CRABTREE TOO MUCH FOR SAN DIEGO STATE : CSUN 6, SAN DIEGO ST. 2.

Byline: Kevin Acee Daily News Staff Writer

His clenched fist high in the air, Robert Crabtree charged off the mound even before the final pitch was called a strike.

A little more than halfway to the plate, he was met by catcher Robert Fick, and then the entire Cal State Northridge baseball team joined in delirious celebration.

Crabtree's first win in a month came in Northridge's biggest victory of the season, 6-2 over San Diego State in front of 545 Sunday afternoon at Smith Field that maintained the Matadors' one-game lead in the Western Athletic Conference with three to go.

Crabtree, who started the season 11-1, was 0-4 in April. While his teammates continually tried to lift his spirits, Crabtree had begun to think of himself as sort of the team's goat.

``I felt I owed the team something,'' he said Sunday after allowing just four hits and one earned run. Only five Aztecs batters got the ball out of the infield as Crabtree got 19 ground-ball outs in pitching his second straight complete game.

``It's important for us to be (in first place alone),'' he said. ``But I'm excited I threw well today. And if we do win the division, I hope I got the momentum going.''

Northridge (42-13, 18-9) still leads Fresno State (31-22, 17-10) by one game in the WAC's West Division, but the Matadors likely shed San Diego State, which fell two games back with three to play. Northridge plays host to last-place Sacramento State in a three-game series beginning Friday. The Matadors swept the Hornets last month in Sacramento.

``We've got the last-place team in the league,'' Fick said of the season finale. ``I don't think we're going to let up.''

Not after the lessons learned the past two weekends, when the Matadors bungled opportunities to effectively put the division race away on consecutive Saturdays.

A loss Sunday, coupled with Fresno's 5-3 victory over Sacramento, would have meant a three-way tie for first place.

But for the first time in a while, Northridge won Sunday the way it won so many times earlier this season - timely sacrifices and base hits, sharp bunting and nearly flawless, seemingly effortless defense.

All six runs were scored by the bottom five spots in the lineup. Jose Miranda and David Stevenson scored twice. Stevenson, in his first start of the series, was 3 for 3 with a walk. Cesar Martinez, who has struggled most of the season but whom Fick called ``the MVP of the series,'' had two RBI, including the game-winner.

And, just as important as the consistent offense, if not more important, Crabtree looked like the Crabtree of February and March, when his starts were considered certain victories.

``I think the last three or four times he's pitched (the team) had lost that feeling,'' coach Mike Batesole said. ``It's nice to get that back again.''