Wilson Sporting Good Swing

Pepperdine left-hander Randy Wolf didn’t realize it when he took the mound Friday at Cal State Northridge but, yes, it was his first appearance in the Valley since he led El Camino Real High to consecutive City Section championships in 1993 and ’94.

The Matadors certainly were aware, but they didn’t exactly roll out a red carpet.

Northridge countered with left-hander Erasmo Ramirez, who, along with Wolf, was a preseason All-American selection by Collegiate Baseball, and a 150-pound slugger to beat Wolf and the Waves, 7-4.

Ramirez pitched eight strong innings, and Andy Wilson, who was moved from No. 9 to leadoff in the batting order, hit a two-out grand slam in the second inning and drove in five runs to power the Matadors (8-3-1).

Pepperdine (2-7) outhit Northridge, 12-5, but Wolf, who entered with a 1-0 record and a 1.39 earned-run average, was the unlikely culprit.

“I feel responsible,” Wolf said. “As a pitcher, you want to give your team a chance to win.”

A throng of major league scouts were seated behind the plate to study Wolf, a junior who is expected to go high in the draft this June.

And seven speed guns were pointed at Wolf when he delivered a stomach-high fastball to Wilson, who had a 1-0 count.

The 5-foot-6, 150-pound center fielder belted it over the center-field fence to give Northridge a 4-0 lead and cap an inning in which Wolf walked two batters and hit one.

“I wasn’t hitting my spots,” said Wolf, who allowed seven runs, five earned, while striking out four, walking four and hitting three. “I was leaving the ball up. I was getting behind in the count and digging myself a hole.”

Northridge was digging in.

“We came out fired up,” said Matador Coach Mike Batesole, who juggled the batting order by putting usual leadoff batter Adam Kennedy third. “I thought we just needed a little different look. I guess it worked.”

Wilson, a senior transfer from Arkansas who attended Thousand Oaks High, has driven in a team-high 17 runs and both of his home runs are grand slams.

“As a team you want go out and attack him and try to get some runs early,” said Wilson, whose sacrifice fly in the fourth inning increased the lead to 6-0.

Ramirez (3-1) cruised along, scattering nine hits and allowing only three runs, one earned, in eight innings.

Ramirez, who was 14-1 last year and believes he is being overlooked by scouts, relished the fact that he was going head-to-head against Wolf.

“That just gave me more firepower,” he said. “The only left-handers we hear about are Wolf, [UCLA’s Jim] Parque and [USC’s Randy] Flores.”

Although he has won three of four starts, Ramirez had not pitched well until Friday. His ERA dropped from 6.75 to 4.88.

Right-hander Gary Stephenson attempted to close the door in the ninth, but after allowing three hits and a run, he was replaced by left-hander Benny Flores, who retired the last batter for his first save.