Aguilar Outing Is a Gem Dandy : Colleges: Senior left-hander pitches perfect game as Dominguez Hills takes two of three games from Chapman.

Vince Aguilar pitched a perfect game--the first in school history--as Cal State Dominguez Hills split a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. doubleheader against visiting Chapman College Saturday.

Aguilar, a senior left-hander, needed only 80 pitches to improve his season record to 3-2 in a 9-0 victory. In the nightcap, a wild pitch by Armando Plascencia allowed the winning run to score in Chapman’s 4-1 victory. The victory snapped the Panthers’ 14-game losing streak. Last-place Chapman is 9-27 overall and 5-13 in conference play.

Toro junior right-hander Mark Tranberg won Friday’s series opener, 12-3, at Orange. Tranberg, who struck out 11, is 9-1.

Senior first baseman Darrell Conner went seven for 10 in the series with four doubles and at least one hit in each game. He has hit safely in 19 consecutive games to tie the school record he set last year.

But it was Aguilar, a hard-luck pitcher who has pitched better than his record indicates, who stole the show. In pitching only the second no-hitter in school history, he allowed only 10 balls to be hit out of the infield and allowed only three batters to get to three-ball counts.

“I had good stuff,” Aguilar said. “Going into the fifth inning, I knew I had a perfect game. The thing that really helped me was getting ahead of hitters.”

Toro Coach George Wing said that Aguilar’s performance was so flawless that he was unaware of what the pitcher had accomplished until someone told him after the game.

“It’s getting close to crunch time in this conference,” he said. “To know that we now have a healthy Vinny (Aguilar) with a (Mark) Tranberg. . . . It’s a good feeling.”

Aguilar needed help only once to preserve the perfect game. Center fielder John Otte ended the fourth inning by making a diving catch of a line drive into the left-center field game on the ball hit by Doug Yates.

“I knew we had gone through almost four innings with a perfect game,” Otte said. “I saw the ball real well off the bat, but it was a tough catch. He hit it hard.”

In the ninth inning with one out, Chapman’s Kevin Monson drew a 3-2 count, then fouled off a pitch. But Aguilar got Monson to ground to freshman shortstop Cory Lintern for an out. When Aguilar got pinch-hitter Pete Coleman to hit an 0-1 pitch to second baseman Miguel Medina for the final out, he was mobbed by teammates.

The Toros (20-14-1, 11-7) play seven of their final 11 conference games on the road as they battle Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Los Angeles and Cal Poly Pomona for the CCAA lead. Dominguez Hills is tied with Pomona for the league lead.

“Obviously, we wanted to sweep (Chapman) too,” Wing said. “We knew they were down and any time a team is down you think sweep. But maybe there’s a silver lining in their win. Maybe now they are (ready) to beat up on one of those other teams in the conference.”

Plascencia (4-3) allowed only two hits in six and a third innings, but the wild pitch in the third--his 11th--allowed Monson to score for a 2-0 Chapman lead. Toro designated hitter Will Navarette narrowly missed a three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth, but his fly-ball out drove in Conner for what proved to be the Toros’ only run.

Chapman padded its lead with two runs in the top of the seventh without the benefit of a hit.