Strong Arms Confront Northridge

Fresh off three games against hitting-rich, pitching-poor Brigham Young that produced 101 runs and 120 hits, the Cal State Northridge baseball team meets an opponent from the flip side.

Excellent arms and mediocre bats mark Santa Clara (39-20), which hosts the Matadors in a best-of-three series beginning tonight at 7. The winner gains an automatic berth in the NCAA Division I regionals.

The unranked Broncos, who edged Pepperdine for the West Coast Conference championship, trot to the mound four three-year veterans. The starter today is Brian Carmody (9-3, 1.93 earned-run average), a junior left-hander with a 21-8 career record.

Behind Carmody in the rotation are two more juniors--left-hander Mike Frank (7-2, 3.44) and right-hander Jeff Perry (9-3, 2.94)--plus junior closer Mike McDonald (1-4, 4.50, 10 saves).

Only two full-time players are batting better than .300 for the Broncos, who are batting .276 with only 19 home runs. Northridge (47-15) is batting .321 with 116 homers, including 24 by catcher Robert Fick and 20 by third baseman Eric Gillespie.

Senior shortstop Ross Parmenter, in his third season as a starter, leads Santa Clara with a .358 average and 60 runs batted in. Second baseman Jeff Frankel, a junior three-year starter, is batting .315.

Frank plays center field when not pitching, and is batting .286 with a team-high 45 runs and 16 stolen bases. Left fielder Mark Leber, a senior left-handed hitter, leads the Broncos with six home runs and is batting .280.

Northridge, ranked No. 13 by Baseball America, will start left-hander Erasmo Ramirez (12-1, 3.40).