CS Northridge Falls to Jones, Fresno State in Opener, 7-2

Rumors about the demise of Fresno State pitcher Bobby Jones were greatly exaggerated.

The Bulldog right-hander shackled Cal State Northridge on five hits Thursday night as Fresno defeated the Matadors, 7-2, before 3,919 at Beiden Field in an opening-round game of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

Northridge (41-17-1), one loss shy of elimination, is faced with the unenviable task of having to defeat top-seeded Miami at 3:30 this afternoon in order to stay alive in the West Regional II.

Miami (46-16) defeated Portland, 13-1, in another first-round game Thursday. Fresno State (38-20) will meet Stanford, a 12-5 winner over San Diego State, at 7:30 p.m. today.

Jones (14-1), a junior who has been nominated for national player-of-the-year honors, reportedly has been suffering from a tired arm.

“After what I saw tonight,” Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said, “I’d say he doesn’t have that much of a problem.”

Jones concurred.

“I had a little tenderness in my forearm, but it was treated and feels fine. I’m as strong as I was at the beginning of the year, if not stronger.”

Northridge’s Craig Clayton, who handed Jones his only loss in a March meeting, had no such luck this time around, allowing nine hits in 7 1/3 innings. He struck out nine but also walked three and hit three batters.

A two-run first-inning home run by Scott Richardson was the extent of Northridge’s offense against Jones, the Big West Conference pitcher of the year.

After Clayton led off with a single to the hole at short, Richardson drilled the first pitch he saw over the 380-foot sign in right-center field for his fifth home run.

“I liked the first inning a lot,” Kernen said. “But we didn’t do much after that.”

A two-run home run by Fresno’s Todd Johnson in the third tied the score and the Bulldogs went ahead to stay in the sixth inning on a double by Kelly Champlin and a run-scoring single by Bryan Judice.

One out after Judice’s single, Clayton hit Vernon Spearman with a pitch and Mike Noel followed with a single to right to load the bases.

A single by Phil Romero scored Judice and Spearman and increased the Fresno lead to 5-2. Clayton struck out Jason Wood and Johnson to end the inning.

In the seventh, the Bulldogs scored two more runs to chase the Northridge right-hander.

Robert Marsh started the inning by smashing Clayton’s first offering into right for a single. He was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and Judice followed by smashing the ball between the legs of third baseman Denny Vigo, who was charged with an error.

Clayton then hit Chris Falco with a pitch to load the bases and walked Spearman on four pitches to force in a run. That prompted Kernen to bring on relief specialist Todd Denhart.

“I felt strong enough physically,” said Clayton, who failed to finish a game for only the third time in 17 starts this season. “It’s just one of those things when I didn’t have much control.”

Denhart, Northridge’s only senior, got Noel on an infield fly, but Romero singled to left, scoring Judice.

Northridge committed two errors in the first two innings but was not failed by its defense until the third.

Romero led off Fresno’s half of the inning by hitting a hopper to shortstop Mike Solar, who stumbled, then sailed a throw into the Northridge dugout. One out later, Johnson deposited his second home run of the season over the left-center-field fence to tie the score, 2-2.

In the fifth, Romero led off with a double for the Bulldogs and advanced to third on a passed ball. Again Clayton responded to the challenge, striking out Wood and Johnson and getting Martin Togher on a ground ball to Scott Sharts at first base.

Meanwhile, Jones settled into a rhythm. After a first-inning single by Sharts that followed Richardson’s home run, the 6-foot-4 junior retired 17 of the next 18 batters.