CSUN’s Bushart Turns Bulldog, Collars Hawaii in 11-10 Victory

As Cal State Northridge outfielder Joey Arnold headed home Sunday, he turned to teammate John Bushart and hollered, “John, you’re my hero.�

Arnold was not given to melodrama, not after watching Bushart labor for more than three hours against adversity.

Despite throwing 144 pitches with a slight case of tendinitis, despite three errors by his teammates, despite falling behind by four runs, and despite putting the winning run on first base with one out in the ninth, Bushart endured.

His complete-game, 11-10 victory over Hawaii gave Northridge (29-15) a sweep of the three-game series at Matador Field.

With three conference games remaining, the Matadors moved into third place in the Western Athletic Conference West with an 11-10 record.

Fresno State, which swept Northridge last weekend, leads the division with a 12-4 record and eight games remaining. Cal State Sacramento is second with a 12-9 record and three games left and Hawaii (30-20 overall) fell to fourth with an 8-10 mark and six to go.

Andy Small helped Bushart’s perseverance pay off with a three-for-three effort and five runs batted in.

The senior third baseman drove in what proved to be the winning run with a two-out, full-count, two-run double in the eighth that put Northridge ahead, 11-6.

In the seventh, his solo home run gave the Matadors a 7-6 lead. It was Small’s WAC West-leading 15th homer of the season, and the second in as many days.

Although he came up in pressure-packed situations, Small said he didn’t feel it.

“If that’s pressure, I can’t go on (to the professional level) in this game,� he said.

In the top of the ninth--with Hawaii cutting into the five-run lead he helped build--Small said he was assured by Bushart’s determination.

It appeared that the Rainbows had chased Bushart with a leadoff home run by Franz Yuen, a single, an RBI double, a one-out, two-run bloop single, and a single by Tyler Cheff that took a nasty hop past second baseman Chris Olsen.

After Cheff’s hit, Northridge Coach Bill Kernen headed to the mound with every intention of replacing Bushart with Johnny Najar, who had warmed up in the bullpen every inning since the third.

But in the meeting on the mound, Bushart convinced Kernen that he could get the next batter, Kelly Phair, to ground out.

“I always respect it when a player tells me that,� Kernen said. “And I believed him. So I left him in.�

Bushart (9-3) induced a grounder, but just as it reached shortstop Andy Hodgins, it took a kangaroo bounce over Hodgins’ head, allowing Hawaii to pull within one run, 11-10.

Undaunted by the bad hop, Bushart got Corey Ishigo to hit into a game-ending double play.

“I gave up 10 runs and a lot of hits (16), but it came down to getting a ground ball and the defense did a good job,� said Bushart, a junior left-hander from Thousand Oaks High.

Matador Notes

Right fielder Greg Shepard made the biggest defensive play of the game. With the score tied, 6-6, in the sixth inning and Corey Ishigo on second, Shepard dashed 10 yards, dived, and snagged Franz Yuen’s line drive down the line.

“It was a do-or-die play,� said Shepard, who also chipped in with two hits. . . . Chris Olsen, Andy Hodgins, Jonathan Campbell and Mike Sims also had two hits each. Sims extended his hitting streak to a team-high 12 games. . . .

With Fresno State a virtual lock to win the WAC West, Northridge Coach Bill Kernen is focusing on finishing second in the division and building an impressive nonconference record in the hope that the Matadors will earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

As a result, Keven Kempton will pitch Wednesday against seventh-ranked Cal State Fullerton at Matador Field. Usually, Kernen uses second-line pitchers for mid-week nonconference games. Kempton (8-3) will pitch on four days’ rest instead of his usual six-day break.

The midweek game May 11 against Cal State Long Beach also will be Kempton’s start. He will then become the Sunday starter for the Matadors’ final WAC series May 14-16 against Fresno State. Consequently, Marco Contreras will move to Friday the 14th and John Bushart will pitch Saturday the 15th.

The Matadors’ nonconference record is 18-5 with five nonconference games remaining, including three this week, all at Matador Field. . . .

Hawaii slugger Kenny Harrison did not play Sunday, partly because a left-hander (Bushart) was pitching and partly because he has a strained forearm. Against Northridge this season, Harrison batted .619 (13 for 21). . . .

Although the field appeared to be in worse than its usual poor condition, Hawaii Coach Les Murakami had no complaints. “Hey, you gotta play with what is given,� he said. “Both teams played on it. I’ve played on worse fields at Colorado State. It wasn’t the field. They (Northridge) just played better.�