Tagliaferri Helps Leave Northridge in Lurch : Baseball: He gets rare hit off left-hander, ignites winning rally for Long Beach State, 4-3.

Until a few days ago, Jeff Tagliaferri saw left-handers about as often as he witnesses a solar eclipse.

Tagliaferri, who bats left-handed, has been platooned at first base at Long Beach State. Lately, though, business has picked up.

“Haven’t seen many lefties,” he said. “But I have hits off the last three I’ve seen.”

The former Kennedy High standout singled off left-hander Benny Flores to start a seventh-inning rally and 20th-ranked Long Beach held on to defeat Northridge, 4-3, in a nonconference game Tuesday night at Blair Field.

Tagliaferri was batting .325 with six home runs, but he didn’t start because Northridge (27-27) pitched left-hander Erasmo Ramirez, a freshman.

Tagliaferri entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the third inning to face Evan Howland, a right-hander, and remained in the lineup.

With the score tied, 3-3, Tagliaferri’s leadoff single in the seventh started the winning rally. Jason Hodges followed with a single and Jason Minici made it 4-3 with a sacrifice fly to left.

Northridge didn’t have a prayer thereafter. The Matadors, who managed only four hits, didn’t touch reliever Gabe Gonzalez, who pitched two innings of hitless relief to earn his 15th save, setting a school single-season record.

Even reliever Ron Steves had the Matadors under his thumb--and he hadn’t pitched all season. Steves entered the game in the sixth and pitched two scoreless innings to earn the victory.

The Northridge offense consisted, in all practicality, of outfielder Eric Gillespie, who played at nearby Millikan High. Gillespie drove in all three runs and had two of the Matadors’ hits.

Despite the fact that Blair Field is a storied pitchers’ park, Gillespie somehow managed to hit a booming two-run homer to right in the fifth to give Northridge a 3-2 lead. He’d never come close before, though Millikan played games at Blair his senior year.

“I think I short-hopped a foul ball off the fence once,” he said. “Other than that, not much.”

Not much was what happened when Gonzalez nailed it down.

“When Gabe gets in, things seem to pretty much end,” Gillespie said. “His ball just moves all over the place.”

Long Beach (32-19-1) won its 11th in a row, and through some non-traditional means. The 49ers scored in the second on a bad-hop infield single off the chest of second baseman Grant Hohman, then took a 2-1 lead in the third when Nic Frank was hit in the rump by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Nothing new for Frank, who played at Oxnard College. It marked the 18th time this season he’s been plunked, a team record.

Matador Adam Kennedy, a freshman outfielder, doubled and scored on Gillespie’s homer. Kennedy has hit in 15 consecutive games and in 34 of 36.

Beyond that, Northridge managed one single--by Gillespie in the third. Northridge had no hits in seven of the nine innings and was hitless over the last four.