CSUN’s Ramirez Hits His Mark on Location in Fresno, 8-1

Location was supposed to change the result, but instead Cal State Northridge simply got better and Fresno State simply got worse.

For the second time this season, Erasmo Ramirez outdueled Jeff Weaver as Northridge defeated the Bulldogs, 8-1, Friday night in a Western Athletic Conference game before 3,197 at Beiden Field.

The victory snapped a streak of nine consecutive Northridge losses here the past three seasons.

“We knew it was a tough environment because of the fans, but I was on 100%,” Ramirez said.

The only location that mattered was that of Ramirez’s pitches. The sophomore left-hander dispatched the Bulldogs (25-21, 12-10 in WAC play) on 110 pitches, 80 strikes. Ramirez (10-1) allowed five hits, struck out three, walked one and lowered his earned-run average to 2.85.

Early in March at Northridge, Ramirez defeated Weaver, Fresno State’s freshman ace from Simi Valley High, 4-2. Weaver (9-5) has a WAC-leading 10 complete games, but this time the Matadors chased him after six innings.

Robert Fick opened and closed the scoring with two-run home runs, giving him a conference-leading 17. The Matador catcher drilled a fastball over the center-field wall in the third inning and smacked an opposite-field shot off the scoreboard beyond the left-field wall in the eighth, that one off reliever Mark Parantala.

A double by David Stevenson with two out in the fourth was followed by a run-scoring single by Jeremy Conrad to give the Matadors a 3-0 lead.

Northridge (39-10, 16-6) added three in the fifth after Kurt Airoso, Fick and Eric Gillespie drew consecutive walks with one out. Jose Miranda lined a single to right on a full-count pitch with two out to score Airoso and Fick, and Gillespie scored on a passed ball.

“Miranda’s hit was the key at-bat in the game,” Northridge Coach Mike Batesole said. “We hit really well with two strikes.”

Ramirez, meanwhile, made only one mistake, a fastball on a 3-1 pitch that Josh Kaitfors hit for a home run in the sixth inning.

“Erasmo was throwing all four of his pitches for strikes and any time he does that, he’s tough to beat,” Batesole said.

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Matador Notes

The drive for Alvin and Coni Airoso, parents of Northridge center fielder Kurt Airoso, was considerably shorter than usual. The Airosos own a large cotton farm in Tulare, about 50 miles south of Fresno, and they commute to nearly every Matador home game. Kurt, a junior transfer from College of the Sequoias in Visalia, hit two doubles Friday night. . . . Former major league pitcher Rudy May, a Fresno resident, spent several minutes before the game chatting with Northridge catcher Robert Fick. May lived down the street from Fick’s family in Thousand Oaks during the 1970s and ‘80s and Robert’s brother, Chuck Fick, served as May’s bullpen catcher during the off-season.