San Diego State Strides Closer to Stumbling CSUN

Cal State Northridge, a team that has proven it can win in many different ways, put on a clinic Saturday night in how to lose.

The Matadors wasted scoring opportunities, ran themselves out of innings, made two errors on one play, and allowed San Diego State to put its leadoff batter on base in seven innings.

It all led to a maddening 5-2 Western Athletic Conference loss to the Aztecs before 804 at Smith Field.

With four conference games to play, Northridge (41-13, 17-9 in the WAC) leads by one game over both San Diego State (31-19, 16-10) and Fresno State (30-22, 16-10), which defeated Cal State Sacramento on Saturday.

“If we do what we’ve been doing all season, we’ll be OK,” Northridge Coach Mike Batesole said.

Travis Lee, the Aztecs’ All-American first baseman, showed why he is rated by Baseball America as the best professional prospect in the nation among position players.

Lee blasted a two-run home run, his 12th, in the fourth and singled to score a run that gave San Diego State a 5-1 lead in the seventh.

“Lee is one of the best players we’ll see and when he’s up there in the right situation he’s tough,” Batesole said.

The right hitter was rarely in the right situation for Northridge, which stranded nine runners. The Matadors reached the height of frustration in the fifth and sixth by leaving five men on base.

In the fifth, a throwing error by second baseman Kalin Foulds put runners on second and third with one out, but Kurt Airoso struck out and Robert Fick grounded to first.

In the sixth, Greg Winkelman walked the first three batters but Brian Basteyns came on to strike out Jeremy Conrad and induce Cesar Martinez to hit into a double play.

Eric Gillespie provided the only Northridge offense. He doubled and scored on a double by Grant Hohman in the fourth, and homered in the eighth, his 18th.

Winkelman (3-1), making only his second start of the season, was the second left-hander in two weeks to stymie the Matadors. Fresno State’s Scott Navarro beat Northridge, 7-2, last weekend.

Basteyns, a right-hander, was followed by right-handers Justin Brunette and Mark Harriger, who earned his first save by pitching the final 1 1/3 innings. Harriger struck out the side in the ninth.

Matador Notes

Northridge right-hander Robert Crabtree (11-5), who has lost four in a row, had two long bullpen sessions with pitching coach Dan Cowgill during the week. Crabtree put in so much work trying to iron out his recent problems that his start was moved back to today to give his arm an extra day of rest. . . . Travis Lee’s home run gave him 24 in his career, one short of the San Diego State record set by Tommy Rinks from 1956-58.