CSUN Sends Missives With Missiles in Softball Sweep

The Cal State Northridge softball team sent five messages Tuesday to naysayers who think the Matadors don’t pack the same punch as the power-hitting bunch that finished second in last year’s Women’s College World Series.

The sixth-ranked Matadors (16-6, 2-0) tied a school record by hitting four home runs in the opener and added another in the second game to sweep Colorado State, 6-0 and 4-1, in Northridge’s Western Athletic Conference doubleheader opener.

“Almost everyone on this team has the ability to hit it out,” said junior catcher Scia Maumausolo, who hit solo homers on consecutive at-bats in the first game. “It’s just that they don’t look like it.”

Freshman Chelo Lopez became the latest Matador to join the home run parade by slugging a three-run shot to left in the first inning of the first game. Although it took the 6-foot-1 Lopez 21 games to get her first homer, she apparently has found the trigger. Lopez ripped another home run in her first at-bat of the second game to give the Matadors a 1-0 lead.

But for Lopez, a product of North Torrance High, the longballs didn’t come soon enough.

“There was pressure (to hit a home run) in the beginning,” she said. “I know how much my team expects of me. Everyone is always saying, ‘Why can’t you hit them out in a game like you do at practice?’ ”

Northridge has 12 home runs and Lopez became the fifth Matador to clear the fence.

Junior right-hander Jen Richardson (5-3), who allowed six hits and struck out eight in the nightcap, hit her second homer, a solo shot, in the first game.

Northridge managed only five hits off Kim Peck (4-3) in the first game--four of those were homers. But with senior right-hander Kathy Blake-Small in the circle for the Matadors, one homer would have been enough against Colorado State (8-7, 0-6), which has lost seven in row.

Blake-Small (7-2), who lowered her earned-run average to 0.94, pitched a one-hitter and faced only one batter over the minimum to notch her fifth consecutive victory and third shutout.

“I’m just really staying focused,” Blake-Small said of her recent success. “The last thing on my mind is my stats. All I’m worried about is the winning.”

Maumausolo went three for five and raised her average to .482.