Even dozen: Azusa Pacific has been added...

Even dozen: Azusa Pacific has been added as Cal State Northridge’s 12th football game for the upcoming season, a move allowed because the NCAA does not count games in Hawaii against the limit of 11.

Division III Azusa Pacific will play at Northridge on Sept. 20, forcing the game at New Mexico State to be moved to Sept. 13.

It will be the Matadors’ only game against a lower division team.

The schedule: Aug. 30 at Boise State; Sept. 6 at Hawaii; Sept. 13 at New Mexico State; Sept. 20 vs. Azusa Pacific; Sept. 27, bye; Oct. 4 at Portland State; Oct. 11 vs. Weber State; Oct. 18 at Montana State; Oct. 25 vs. Sacramento State; Nov. 1 at Montana; Nov. 8 vs. Idaho State; Nov. 15 at Eastern Washington; Nov. 22 vs. Northern Arizona.

Clean sweep: Another tennis season, another pair of West Coast Conference titles for Pepperdine.

The Wave women’s team captured its 10th consecutive WCC title by beating host San Diego, 6-3, and the men’s team cruised to its seventh consecutive championship by blanking visiting San Diego, 7-0, on Sunday.

Terminator: Cal Lutheran right-hander Craig Arnold is as tough on hitters as Arnold Schwarzenegger is on bad guys.

The senior from Thousand Oaks High and Oxnard College has allowed one earned run in 26 innings, posting a 2-0 record with a three saves and an 0.35 earned-run average. Opponents are batting .194 against him.

“We expected Craig to step up this season and he has surpassed those expectations,” Coach Marty Slimak said.

Arnold’s improvement is a result of perseverance. After missing the 1995 season with an injury, he logged only 10 innings last season. He earned two saves, however, and is three away from the school career record of eight.

Easy pickings: After trouncing hapless Caltech (1-20) three times last weekend by a combined score of 48-5, Cal Lutheran (25-7 overall) is 14-1 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball race.

The Kingsmen’s dominance in the conference has never been more apparent. Cal Lutheran has outhit SCIAC opponents, .375 to .172, and outscored them, 197-34.

Inside track: Although Cal State Northridge (31-16-1) has a better record than Pepperdine (27-17) and defeated the Waves both times the teams met, Pepperdine is in a stronger position to qualify for an NCAA baseball regional.

After opening 7-13, Pepperdine has won 20 of its last 24 games, including a 14-2 WCC mark. The Waves hold a three-game lead over second-place Santa Clara (9-3). The champions of the WCC and Southwestern Athletic Conference meet in a best-of-three playoff to gain an automatic regional berth.

Northridge, an independent, is at the mercy of the NCAA tournament committee, which only considers Division I games. Eight of the Matadors’ victories are against non-Division I teams.

Northridge has 13 games left against Division I opponents and probably must win at least nine.