Hit Parade Expected at Northridge
The Big West Conference’s best hitting baseball teams will square off when UC Santa Barbara visits Cal State Northridge for a three-game conference series beginning today at 3.
Santa Barbara (25-9, 0-0 in the Big West), with its best record at this stage in 18 seasons, leads the nation with a .357 batting average.
Northridge (23-13, 1-2) is second in the Big West with a .320 average.
None of the Big West’s other five teams are batting above .300.
The game will feature the top four conference batters, including Dave Molidor of Santa Barbara, who leads the Big West with a .430 average.
J.T. Stotts of Northridge is second at .415, followed by Jared Schumaker at .404 and Chad Peshke at .397, both of Santa Barbara.
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Left-handers Andy Davidson (5-1, 3.10 earned-run average) of Northridge and Rylie Ogle (8-1, 2.97) of Santa Barbara are scheduled to start today.
Left-hander Bill Murphy (6-3, 3.93) of Northridge will face right-hander James Garcia (5-1, 3.11) on Friday.
Saturday’s 1 p.m. game will pit left-hander Craig Mosher (2-4, 6.25) of Northridge against left-hander Jim Bullard (5-2, 6.11).
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First baseman Tim Arroyo of Northridge extended his hitting streak to 22 games in a 6-1 victory over Loyola Marymount on Tuesday.
Arroyo, a junior from Kennedy High, has not gone hitless since an 0-for-4 outing in a 6-4 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills on Feb. 17.
Arroyo is batting .386, sixth best in the Big West.
It is unknown whether Arroyo’s streak is a school record. Records of hitting streaks are not recorded by the school.
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Northridge plays a three-game Big West softball series against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo beginning with a doubleheader Friday at Northridge.
The Matadors (22-19, 6-3) moved to fourth, three games behind first-place Cal State Fullerton, with a three-game sweep of Cal State Sacramento last weekend.
Senior Sarah Farnworth (16-11) earned victories in each game against Sacramento, striking out 12 in 22 innings.
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Northridge’s men’s volleyball team will close out the season with a home match Friday against Santa Barbara.
The Matadors (11-14, 3-12) are last in the six-team Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Junior Eckhard Walter ranks second in the nation in service aces, averaging 0.66 a game.