Scia Goes See-Ya for Matadors : Softball: Maumausolo’s school-record 14th homer provides difference for CSUN against Missouri.

Apparently, Missouri pitcher Kasey Marshall didn’t know that Scia Maumausolo has a habit of hitting bad pitches.

She does now.

Maumausolo ripped an outside fastball over the right-center field fence in the bottom of the fifth inning for the go-ahead run and Cal State Northridge held on to defeat Missouri, 2-1, Friday in a first-round NCAA Division I regional playoff game at Matador Diamond.

Northridge (42-15) meets third-ranked Cal State Fullerton (43-15), a 9-1 winner over Illinois State in the other first-round game, today at 10 a.m.

The winner advances to the championship game of the double-elimination tournament on Sunday.

With the score tied, 1-1, Maumausolo, who was intentionally walked in the third, stepped up to the plate with one out and watched three consecutive pitches travel outside the strike zone.

Pitch No. 4, which Marshall said was supposed to be ball four, looked considerably better.

“[The umpire] could have called it either way,” Maumausolo said. “[But] with a 3-0 count, I was looking for a pitch to hit.”

Maumausolo, a junior who set a single-season school record with her 14th homer, has hit a home run in each of the Matadors’ three first-round regional games at Northridge.

“Except this one was a big game-winner,” Northridge Coach Janet Sherman said.

A solo home run by Chelo Lopez in the second and an outstanding pitching performance by senior right-hander Kathy Blake-Small put Maumausolo in position to become a hero.

However, Sherman fears one day soon the Matadors will come up short by relying on the power of Lopez and Maumausolo, who have combined for 22 home runs this season.

“I told the team we can’t depend on home runs,” Sherman said. “We’ve got to generate runs. We’ve got to have a full accompaniment.”

The Matadors had seven hits off Marshall (20-8) and managed to get on base in every inning but the first.

But it was clearly great pitching that kept the Matadors rolling.

Blake-Small (23-8) threw a two-hitter, struck out nine and faced only three batters over the minimum.

“She did have the ball moving today,” Sherman said. “She knows this is it. Every game could be our last.”

Blake-Small’s only trouble came in the third. Gina Anderson led off with a single and Brandi Jones reached when Lopez fielded Jones’ bunt and threw wide to second base. After Maumausolo threw out Anderson attempting to steal third, Blake-Small enticed a popup for the second out.

Karen Persinger’s single drove in Jones to tie the score, 1-1.

Missouri (47-18), which meets Illinois State in an elimination game today at 12:30 p.m., had only two players reach base in the final four innings.

But Coach Jay Miller was not disappointed with his Tigers’ performance.

“I’d like to have a couple of pitches back,” he said, “but other than that, I thought we played real well.”