4 Homers by Fick Almost Wasted

A school record four home runs by Robert Fick were not enough for Cal State Northridge to defeat Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday.

A two-run home run and two singles by Jose Miranda weren’t enough either. A home run and a double by Kurt Airoso couldn’t do the trick.

It took a two-run blast by David Stevenson with one out in the bottom of the ninth for the Matadors to edge the Mustangs, 12-11, and stretch their lead in the Western Athletic Conference to 2 1/2 games.

Cal Poly (15-16, 7-10 in WAC play) scored three runs in the top of the ninth to take an 11-10 advantage, the third time the lead had changed.

Airoso, who also walked three times, led off the bottom of the ninth with a fly-ball double down the right-field line. One out later, Stevenson drilled a hanging curve by Matt Jeckell over the left-field fence for his third homer.

“I looked for a fastball but got a curve,” said Stevenson, a senior designated hitter from Chatsworth High. “This was huge for our team.”

The Matadors (34-7, 13-3) were coming off an embarrassing 11-8 loss to the Mustangs that was marred by a ball-bag full of errors, both mental and physical. The defense again had lapses, but they were obscured this time by the long ball.

Fick had been 0 for 8 with three walks in the three-game series when he launched his first home run, a two-run shot of about 450 feet to right field in the second inning. He added a long, two-run drive to right center in the fourth and bases-empty homers to center in the sixth and eighth.

Cal Poly Coach Ritch Price made a point of finding Fick after the game, telling him, “That was the best performance I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Fick, who also walked once Saturday, leads the nation with 75 hits and raised his average to .458. The junior catcher has 15 home runs, and with six runs batted in now has 51.

The four home runs broke the Northridge record of three held by Scott Sharts (1991) and Rondal Rollin (1980) and tied a WAC record held previously by three players.

“Obviously, I’d been struggling the past couple days,” Fick said. “I’d been getting myself out, hitting the pitcher’s pitch. Today I waited until I got my pitch. I changed my approach.”

Matador Notes

Northridge used five pitchers. Left-hander Benito Flores allowed five runs, three earned, before leaving in the sixth. Andrew Settle, who pitched out of a jam in the sixth, and Jason Cole, who struck out the side in the seventh, were the most effective. Gary Stephenson (3-1) allowed three hits and two runs in the ninth but got the victory. . . . Batting No. 2 in the order for the first time this season, right fielder Jose Miranda raised his average to .369 with three hits. “I love batting in the 2-hole, it’s my favorite position,” said Miranda, a junior transfer from Cerritos College. . . . Left fielder Ryan Hurd stretched his hitting streak to 13 games with a sixth-inning single.