CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE MATADORS NOTEBOOK : CATCHER FICK IS MAGAZINE'S FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICA PICK.

A day after he played right into the hands of Bay Area reporters by saying he was the best catcher in the nation over Stanford's A.J. Hinch, Cal State Northridge catcher Robert Fick got the endorsement of at least one publication.

Collegiate Baseball magazine named Fick its first-team All-America catcher Thursday. Hinch was the second-team selection.

Northridge shortstop Adam Kennedy, who hit .384 during the regular season but was not named to the All-Western Athletic Conference first team, was a third-team selection. Sophomore left-hander Erasmo Ramirez, who was 12-1 with a 2.79 ERA in the regular season, was also on the third team.

``Nothing, for real,'' Fick said twice of what the honor meant to him.

Then, after voicing his displeasure that quotes were taken out of context by some Bay Area papers, he relented.

``It means a whole heck of a lot,'' he said. ``And y'know, I owe it all to my teammates for allowing me to play on a good team.''

Gauchos lose it: Four errors, including two in the eighth inning, cost UC Santa Barbara in its first-round game as Mississippi State came back for a 6-2 victory Thursday afternoon.

The Gauchos scored twice in the second inning and led until the Bulldogs tied the game in the seventh. Mississippi State scored four runs in the eighth.

Santa Barbara will play top-seeded Florida State at 3 p.m. today. Mississippi State plays (Stanford-Northridge) at 7 p.m. tonight.

Eric Dubose pitched his 10th complete game for the Bulldogs on Thursday to improve to 10-4.

``He just battled,'' said UCSB third baseman Lou Tapia, a senior from Van Nuys who was 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI. ``He made big pitches when he needed to. We hit him the first few innings. But after that, he shut us down.''

Blowout: All-American Jeremy Morris was 4 for 5 with two home runs as Florida State clobbered sixth-seeded Northeastern Illinois 16-0 in Thursday's first game.