San Luis Obispo Forces Northridge Softball Team to Cry Uncle Twice

Jill Hancock of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo brought her own cheering section Friday to the Mustangs’ softball doubleheader against Cal State Northridge.

“Do it for your Uncle Frank,” yelled one fan.

“Do it for your Uncle Pete,” yelled another.

When the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. doubleheader was over, it was the top-ranked Lady Matadors who were yelling Uncle.

Hancock, an All-American left fielder from Monroe High, didn’t disappoint her rooting section. She had three of the Mustangs’ 14 hits against CSUN’s three-time All-American Kathy Slaten and combined with pitcher Randie Hill to help the Mustangs sweep CSUN at Lady Matador Field, 4-0 and 5-2.

“That was amazing,” said CSUN Coach Gary Torgeson, who watched San Luis Obispo pound out 26 hits in the doubleheader and take over first place in the CCAA. “I have never seen that type of hitting display in fast pitch softball.”

The Mustangs’ pitching was almost as impressive.

Hill (9-4-1), an all-conference pitcher last season as a freshman, pitched two complete games Friday. Two weeks ago, she was the pitcher when fourth-ranked San Luis Obispo (19-8-1, 7-1) played CSUN to an eight-inning scoreless tie in the title game of CSUN’s Tournament of Champions. She has allowed just two earned runs in 25 innings against the Lady Matadors, the three-time defending national champions.

“Last year when I pitched against Northridge, I got rattled,” said Hill. “But this year, I knew I could beat them.”

Friday’s losses marked the first time in Torgeson’s five years as coach that CSUN (32-8-1, 4-2) was swept at home by a Division II school. And no one could recall a time when Slaten (11-4-1) was hit so hard.

“A lot of those girls have seen Kat pitch for three years,” CSUN center fielder Barbara Jordan said. “She threw the ball well today, but she’s going to have to do something different next time. Today, they got the inside pitch and just turned on it.”

San Luis Obispo also roughed up CSUN pitcher Delanee Anderson (12-2), whose streak of consecutive innings without giving up an earned run ended at 93. The streak was over when the Mustangs came back from a 2-0 deficit to score three runs in the fifth inning of Friday’s second game.

After being shut out in the first game, CSUN looked like it might get a split when the Lady Matadors scored twice in the fourth inning against Hill.

Lori Shelly singled off Hill to open the inning and was sacrificed to second by Beth Onestinghel. Kelly Winn singled to put runners at first and third and Nancy Lucero followed with a single to drive in Shelly.

Priscilla Rouse flied out to deep center to advance the runners, and Kim Bernstein drove in the Lady Matadors only other run of the day with an infield single.

The Mustangs came back with three runs of their own in the fourth inning and added two more in the sixth to complete the sweep.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time,” said Hancock, who was 4 for 7 on the day. “I’ve been going at it with Slaten for a long time and every year it’s a battle that goes back and forth. Next time, it may be different.”

Notes

San Luis Obispo catcher Kecia Gorman, who played for Thousand Oaks High, had two singles, a double and an RBI. She also stopped a potential CSUN rally when she blocked the plate to keep Lori Shelly from scoring in the fifth inning of Friday’s first game. . . . CSUN’s Nancy Lucero and Kelly Winn each had three hits on the day. . . .CSUN plays host to Chapman today at noon in a crucial CCAA doubleheader for the Lady Matadors. Chapman, ranked sixth in Division II, beat CSUN in the championship game of the Chico tournament last month.