SAN MARCOS, Calif. – With rain showers once again in the forecast, the 2017 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) season opening baseball series between Cal State San Marcos and UC San Diego has been altered this weekend. The Cougars will play single games on Thursday and Friday night at Triton Ballpark before returning home for a doubleheader on Saturday at CSUSM Baseball Field.
 

The Schedule Game 13 Thursday, Feb. 23 – 7 p.m. Cal State San Marcos (10-2) at UC San Diego (8-2) La Jolla, Calif. – Triton Ballpark Live Stats | Audio |  Webcast ($)   Game 14 Friday, Feb. 24 – 6 p.m. CSUSM at UCSD La Jolla, Calif. – Triton Ballpark Live Stats | Webcast ($)   Games 15 & 16 Saturday, Feb. 25 – 11 a.m. (DH) UCSD at CSUSM San Marcos, Calif. – CSUSM Baseball Field Live Stats | Webcast

Stat CSUSM UCSD All CSUSM Opponents AVG .342 .323 .282 R 90 71 53 H 125 109 104 RBI 79 68 41 SLG% .459 .469 .398 BB 47 35 36 OB% .433 .399 .366 SB 15 10 22 FLD% .962 .969 .942 ERA 3.95 2.35 7.05 SO 70 52 58

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THE COUGARS AT A GLANCE

• The Cougars collected its first series sweep last week, taking four games from Concordia Irvine in a split-venue series. CSUSM earned a 14-8 victory in the series opener before registering three consecutive wins by just one run at 2-1, 4-3 and 10-9.
• Through the first 12 games, CSUSM's team hitting is .342 while holding opponents to a .292 batting average.
• Six Cougars are hitting over .300 with junior shortstop Tyler Place leading the way with a .486 batting average (18-for-37).
• Junior infielder Riley Manquen hit his first career home run to break a 3-3 tie and give CSUSM the victory in game one of Saturday's doubleheader.

 
FIRST APPEARANCE IN TOP 10 NCBWA WEST REGION RANKINGS

• The Cougars made their National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) West Region debut this week, earning a No. 6 ranking.
• In week two of 2016, CSUSM received votes after compiling an 8-4 record.

 
TORRES EARNS CCAA WEEKLY HONOR

• Sophomore catcher Isaias Torres was named CCAA Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 13-20. He started all four games behind the plate and hit .500 (7-for-14) with eight RBIs, seven hits, two runs and a .714 slugging percentage. Torres had three doubles, a sacrifice fly and handled 22 putouts in the series.
• This was CSUSM's first conference weekly honor in program history.

CSUSM RANKS IN CCAA STATISTICS

• The Cougars lead the CCAA with a .342 batting average with 125 hits in 366 at bats.
• Thanks to Place's 10 doubles, CSUSM ranks No. 1 in the conference with 35 doubles. Cal State East Bay ranks second with 28 doubles.  
• The Cougars are tied with Chico State with 19 batters being hit by a pitch.  

UC SAN DIEGO BREAKDOWN

• CSUSM & UCSD are even at 3-3 in the all-time series.
• The Tritons appear in three national polls: No. 13 in NCBWA, No. 15 in D2BaseballNew.com, No. 24 Collegiate Baseball.
• UCSD is on a four-game win streak after winning the final two games of the Concordia Irvine series and recording a doubleheader sweep over visiting Western Oregon.
• The Tritons qualified for the 2016 CCAA Championship held in Stockton. UCSD fell 11-7 to CSUMB in the first round, recorded a 7-6 win over Chico State and eventually saw its season come to end after a 9-6 loss to Cal Poly Pomona.
• Senior outfielder Jack Larsen was selected CCAA Baseball Player of the Week for Feb. 6-12. 

NCBWA 2017 PRESEASON HONORS

• The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) selected junior shortstop Tyler Place to the first team.
• This marks the first time in program history a player has received a NCAA Division Regional honor.

THE GUILIANO FILE

• Head coach Matt Guiliano became CSUSM's second coach in program history this past summer.
• Guiliano spent nine seasons as the University of Sioux Falls Head Baseball Coach where he accumulated a 175-236-1 (.426) record.
• A graduate of USF, Guiliano remains in the Top 5 of several career and single season statistics including third in the all-time career batting average (.452) and first in triples (10).
• Guiliano began his college career at Palomar College, leading the Comets to Pacific Coast Conference Championships, a No. 4 ranking in California and No. 7 ranking in the nation.
• A Valley Center High School graduate, Guiliano led the Jaguars to back-to-back Valley League Championships and runner-up finishes in the CIF finals in 2000 and 2001.

THE CCAA CONFERENCE

• Cal State San Marcos is a part of the 13-team California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Conference, made up of 12 Cal State institutions and UC San Diego.
• The CCAA is one of the premier NCAA Division II conferences in the nation. Its teams have won more national championships (153) than any other conference.

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