Matadors Join Big West for Baseball in ’01

Cal State Northridge will join the Big West Conference for baseball in 2001, conference officials announced Thursday, possibly the first step in Northridge becoming a full member of the conference.

Northridge will remain in the Big Sky Conference in most other sports, including football and basketball.

Northridge’s softball team has played in the Big West for three seasons. The Big Sky doesn’t play baseball or softball.

The Big West is being reshaped after the defections of four schools.

Boise State and Nevada are jumping to the Western Athletic Conference and New Mexico State and North Texas are moving to the Sun Belt Conference.

Utah State and Idaho will be the only non-California schools in the Big West by 2001, although each has attempted to join other conferences.

“We will help our schools in any way we can to pursue their futures,” said Commissioner Dennis Farrell of the Big West. “They have a home in this conference for as long as they want.”

Still, Farrell said the conference’s executive committee will meet to “begin studying future possible members.”

“The study of potential institutions will include an assessment of financial, facility, academic and geographic compatibility with the current conference membership,” Farrell said in a prepared statement.

Officials from the conference’s six California schools are in favor of adding UC Riverside and Northridge to full membership, several high-ranking officials within the conference said.