Batesole and Matadors Open Up on Cal State L.A., 7-3

New coach to please. New scoreboard to light up. Same names make it happen.

Five scoreless innings by Robby Crabtree and the power hitting of Robert Fick and Adam Kennedy enabled Cal State Northridge to coast to a 7-3 victory over Cal State Los Angeles in its baseball opener Friday at Northridge.

Crabtree, the Matadors’ top pitcher last season, pitched to the minimum number of batters in his stint, striking out eight and earning the victory. The only Eagle to reach base against Crabtree was thrown out attempting to steal second.

Fick tripled off the center-field wall to score Eric Gillespie in the first inning then scored on a single by Jose Miranda to give Northridge a 2-0 lead.

Kennedy hit a three-run home run on a 3-and-0 pitch with two out in the second and Fick added a solo home run to lead off the third, christening the 36-foot-wide, Matador-red scoreboard with a 6-0 advantage.

Scoreboard graphics will have to wait a week or so because phone lines were inadvertently cut by plumbers laying nearby water lines, but the players supplied plenty of visuals.

“We came out ready,” said Mike Batesole, the Matadors’ first-year coach. “We swung the bats well enough to give [Crabtree] an early lead and he threw a great game.”

The comfortable cushion enabled Batesole to pull Crabtree after he had thrown only 60 pitches. Sophomore left-hander Benito Flores pitched the final four innings, allowing single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth.

Kennedy put an end to CSLA’s best chance to get back into the game. With two out and the bases loaded in the sixth, the Matador shortstop went behind second base to snag a ground ball and flipped it to second baseman Cesar Martinez for a forceout.

Kennedy, the left fielder last season, was making his first start at shortstop.

Gillespie, the right fielder last year, sparkled at third base, ranging both to his left and right to make plays.

Northridge added a run in the eighth when Martinez walked, stole second and scored on a double to left by Ryan Hurd.

Hurd, a freshman from J.W. North High in Riverside, had three hits and a walk batting in the No. 9 position.

Northridge wraps up the two-game home series against CSLA, a Division II team that was 19-33 last season, today at 1. Sophomore left-hander Erasmo Ramirez will start for the Matadors.