SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team (1-2) will face Montana State Billings (1-0) in a four-game series beginning on Thursday at 1 p.m. at CSUSM Baseball Field. The second game of the series will take place at 2 p.m. on Friday before wrapping up with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.
 
LAST WEEK

• CSUSM went 1-2 in the opening weekend of the 2023 season with 13-5 loss in the season opener at Biola before coming home to earn a 9-8 win in the second game and 6-0 loss in the series finale.
• Head coach Jose Garcia earned his first career win as a collegiate head coach.
• Newcomer Anthony Pacino was CSUSM's leading hitter in the first three games of the season with a .375 batting average, a 1.375 OPS and a home run.
• Ethan Rivera hit .364 with a team-leading three RBIs while tallying four hits, a double, a triple and three runs.
• Pat MacDonald Jr. fired four-scoreless innings with six strikeouts in a no-decision against the Eagles.
• Making his first relief appearance since the abbreviated 2020 season, Preston Kelly earned his first career save with two strikeouts.

 

GAMES 4-7 | MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
Date	Thursday, Feb. 9 - Saturday, Feb. 11
Times	Feb. 9 - 1 p.m. Feb. 10 - 2 p.m. Feb. 11 - 11 a.m. (DH)
Locations	San Marcos, Calif.
Venues	CSUSM Baseball Field
Records	CSUSM (1-2) MSUB (1-0)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network

FOUR GAMES AGAINST THE YELLOWJACKETS

• CSUSM and MSUB will meet for the very first time on Thursday.
• Prior to Thursday, the Yellowjackets will finish up their season-opening series at Cal State LA on Wednesday night.
• MSUB won its first game of the season against LA on Tuesday night by a score of 11-3 after getting out a 5-0 lead in the opening frame.
• Hayden Foltz and Kaden Kirshenbaum each tallied three hits, three RBIs and a home run for the Yellowjackets in the season opener.
• In the five-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference, MSUB tied for third in the 2023 GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
• The Yellowjackets finished the 2022 season with an overall record of 26-27 and were third in the GNAC at 16-16.
• Sophomore Jackson Betancourt is the lone returning starting pitcher for MSUB. Betancourt made 10 starts for the Yellowjackets last season, finishing with an 8.33 ERA and 29 strikeouts through 35.2 innings of work.
• In 2022, Billings led the conference in runs scored (352), RBIs (325), triples (18), strikeouts (453), batting average with bases loaded (.342), batting average with runners in scoring position (.317), triples per game (0.34), RBIs per game (6.13) and runners picked off (9).

2023 SQUAD

• CSUSM has 18 returners for the 2023 season, including 2022 All-CCAA second-team recipients Ethan Rivera and Luke Reece.
• The Cougars will have 12 newcomers this season with six freshmen and six transfers.
• CSUSM's pitching staff is made up of 16 in total with 11 right handers and five lefties.
• Athletically, the Cougars are made up of two redshirt juniors, 16 redshirt sophomores, two true sophomores, four redshirt freshmen and six true freshmen.
• CSUSM was picked to finish 11th in the 2023 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
• The Cougars' 50-game schedule includes 28 home contests and 22 road games.

THE GARCIA FILE

• Head Coach Jose Garcia was announced as the new leader of the CSUSM baseball program on Aug. 1, 2022.
• Garcia came to CSUSM from fellow CCAA member Chico State where he was the top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Wildcats.
• Joining Chico's staff as a student assistant in Fall 2012, Garcia helped the Wildcats notch 286 victories, seven postseason appearances, two CCAA Championships, one NCAA West Region Championship and one College World Series appearance in 10 years with the program.
• Serving as Chico's primary hitting and infield coach, Garcia coached the Wildcats' offense to a conference-record .344 team batting average while assisting the team to a 34-15 overall record in 2022 despite only returning seven players from the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
• In 2017, Garcia helped Chico to another CCAA record with a win-loss total of 34-4 in conference play while also helping the team to an NCAA Division II-best .983 fielding percentage.
• Garcia is a graduate of Chico State and earned his bachelor's degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in coaching. He later earned his master's degree in School and Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Positive Coaching from the University of Missouri in 2017.