CSUN Shelled by San Diego State, 21-5

The worst was saved for last.

Cal State Northridge, playing in its final baseball series of the season, was bombed by San Diego State, 21-5, Friday night in a Western Athletic Conference game at San Diego.

The Matadors (27-28, 13-14 in conference play) trailed, 3-2, entering the fifth and allowed three runs. San Diego State (29-24, 12-15) put the game away with 10 runs in the sixth off starter John Najar (6-6) and reliever Jason Vargas, both seniors.

Najar, a right-hander who broke a bone in his right forearm while pitching last season at Smith Field, was charged with nine earned runs on 11 hits over five innings. He walked five and didn’t record a strikeout.

Freshman outfielder Adam Kennedy singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to a team-high 16 games. Kennedy, a freshman All-American candidate from Riverside, has hit safely in 35 of his last 37 games.

Northridge surrendered a season-high 24 hits.

Trailing, 21-2, Northridge avoided tying a dubious team record for largest margin of defeat by scoring three times in the ninth. In 1989, Northridge lost, 24-5, to now-defunct U.S. International, another San Diego school.

The defeat was the Matadors’ worst of the season, eclipsing a 17-6 loss to Cal State Sacramento on March 19.

Northridge, which had seven hits, must win today and on Sunday to avoid a second consecutive losing season. The Matadors last had consecutive losing seasons in 1977-78-79. Northridge last season was 25-30.

The Matadors, who last week were notified that they had an outside shot at an NCAA Division I playoff berth, have dropped five of their last six games.