Northridge Earned Its Prime Position

Cal State Northridge needs two victories in a three-game series against UC Irvine this weekend to clinch the Big West Conference championship. If the Matadors win the title in their second season in the conference, they can look back at two key instances that helped determine their fate.

On the weekend of April 26-28, Northridge (37-15, 16-5 in Big West) went to Cal State Fullerton and swept three games from the Titans to jump into first place. The 16th-ranked Matadors have never relinquished the lead, winning 10 in a row at one time.

Sunday is the other moment that stands out. Long Beach State had gone to Northridge and stopped the Matadors’ winning streak with two lopsided victories. Fullerton (35-17, 14-7) had taken two games from UC Riverside that weekend to pull within one game of Northridge in Big West play before Sunday’s games.

Northridge trailed, 5-3, in the eighth inning Sunday before Tim Arroyo hit a three-run home run and Rudy Simpson had a two-run double during a seven-run rally that led to a 10-8 Matador victory. Fullerton lost by the same score.

Northridge Coach Mike Batesole refuses to think about what could happen this weekend.

“Right now, we’re really concerned with Irvine,” he said. “Any one of five teams can finish strong and win the title. Irvine beats us and sweeps next weekend, they win it.”

Irvine (31-22), made up of community college transfers and freshmen, figured to be respectable. Without a program for nine years, the Anteaters weren’t expected to go 12-6 in their first 18 conference games and be in contention for a postseason berth.

“It was just about playing hard and playing aggressive,” said Coach John Savage. “We have a ton of freshmen and they are getting a ton of experience.”

Irvine relied on the pitching rotation of Glenn Swanson (8-4, 4.19 earned-run average), Brett Smith (4-1, 5.20), Sean Tracey (8-6, 4.10) and Paul French (4-4, 3.77) to win early in the season. The offense became a force in conference play. Center fielder Jon Horwitz and first baseman Matt Anderson are tied for second in the league with .392 averages.

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USC continues to hang on to the Pacific 10 Conference lead after taking two of three from visiting Washington last weekend. The 19th-ranked Trojans (30-20, 13-5), who lost a 2-1, 11-inning nonconference game Wednesday to Fullerton, lead No. 7 Stanford and Washington by two games. They begin a three-game series tonight with Arizona State in Tempe.

Anthony Reyes (4-0, 2.72), who will start tonight, is coming off an eight-inning, one-run performance against the Huskies. But the Trojans lost freshman pitcher J.P. Howell (3-4, 6.27 in 14 appearances), who left the team for personal reasons and is expected to transfer.

Stanford (35-15, 11-7) visits Jackie Robinson Stadium for a series with UCLA (25-29, 8-10). The Bruins have won four of five and eight of 12.

Pepperdine (28-28, 16-11) swept a four-game weekend series against St. Mary’s to take the lead in the West Coast Conference’s Coast Division.

After a midweek loss to Fullerton, the Waves put themselves in position for the Coast title with hot hitting over the weekend by Duke Sardinha. The junior, whose defensive problems at third base prompted a move to right field, went 10 for 16 with two home runs and 10 runs batted in for the series. The Waves’ magic number for clinching a spot in the best-of-three WCC championship series next week is two. They could get the division title today with a win at Gonzaga and a Santa Clara loss to St. Mary’s.

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Loyola Marymount (20-33, 13-14 in West Division) finishes its regular season at Portland after falling out of contention for the division title last weekend.... Fullerton closer Chad Cordero (4-3, 3.22 ERA, 12 saves) and UCLA outfielder Adam Berry (16 homers, 45 RBIs) are among 40 semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy given to the nation’s top player by the National College Baseball Writers Assn.... The NCBWA selected Long Beach’s Paul McAnulty as its national player of the week. Last week, McAnulty hit .467 with three home runs and nine RBIs in four games.