Northridge Defeats Santa Barbara, 15-7

Andy Shaw had already fallen for a pair of breaking balls from his old high school teammate. He wasn’t about to let a third pass him by.

So the Cal State Northridge designated hitter waited on a hanging curve from UC Santa Barbara reliever and former Montclair Prep teammate Steve Cain and drove the pitch over the right-field wall.

Shaw hit two home runs and drove in six runs as Northridge (9-5) completed a three-game sweep of the Gauchos with a 15-7 win in a nonconference game at Matador Field on Sunday.

With Cain in relief of starter Jared Janke (1-1) and the Matadors leading, 9-6, that feeling paid off. Shaw’s first home run, in the third inning, needed the help of a stiff wind--this one didn’t.

Shaw and the rest of the Matadors pounded out 17 hits and broke open a 7-6 lead by scoring four runs in the sixth and four more in the eighth innings.

With the Matadors’ bats connecting, starting pitcher Zeke Barrios (2-0) could afford to make a few mistakes. He made some in the fourth inning, when the Gauchos (5-5) scored five runs. His biggest error--giving up a three-run home run to Santa Barbara’s Zach Elliott.

Reliever Juan Velazquez pitched 2 2/3 innings and gave up two hits in relief for the Matadors, who host UCLA on Wednesday at 2 p.m.