HEAVY METAL

By PAIGE A. LEECH

May 15, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

NORTHRIDGE —

Since earning its first NCAA Division I playoff berth in 1992, Cal State Northridge has established itself as one of the country’s elite power-hitting teams.

The Matadors’ love affair for hitting the long ball hit its zenith in 1993, when Northridge set a national record with 40 home runs.

Fueling that power-hitting tradition for the last six years have been Northridge’s No. 3 and No. 4 hitters, a list of which reads like a Who’s Who in Matador lore: Beth Calcante and Tamara Ivie in 1993-94, Scia Maumausolo and Chelo Lopez in 95-96, and Lopez and Jennifer Parker in 1997.

That tradition continues in 1998 with Lopez and Elizabeth Sanches.

The hard-hitting 3-4 combination has amassed 97 hits, 19 doubles, 15 home runs and 68 runs batted in in 54 games this season.

Coach Janet Sherman, who was an assistant at Northridge from 1990-94, sees a similarity between her clean-up hitters today and those of years past.

“I think it’s a mental frame of mind of, ‘I’m not going to be denied,’ ” Sherman said. “I can tell when they approach the plate [if they’re going to get a hit]. I could tell that with Scia and with Tamara, too.

“It’s not a cockiness, it’s just a comfortable, easy I’m-going-to-do-this look. . . . and you just know.”

Sherman hopes to see that look often this weekend in Fresno when the Matadors head into their seventh consecutive postseason appearance.

Northridge (37-17), Big West Conference champion and winner of 18 of 21 games, faces California (34-25) today at 5 p.m. in a first-round game of a four-team, double-elimination tournament.

“We’re in a groove and I want to keep it going,” Sherman said.

Northridge will rely on Lopez and Sanches to keep it going at the plate.

“To win this regional, we’re going to have to be at our best,” Lopez said. “We can’t wait for other people to do it. We need everybody.”

Still, the two are the focal point of one of the top-hitting Matador teams of the 1990s. This squad, with a .291 batting average, ranks third behind the teams of ’94 (.314) and ’96 (.296).

The group is similar to its ’93 and ’94 predecessors--the only teams to reach the College World Series--in that there is power potential throughout the lineup. Twelve players have hit 39 home runs this season--the second highest total in school history--and nine have 12 or more RBIs.

“This is a tremendously strong hitting team,” Sherman said.

It took nearly half the season for the Matadors to live up to their potential.

The Matadors, who were 13-9-1 overall and 4-3-1 in conference, did an about-face on March 14 in a doubleheader against San Luis Obispo.

“I think it helped when we actually saw our record in Big West and thought, ‘Oh my God, we’re never going to win it,’ ” Lopez said.

A few team meetings and a few tweaks to the lineup and Northridge was back in business.

Senior right fielder Laura Redding, who was hitting a red-hot .411 as the No. 9 batter through 23 games, was moved to the leadoff spot and the Matadors took off.

After splitting with San Luis Obispo, Northridge went 23-7 to close out the regular season.

“You never know when you make a change like that,” Sherman said.

“[But] it’s been a tremendous lift for the team.”

With Redding reaching base roughly four of 10 times, Lopez and Sanches have worked well as a tag team to clear the bases.

“[Lopez] has been taking care of the job most of the time,” Sanches said. “When I get up there’s usually nobody on because she’s already hit them in.”

Lopez, Big West player of the year, ranks No. 2 in the Matador career record book with 40 home runs and 149 RBIs. She is tied for second with 31 doubles.

Since so many players have long-ball potential, Sherman said she hasn’t asked her players to bunt as much as in the past, partly “because we can’t bunt.”

Instead, believing in the power of her lineup, Sherman said she often opts to shoot the moon.

“If [my choices] are either popping up a bunt or sending a ball over the fence, I’m going to try for the ball over the fence,” she said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

NCAA DIVISION I SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

REGIONAL NO. 7

At Fresno

First round

Today

No. 2 Cal State Northridge (37-17) vs. No. 3 California (34-25), 5 p.m.

No. 1 Fresno State (45-10) vs. No. 4 Minnesota (45-19), 7:30 p.m.

Format is double elimination.

Championship game is Sunday at 1 p.m.