SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 9 Cal State San Marcos baseball team hosts the highest-ranked team it has played this season when No. 9 The Master's College comes to town on Friday and Saturday for a three-game set.
The Schedule
Game 37
Friday, April 19 – 3:00 p.m.
No. 9 The Master's College (32-14) at No. 11 Cal State San Marcos (29-7)
San Marcos, Calif. – CSUSM Baseball Field
Live Stats
Games 38 & 39
Senior Day (between games)
Saturday, April 20 – 12:00 p.m.
No. 9 The Master's College (32-14) at No. 11 Cal State San Marcos (29-7)
San Marcos, Calif. – CSUSM Baseball Field
Live Stats
Senior Day Ceremony Saturday
CSUSM baseball will honor nine seniors between games on Saturday –
Kody Sepulveda,
Marcus Meraz,
Steve Messner,
Mike Guadagnini,
Kyle Secciani,
Frank Charlton,
Kenny Belzer,
James Dykstra and
Mike Scaramella. The ceremony will begin 20 minutes after the completion of game one.
Mustangs-Cougars, Postseason Implications?
Recently, the NAIA named TMC as host for the fifth annual NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round. Along with the bid to host the first round, the Mustangs received an automatic berth into the 45-team, nine-region tournament. TMC is the highest-ranked team on the West Coast at No. 9, and with No. 11 CSUSM as the second-highest team in the region, it may be the case that these two teams will be in the same postseason pool come the second weekend in May.
TMC-CSUSM History
The Cougars are 5-8 all-time against the Mustangs. TMC downed CSUSM twice last season in a doubleheader in Santa Clarita on April 5, 2012, 7-5 and 8-7. CSUSM's last win against TMC will be exactly two years ago to the day come Friday; the Cougars topped the Mustangs 12-6 on April 19, 2011.
What Have You Done For Me Lately?
The Cougars have won seven of eight heading into this weekend's series, recently taking two of three from Westmont in the teams' series. CSUSM also topped Azusa Pacific last week, 13-3, on April 9.
Marcus Meraz hit .471 (8-for-17) last week with three RBI.
Kyle Kuck was 4-for-11 (.364) and
Kenny Belzer was 6-for-17 (.353) with a pair of homers and six RBI.
On The Marc'
After hitting just .194 through his first 12 games, Meraz has been on a tear, raising his average 103 percentage points. Between April 5 and 13, Meraz notched multiple hits and at least one RBI in six consecutive games. His .483 average and .483 on-base percentage over the last seven games lead all Cougars, and he's added seven RBI, second-most for any CSUSM player. Interestingly, the Cougars are 6-0 when he leads off and 3-0 when he bats second.
Honorary Members
The Cougars will be taking on their sixth opponent from the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) when they take the field against the Mustangs this week. Thus far, CSUSM is 10-5 (.667) against GSAC opponents. The Cougars swept then-No. 13 Concordia (Calif.) to open the season before sweeping Vanguard in a four-game set (Mar. 15-16). CSUSM split a pair of games with Biola and took two of three from Westmont. San Diego Christian is the only GSAC team to win a series against CSUSM, taking all three games in the teams' set on Mar. 27 and 29. The Cougs will face the final team in the conference, Arizona Christian, next weekend.
