Northridge Escapes, Then Ousts Stanford; UCLA Stays Alive

Just another day at the ballpark? Hardly.

Cal State Northridge followed a wild 20-19 victory over Mississippi State with a nail-biting 4-3 decision over Stanford on Saturday night before 2,247 at the NCAA West Regional at Palo Alto.

Robert Crabtree notched saves in both games. Against Stanford, he came in with none out and the bases loaded in the ninth with the Matadors leading, 4-1. A groundout and flyout scored two runs, and Crabtree picked pinch-runner Sean Flikke off second base to end it.

The Matadors (52-17) must win two today against Florida State to advance to the College World Series in Omaha. The Seminoles, 3-0 in the regional, need to defeat Northridge only once.

Benny Flores (7-2) pitched masterfully to eliminate Stanford (41-19), which opened the regional by beating Northridge, 10-5. Flores, a sophomore left-hander, gave up six hits.

Adam Kennedy and Robert Fick hit grand slams for Northridge against Mississippi State, which battled back after trailing, 14-0, after two innings.

Kennedy, whose grand slam came during an eight-run first, drove in five runs, scored four and went five for six. Fick’s grand slam, his 25th homer of the season, came in the seventh after Mississippi State had crept within 15-13.

Erasmo Ramirez (14-1) got the victory despite giving up 16 runs, 11 earned, and 16 hits in 7 1/3 innings.

Stanford (41-18) moved into the losers bracket when it lost to Florida State, 5-4. Geoff Sprague’s solo home run in the bottom of the ninth won it for the Seminoles.