SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team will take on familiar foe Point Loma Nazarene in a three-game series this weekend.

The Schedule
Game 22
Friday, March 22 – 3:00 p.m.
Cal State San Marcos (19-2) at Point Loma Nazarene (11-12)
San Diego, Calif. – Carroll B. Land Stadium
Live Stats

Games 23 & 24
Saturday, March 23 – 12:00 p.m.
Point Loma Nazarene (11-12) at Cal State San Marcos (19-2)
San Marcos, Calif. – CSUSM Baseball Field
Live Stats

Hot to The Touch
At 19-2, the Cougars are off to their best start in the program's seven-year history. The team's previous top mark over its first 21 games was a 14-7 record back in 2010.

GSACked
The Cougars completed their second series sweep over a squad from the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) this season by taking all four games over Vanguard last Friday and Saturday. The Cougars outscored VU 22-4 in the set and hit .322 off the Lions' hurlers. CSUSM pitchers limited batters to a .185 clip.

CSUSM-PLNU Preview
The Cougars and Sea Lions are familiar opponents, as PLNU was recently an NAIA institution prior to moving to NCAA Division II. CSUSM holds a 7-6-1 all-time advantage over PLNU. The teams split a doubleheader last year on April 14, 2012, PLNU winning 11-0 before CSUSM took game two, 3-2. The Sea Lions took three of four games from Azusa Pacific in their four-game series most recently on March 15 and 16.

Weekend at Bernie's
Tyler Bernard put together a solid weekend for CSUSM, going 6-for-15 (.400) with three RBI and a pair of doubles. He added 12 assists in the field. The senior from Valley Center raised his batting average by 10 points over the four games and now leads the team in average (.403), hits (29), doubles (10), on-base percentage (.494) and total bases (41).

Catching a Fever
The CSUSM catchers combined for a 7-for-15 clip at the plate against VU. Kody Sepulveda went 4-for-10 (.400) in two games and Rich Montanez went 3-for-5 (.600) in the other pair. Sepulveda added his third homerun of the season in game three and leads the team with three on the season.

Kenny B
Senior third baseman Kenny Belzer didn't have a shabby weekend either for the Cougars, going 5-for-15 (.333) with a double and seven RBI. Belzer had three RBI in both games of the Saturday doubleheader and has now recorded six games with multiple RBI, a team-best.

Dykstra Named A.I.I. Athlete of the Week
The Cougars took home the A.I.I.'s Male Athlete of the Week for the second straight week when senior right-hander James Dykstra earned the honor on Monday. Last Sunday against Sioux Falls, Dykstra matched his own school record for strikeouts, fanning 12 batters in seven innings of work while allowing just three hits. On Friday against Vanguard, Dykstra threw eight shutout innings, sitting down 10 Lions and scattering a pair of hits. The Cougars' ace has registered four straight appearances with 10 strikeouts or more. He's won each of his starts (6-0) and holds a 1.15 ERA over 47.0 innings. Batters are hitting just .146 off of him and he's worked at least seven innings in each of his appearances.

Making Rotations
Steve Messner and Kevin Hilton put together solid performances in the second leg of the series in Costa Mesa. Messner improved to 3-1 on the season with a complete-game, four-hit performance in game one. Hilton then moved to 4-0 on the year in game two, allowing just a single run while pitching all seven innings. Hilton has allowed just a pair of earned runs over his 22.0 innings of work thus far, and holds an ERA of 0.82.

Foul Tips
Matt Bataska (1-1) earned his first win of the season in Friday's game two, getting out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth inning in relief of Mike Scaramella … Brandon Bentson was 5-for-14 (.357) with two RBI against VU … Kyle Kuck went 2-for-3 with an RBI in Friday's game two … Dykstra currently holds CSUSM's lowest career ERA (minimum 30 innings pitched) at 2.29 … Justin Hertzmann earned his second save of the season in game one against the Lions … Three pitchers – Hunter Brown, Addison Domingo and Kuck – have not allowed a run in a combined 13.0 innings pitched this season … The Cougars will take on San Diego Christian on Wednesday and Friday, March 27 and 29, at CSUSM Baseball Field.