SAN MARCOS, Calif. – After getting just one game in this past weekend due to rain, the Cal State San Marcos baseball team (6-9, 0-5 CCAA) will hope for a drier weekend as it heads to Cal State LA for a four-game series beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. at Reeder Field. The Cougars and Golden Eagles will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. before the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.

LAST WEEK

• CSUSM was only able to complete one game this past weekend against Cal State Dominguez Hills as it fell 9-2.
• Tied 1-1, the second game of the Friday doubleheader was suspended after three innings due to heavy rainfall.
• The rest of the series will be made up at a later date.

 
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cougars' pitching staff is tallying 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings to rank third in the CCAA.
• CSUSM's 11 home runs are the third-most in the conference.
• The Cougars have been hit by a pitch 25 times this season – second most in the league.
• CSUSM's 12 sacrifice bunts this season rank third in the conference.
• Emilio Luna has been hit by a pitch seven times so far, the most in the CCAA.
• Luke Reece leads CSUSM with a .354 batting average, a 1.034 OPS, 17 hits, six doubles, four stolen bases, 26 total bases, a .542 slugging percentage and a .492 on-base percentage.
• Reece has reached base in all 14 games he's played in this season.
• CSUSM has homered in five consecutive games, its most since six homering in six straight contests to begin the 2018 season.

 

GAMES 17-20 | CAL STATE LA
Date	Friday, March 17 - Sunday, March 19
Times	March 17 - 6 p.m. March 18 - 1 p.m. (DH) March 19 - 1 p.m.
Locations	Los Angeles, Calif.
Venue	Reeder Field
Records	CSUSM (6-9, 0-5 CCAA) LA (5-8. 0-4 CCAA)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network

NORTH TO LA

• The Golden Eagles are coming off their bye week and last competed March 3-5 at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
• LA was swept in the four-game series by scores of 7-4, 16-7, 8-2 and 9-2.
• The Golden Eagles' first CCAA series of the season against Cal State San Bernardino was postponed due to rain. LA and CSUSB saw the first game of the series suspended in the bottom of the eighth inning with the Yotes ahead 16-5.
• Senior infielder Matthew Piotrowski leads the Golden Eagle offense with a .423 batting average, a 1.166 OPS, 14 runs, 22 hits, six doubles, 17 RBIs, two stolen bases, a .692 slugging percentage and a .474 on-base percentage.
• Owen Hunt is LA's top pitcher with a 2.75 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 18 strikeouts.
• LA is making the third-most double plays per game in the nation at 1.08.
• The Golden Eagles have the worst ERA and WHIP in the CCAA at 7.17 and 1.98, respectively.
• LA has the sixth-best team batting average in the conference at .269.
• CSUSM owns a 13-11 lead in the all-time series against LA and is 5-7 when playing in LA.
• The Cougars and Golden Eagles split last year's series in San Marcos with CSUSM winning the final game by a score 21-18.

 
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.