THE COLLEGES / MIKE HISERMAN : CSUN Formula Has a Catalyst

It seemed like such an easy question.

“How does Northridge beat UCLA in baseball?” a friend asked the other day.

Well, Craig Clayton pitched pretty well and they put an inning together and . . .

“That’s not what I mean,” the friend interrupted. “I mean, if I’m a baseball player and I have a choice of going to UCLA on scholarship and playing in the Pac-10 or going to Northridge, don’t I go to UCLA?”

Probably.

“So how does Northridge beat UCLA in baseball?” he repeated.

Good question.

Indeed, it seems that the Bruins are one of the more talented teams in the nation this season. That much was evident in Northridge’s 4-2 win over UCLA at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Wednesday.

UCLA has a team batting average of .320, sprinter’s speed on the bases and in the outfield, considerable power and as many pitchers on its roster as the Matadors have position players.

Yet UCLA fell to 18-18 after its loss to Northridge. The Matadors were 29-10-1 and ranked 14th in the nation going into Friday night’s game at San Diego State.

The Bruins aren’t alone. Earlier this season, Northridge swept Arizona out of the national rankings by taking a pair of games on the Wildcats’ home turf. There also was a three-game sweep of Big West Conference contender Cal State Fullerton and victories over the highly regarded trio of North Carolina, Creighton and Fresno State in the span of four days.

How do the Matadors do it? Northridge still has essentially the same team which 13 months ago had a 12-12 record at the NCAA Division II level.

The answer probably starts at the top. Coach Bill Kernen has taken recruits that more established schools have passed over, added an impact transfer in Scott Sharts, pulled strings like a world-class puppeteer and required total dedication from the players.

Or, as Sharts put it, “If you’re in this program, you’re either playing baseball, getting ready to play baseball or resting so you can play baseball.”

The recipe obviously works. Kernen may well win his 100th game in 2 1/2 seasons this weekend during CSUN’s three-game series at San Diego State.

His call: Phil Mathews, Ventura’s basketball coach who was passed up in favor of Rod Baker for the coaching position at UC Irvine, probably won’t be seeking another four-year position anytime soon.

Mathews is among the many who believe it is useless to apply for a major-college coaching position unless asked. An Irvine representative called him and requested that he apply.

On Wednesday, Mathews received another call from an Irvine representative informing him that Baker had been hired. “It was a courtesy call,” said Mathews, who played at Irvine from 1970-72 and was later an assistant coach there for five seasons. “They didn’t indicate what they thought of me or where I finished in the process and I really didn’t care, anyway. If you’re not the guy, it doesn’t matter. It’s not about being second.”

Mathews would like to coach on the four-year level, but he stops short of saying that securing such a job is a goal. “I would say it’s a challenge,” he said. “Everyone wants to see if they can coach and recruit against the Jerry Pimms and the Tarkanians.

“But on the other hand, I have a very comfortable job here. For me to leave, it would have to be the right job.”

Back to the future: Even if the Northridge softball team fails to earn a playoff invitation in its first season of Division I competition, the future appears bright.

The Matadors are receiving big contributions from a trio of freshmen: outfielder Jen Fleming, second baseman Tamara Ivie and third baseman Beth Calcante.

Fleming, CSUN’s leadoff batter, had four hits in eight at-bats during a doubleheader against Cal Poly Pomona last week and has batted better than .300 in the past month.

Ivie, the Matadors’ cleanup hitter, has 17 hits in her past 37 at-bats (.459) and in the past three weeks has raised her average from .220 to .287--third-best on the team.

And Calcante? What she has done lately is what she has done all along. She leads the team with 52 hits, 71 total bases, a .379 on-base percentage, three triples, three home runs, 17 runs batted in and a batting average of .354.

Briefly: Among Division I pitchers nationally, Northridge teammates Scott Sharts and Craig Clayton started the week in a 14-way tie for second in victories with eight. Clayton picked up his ninth win with a 4-2 decision over UCLA on Wednesday.

Clayton was 13th in earned-run average at 1.44. After allowing two earned runs to the Bruins, it is 1.49. Steve Montgomery of Pepperdine (0.72) was the only pitcher from the West Coast with a better ERA.

Northridge was tied for eighth with Central Florida in team ERA at 3.06. . . . Ryan McGuire had a pinch-hit double in his first collegiate at-bat for UCLA and his extra-base binge has continued from there. McGuire, a freshman from El Camino Real High, has 21 hits, including 12 for extra bases. His father Ken is the chief athletic fund-raiser at UCLA. . . .

Joel Wolfe, UCLA’s base-stealer extraordinaire, sat out Wednesday’s game against Northridge with a cut over his right eye. The former Chatsworth High standout was injured Tuesday when he was clipped by a foul ball off his bat during a bunting drill.

Wolfe, a junior outfielder, leads the Six-Pac with 29 stolen bases and is batting a team-high .386. . . .

Gil Carrillo, a javelin thrower and decathlete, will redshirt this season at Northridge after injuring his right throwing elbow in a meet at Azusa Pacific on March 9. . . .

Neff McGhie, overshadowed by teammate Jim Zimmer while both ran for Simi Valley High, has run 8 minutes 55.46 seconds in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, the fifth-fastest time by a Fresno State athlete.

Zimmer, who won the Southern Section 4-A Division 1,600-meter title in 1986, also is at Fresno State but he now takes the back-seat to McGhie. . . .

Will Thurston, offensive coordinator of the Moorpark football team and coach of the women’s softball team, has been hired as a full-time teacher after working the past 12 years on a part-time basis.

Representatives from New Orleans, New England, Atlanta, Phoenix and Dallas, among others, have been in contact with Northridge running back Albert Fann during the past few weeks.

Their prevailing questions: “Who is your agent and where can you be reached on draft day?”