CLU NOTES: CAL LUTHERAN SET FOR TOURNEY.

Byline: Patrick Hipes Daily News Staff Writer

Cal Lutheran will open the 1998 NCAA Division III baseball championships against Aurora (Ill.) University on Saturday at 9 a.m. PDT, the NCAA has announced.

The Spartans (31-4), from the Northern Illinois Intercollegiate Conference, breezed through the Midwest Region tournament to extend their winning streak to 25 games.

If victorious, the Kingsmen (28-13) will play Sunday at 3 p.m. against the winner of Eastern Connecticut State (36-10) and Wisconsin-Oshkosh (40-3). A loss would drop them to the losers' bracket and a date with the loser of the ECSU-Oshkosh game.

Not too shabby: Brian Malchow, who was 10 for 20 in CLU's West Regional at Abilene, Texas, was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Malchow also had two saves in the series.

Karimov out: Jenia Karimov, the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's tennis Player of the Year, advanced through the first two rounds of the NCAA Division III championships at Williamstown, Mass., but lost in the semifinals Tuesday.

Karimov, the No. 2 seed, beat Eric Chen (MIT) 6-3, 6-1 and Jamie Broach (Trinity-Texas) 6-7, 6-1, 7-5 to advance to the Round of 16. After beating Broach, the former Pierce College standout collapsed with leg cramps.

The strain was enough that Karimov and doubles partner Carl Maloney lost 6-1, 6-2 in the first round of doubles action.

On Tuesday, Karimov lost to David Wiesman of Babson (Mass.) 0-6, 6-4, 6-1, ending his career with the Kingsmen.

BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

NCAA Division III championships

At Salem, Va.

All games PDT

Saturday: Game 1 - Eastern Connecticut State (36-10) vs. Wisconsin-Oshkosh (40-3), 7 a.m.; Game 2 - Aurora-Ill. (31-4) vs. Cal Lutheran (28-13), 10 a.m.; Game 3 - Anderson-Ind. (34-13) vs. Cortland State (37-3), 1 p.m.; Game 4 - NC Wesleyan (41-7) vs. Montclair State-NJ (31-9-1), 4 p.m.

Sunday: Game 5 - Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 9 a.m.; Game 6 - Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, noon; Game 7 - Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 3 p.m.; Game 8 - Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 6 p.m.

Monday-Tuesday: Games TBD.

Wednesday: Game 15 - Championship, 12:30 p.m.; Game 16 - 4:30 p.m. (if necessary).

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Box

BOX: BASEBALL PLAYOFFS (See text)