Matadors Hit Snag at Fullerton : College baseball: No. 1 Titans need game-saving play in ninth inning for 5-3 victory.

The outfield lights had been turned out, leaving the Cal State Northridge baseball team shrouded in darkness as Coach Bill Kernen attempted to make light of a loss.

A diving catch by Cal State Fullerton right fielder Mark Kotsay with runners on first and second in the ninth inning preserved a 5-3 victory for the No. 1-ranked Titans over Northridge in a nonconference game Wednesday night at Titan Field.

But Kernen was not nearly as upset as he could have been, considering Northridge squandered numerous opportunities against the Titans (15-2). In fact, he was downright pleased.

“If we would play that way every single day, it would take an effort like that to beat us,” Kernen said.

What it took was a spectacular dive by Kotsay to snag a line drive off the bat of pinch-hitter Adam Kennedy. Had Kotsay missed the catch, the game would have been tied. Had the ball got by him, Kennedy might have had an inside-the-park home run.

But Kernen wasn’t going to be caught asking “What if?”

“The reason we weren’t able to win the game is because we didn’t take advantage of opportunities early,” Kernen said.

That was also the reason Northridge (10-7) managed to stay even with the nation’s top team--in the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball polls--for half an inning.

Jeremy Giambi’s two-run triple gave Fullerton the lead, 5-3, in the bottom of the seventh.

Northridge threatened in the eighth with a pair of two-out hits, but catcher Robert Fick grounded out to end the inning.

The Matadors had opportunities in the first five innings, but couldn’t score until a messy sixth inning by Fullerton that encompassed two relief pitchers, an error and two wild pitches.

Matador second baseman Grant Hohman greeted reliever Tom Dillon with a home run to left field. Fick walked and moved to third on two wild pitches. He scored when Andy Shaw beat the throw to first on what would have been a 3-6-3 double play.

Shaw came around to tie the game, 3-3, on Chad Thornhill’s double to right.

Northridge ace right-hander Robby Crabtree, who had struck out 45 batters in 33 2/3 innings coming into the game, didn’t strike out a batter until the fourth inning.

Crabtree was outpitched by Fullerton’s John Mitchell, a graduate of Rio Mesa High, who allowed no runs and five hits in five innings.

Once Mitchell left, Northridge wasted no time getting started. Hohman, the first batter against Dillon, hit his fourth home run.