CSUN Leaves Nothing to Chance by Sweeping

By allowing Santa Clara next to nothing Saturday in two victories, Cal State Northridge left nothing to chance, nothing to the whim of the NCAA tournament selection committee.

Northridge (49-16) cleared every hurdle on the road to the regionals, winning the Western Athletic Conference Western Division, taking the overall WAC title, and beating Santa Clara (40-21), champion of the West Coast Conference, in a best-of-three series.

Northridge rebounded from Friday’s loss in the series opener by winning, 7-0 and 7-1, shutting out the Broncos for 17 innings before allowing a harmless run in the final inning.

“Now we can go home knowing we are in a regional,” third baseman Eric Gillespie said.

Because of the Matadors’ record--they lead the nation in victories--an at-large regional berth was all but assured even if they had lost this series. The automatic berth should give them a higher seeding, however, in the regionals that begin Thursday.

“We didn’t want anything given to us,” Northridge Coach Mike Batesole said. “We earned it on the field and we did it by playing a good level of sound baseball.”

Erasmo Ramirez pitched a six-hit shutout in the opener, and Benny Flores allowed seven hits in the second game. Northridge had three complete games in the series--Robert Crabtree lost, 2-1, Friday--and outpitched a team built around its quality arms.

“Their pitching staff had all the accolades,” Northridge pitching coach Dan Cowgill said. “As far as I’m concerned, our pitchers are better, and I wanted them to show it.”

Ramirez (13-1) and Flores (6-2), both sophomore left-handers, gave nearly identical performances. Ramirez struck out four and walked two; Flores struck out four and walked four.

A week ago, their efforts against Brigham Young were nearly identical in their ugliness. Flores allowed nine runs in 2 1/3 innings and Ramirez gave up nine in three.

“I needed to bounce back and I did,” Flores said. “This was the best game I’ve probably ever pitched.”

Also improving were the Matador hitters, who managed only three hits in Friday’s loss. Gillespie hit a three-run home run, his 21st, in the first inning of Saturday’s opener and Grant Hohman hit a three-run homer, his 15th, to give Northridge a 6-0 lead in the seventh inning of the second game.

Hohman was brilliant at first base, fielding five ground balls flawlessly in the first game and digging six throws out of the dirt in the second.

“It’s amazing how good Grant is over there,” Gillespie said. “He’s saved me all year.”

Gillespie singled twice and scored three runs in addition to hitting the home run in the first game. He singled to lead off the sixth and scored on a single by Casey Cheshier to give Northridge a 4-0 lead, and singled to open the eighth to trigger a three-run rally.

Kurt Airoso was hitless in the series until getting a single and scoring the first run of the second game in the fifth inning. Airoso advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on a single by Robert Fick. A flyout by Hohman scored Fick and the Matadors led, 2-0.

Airoso hit a solo homer in the seventh, and after Fick singled and Gillespie walked, Hohman unloaded with his home run.

Matador Notes

Northridge expects to be sent to the regional at Stanford as the No. 2-seeded team behind the Cardinal. That is far from certain, however. Other teams from the West with automatic berths are UNLV and USC. Cal State Fullerton and UCLA are virtual locks to gain at-large bids. UC Santa Barbara, Fresno State, Long Beach State, Santa Clara and Pepperdine have shots at at-large berths. The regional field will be announced Monday at noon on ESPN. . . . Eric Gillespie and Cesar Martinez each had five hits in the three games to lead Northridge and Robert Fick had four. . . . The three complete games give the Matadors 12, six by Erasmo Ramirez, five by Robert Crabtree and one by Benny Flores.