After a Review of the Fax, Price Ready for a Bruin Playbook

Two months have passed since the fax.

But running back Durell Price, the

Sylmar High football star whose signing-day story received national attention, feels that he has made the right choice.

Price chose UCLA over Ohio State after a clerk at a local drug store faxed the wrong side of his letter of intent to Ohio State.

Price, who attended spring practice Monday at UCLA, is thankful for modern technology. Or the lack thereof.

“I’m glad I changed my mind,” Price said. “It’s a good decision.”

Price felt comfortable during his first day at spring drills. Although he cannot participate and has not yet received a playbook, he enjoyed himself.

Especially when he talked to UCLA Coach Bob Toledo.

Said Price: “I told him I can’t get too close to the action or I’d want to put some pads on and get out there. He said, ‘I’m ready to throw you in.’ Just joking, you know.”

Price followed the running backs around for most of the workout, but still wants a playbook.

“I guess I’ve got to really get on the coaches and let them know I want to get going,” Price said.

Right-handed compliment: It’s not that pitcher Jennifer Sharron of Thousand Oaks High is unappreciative, it’s just that she has no use for the gift she received after last week’s performance in the Florida Kissimmee tournament.

Sharron, a junior left-hander, allowed eight hits and struck out 41 in 27 innings in four tournament games and led the Lancers to the tournament final. And for all that, Sharron was named the outstanding pitcher of the tournament and given a $100 softball glove.

Unfortunately, she can’t use it: It’s a right-hander’s glove.

“She’ll probably give it to her sister,” Coach Gary Walin said.

Aloha blues: The Cal State Northridge baseball team woke up in Hawaii this morning, but a trip to the islands is not a reward for their sparkling 35-7 record.

The Matadors must play five Western Athletic Conference games against Hawaii in three days, two of which are makeups, games rained out when Hawaii was in Northridge last month.

“This series is huge,” pitcher Robert Crabtree said. “We’ve been bracing for it for weeks.”

Northridge is 13-3 in WAC play and holds a 2 1/2-game lead over Fresno State and a 3 1/2-game lead over San Diego State. Hawaii (25-16 overall) is only 8-8, but a five-game sweep would vault the Rainbows into a tie with Northridge.

Two seven-inning games tonight open the series. On Saturday the teams play a nine-inning game and complete a 0-0 game that was suspended in the fifth inning. One nine-inning game is scheduled for Sunday.

Quotebook

“A television commentator recently said during one of our matches that we were serving lollipops and it’s true. We really need to work on our serves.”

-- Cal State Northridge outside hitter Collin Smith.

“We’re tired and beat up, but with a young team like ours, if you give them time off, they go water skiing and fishing and they shut down. It would destroy us mentally.”

-- Cal State Northridge volleyball Coach John Price.

Stats

Cal State Northridge banged out 12 hits to Pepperdine’s five in the Matadors’ 8-2 victory Tuesday, but the result was not unexpected. Northridge has had 10 or more hits in 26 of 42 games while Pepperdine has been held to fewer than 10 hits in 29 of 40 games. The Waves have been held to five hits or fewer 12 times.

Senior middle blocker John Bowling of Pepperdine ranks fourth in the nation with a .458 hitting percentage.

Honors

Softball’s Scia Maumausolo and baseball’s Robert Fick were named Cal State Northridge top student-athletes for the month of March.

Maumausolo broke two school records and tied another. The senior catcher set the career record for home runs with 34, runs batted in with 142 and tied the career mark for doubles with 31.

Fick, a junior catcher, hit nine home runs, drove in 27 runs and scored 25 runs in 19 games. Also in March, Fick was selected the national player of the week by Collegiate Baseball magazine and was the Western Athletic Conference player of the week.

Things to Do

The fifth-ranked Cal State Northridge men’s volleyball team (15-9, 10-7) will host its last Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match of the season Saturday at 7 p.m. against 12th-ranked Pepperdine (14-10, 9-9). The Matadors are in third place in the MPSF Mountain Division and Pepperdine is fourth.

Five gymnasts from the region will compete in the NCAA West Regionals on Saturday at UCLA: California’s Sirinda Sincharoen (La Canada High), Christine Nishimoto (Cleveland) and Kelly Webster (North Hollywood); Stanford’s Linda Chun (Van Nuys), and Cal State Sacramento’s Rebecca Seebirt (Nordhoff).

Compiled by Irene Garcia. Contributing: Mike Bresnahan, Steve Henson, Paige A. Leech, Bryan Rodgers.