4-Star Day for Maumausolo : Softball: She hits four home runs as CSUN clinches WAC title by sweeping San Diego State.

Not once since the Cal State Northridge softball team joined the Western Athletic Conference three years ago have the Matadors been a preseason favorite to win the conference championship.

But as Gomer Pyle used to say, “Surprise, surprise, surprise.”

Scia Maumausolo hit four home runs and Kathy Blake-Small pitched a one-hitter as Northridge swept San Diego State, 9-0 and 7-2, Wednesday to clinch its third consecutive WAC title.

It is this third title that is most unexpected however, as Northridge lost eight starters and 13-year veteran Coach Gary Torgeson from a team that finished second to Arizona in last year’s Women’s College World Series.

“That’s what is so sweet because we were a (projected) also-ran,” said Northridge Coach Janet Sherman, who has won more games in her inaugural campaign than Torgeson or Northridge’s first coach, Tony Venditto. “But the players rose up to the occasion.

“We backed into the championship last season, but we went out and earned it this year.”

Last season, Utah was in command going into the final week of the WAC, but lost a game to New Mexico, allowing Northridge to take the title based on a slightly better winning percentage.

This week the seventh-ranked Matadors (41-15, 22-5) were in a similar situation to Utah’s, but made sure no other team was able to win the title by default.

Northridge pounded 22 hits against San Diego State (21-39, 10-18) and scored multiple runs in the first inning of each game to erase Sherman’s doubts.

“For the first time this year I was nervous today,” Sherman said. “(But) as soon as we scored in the first inning I could breathe again.”

Sherman’s Breathalyzer was five runs on five hits in the first inning of the opener. Maumausolo’s double drove in the first run and Jen Richardson’s three-run home run chased starter MarQuessa Penrod (11-13) after only six batters.

Meanwhile, Maumausolo’s efforts were taking the breath away from Aztec pitchers. Maumausolo went four for four in the first game, including two solo homers in her final two at-bats, with four runs and four RBIs.

But the junior slugger was just getting warmed up.

She ripped a towering two-run home run to left in her first plate appearance of the second game before the Aztec pitching staff wised up.

After surrendering a single to Jessica Cunningham to start the third, Penrod, who replaced starter Jill Endicott (4-10) in the second game, hit Maumausolo in the knee with her first pitch.

When Maumausolo came to the plate with runners at second and third in the fourth, Penrod decided to intentionally walk the slugger, but her first pitch got away from catcher Jaimie Clark and Jamie Herrington raced home on the passed ball.

Even when Maumausolo isn’t slugging balls out of the park, her presence seems to upset opponents.

“She’s awesome,” said Chelo Lopez, who bats cleanup behind Maumausolo. “She went crazy today.”

Lopez wasn’t the only player standing in awe of Maumausolo’s talents.

Just before Maumausolo’s final at-bat, San Diego State co-Coach Kathy Van Wyk made a trip to the pitcher’s circle to speak with Penrod and the infielders.

After some discussion, Penrod took a deep breath and delivered an outside pitch, which Maumausolo promptly slugged over the fence in center to tie a Matador record with her 13th home run of the season.

Aztec players and coaches alike smiled and shook their heads in disbelief as Maumausolo took her fourth free trip around the bases.

“Usually I struggle against slower pitchers, but today I focused on sitting back and swinging hard,” she said.

By day’s end, Maumausolo had gone six for six with eight RBIs and six runs, and raised her average to .477. But her performance did little to alter her humble disposition.

Her assessment of the day: “It was all right. A lot of pop flies.”

Meanwhile, San Diego State batters couldn’t figure out Blake-Small, who has won her last five starts.

Blake-Small (22-8), who struck out seven, faced only one batter over the minimum, surrendering only a single to Jenny Briscoe in the third.

In the second game, Richardson (12-4) allowed seven hits and was tagged for a two-run homer by Kristin Matulik in the sixth to help the Aztecs close to within three runs.

But Northridge was never threatened.

The Matadors earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Playoff pairings and sites will be announced Sunday at 5 p.m., but Sherman insists the Matadors will be ready for all comers.

“We’re ready to beat anybody now,” she said. “It doesn’t matter where we get sent.”