isaac said Eggert was traveling south on the Ventura Freeway just miles from his home when he lost control of his white 1991 Ford Escort and plummeted down an embankment near the California 126 turnoff.

He was alone in the car and died instantly when it struck a eucalyptus tree, Isaac said.

The accident left the athlete’s family in shock.

“We were hoping that he would make Triple A this year,” his father said. “Given the opportunity, he was going back out there and giving it another shot. He loved it more than anything. It’s all he’d been groomed for his whole life.”

Eggert’s high school coaches remembered him Sunday as a star athlete in both football and baseball.

“He was an excellent player,” Ventura High baseball coach Dan Smith said. “We went to the semifinals that year (1987). He didn’t pitch much in high school, but he was a dandy.”

Friends and former teammates described Eggert as an aggressive left-handed pitcher who always worked as hard as possible.

“He was a good competitor,” said Mike Sims, a minor league catcher who caught Eggert’s pitches at CSUN. “He went out there all the time and gave 100%. He was a guy that made people laugh off the field, but once he got on the field, he was all business.”

Saturday night, Eggert had attended a party with co-workers from his off-season job at the Big 5 sporting goods store in Ventura.

Investigators found no evidence that he had been drinking, but toxicology tests will be performed, Isaac said.

Eggert played right field and was a relief pitcher for Ventura High School before enrolling at Ventura College. There, he helped his team take the 1989 Western State Conference title in 1989.

He next played two seasons at CSUN before being drafted in the 21st round of the 1992 amateur draft.

Eggert is survived by his wife, Julie; a 3-year-old stepdaughter, Brittnee, and a 2-month-old son, Shawn. He is also survived by his parents, David and Cindy-Lou Eggert; a brother, John, and sister, Kim.