Conference Champion CSUN to Play Host to West Regional

Cal State Northridge may have won its last four baseball games, but the Matadors’ winning streak actually stands at six.

By virtue of its 3-2 series edge over UC Riverside, Northridge won the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.’s top seed for the NCAA Division II West Regional.

That was victory No. 5.

And on Sunday, in a conference call among members of the Division II baseball committee, CSUN again emerged victorious: Matador Field will be the site of the regional, which begins Friday.

UC Davis (28-23), champion of the Northern California Athletic Conference, will play Riverside (38-16) in the regional’s first game at 11 a.m. Northridge, 17-7 at home this season, will meet the loser at 3 p.m.

The double-elimination tournament will continue Saturday at noon with CSUN facing the winner of the Davis-Riverside game. A second game will be played 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first. If another game is needed, it will be played Sunday at 1 p.m.

Northridge didn’t secure a postseason bid until last Saturday, when it defeated Cal State Los Angeles, 9-7, to earn a share of the CCAA championship for the first time since 1981. The Matadors have won 16 of their last 20 games against Division II teams.

“What this team has done is something special,” said Bill Kernen, CSUN’s second-year coach. “I never could have expected it.”