SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Fresh off a series sweep and on a seven-game winning streak, the Cal State San Marcos baseball team (8-5, 7-1 CCAA) will return to CSUSM Baseball Field to face Cal State San Bernardino (8-8, 1-5 CCAA) in a four-game series beginning on Friday at 2 p.m. The series will continue with an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Saturday before wrapping up with a noon game on Sunday.
 
LAST WEEK

• CSUSM swept Cal State Dominguez Hills in four games in Carson to earn its second consecutive CCAA series win.
• The Cougars won by scores of 13-8, 15-5, 16-8 and 12-7.
• With their seventh consecutive victory, the Cougars posted their longest winning streak of the Division II era (2016-present) and longest since their final year of NAIA competition in 2015.
• This was CSUSM's first four-game sweep of CSUDH since their inaugural CCAA series in 2016 – the only other time the Cougars completed a four-game sweep of a conference opponent.

 
COUGAR FACTS

• The Cougars are first in the CCAA standings with an .875 winning percentage.
• CSUSM leads the CCAA with 2.15 doubles per game.
• The Cougars have put down a conference-best 13 sacrifice bunts, ranking 16th in Division II.
• CSUSM has been hit by 37 pitches this season, ranking second in the CCAA and 22nd nationally.
• The Cougars' three triples and 0.23 triples per game also rank second in the conference.
• CSUSM has the third-best on-base percentage (.414) and slugging percentage (.467) in the CCAA.
• The Cougars are stealing 1.08 bases per game, ranking third in the conference.
• Scoring 8.2 runs per game, CSUSM ranks fourth in the CCAA.
• The CSUSM pitching staff is allowing the fourth-fewest walks per nine innings (3.74) while earning the fourth-most strikeouts per nine innings (8.4) in the conference.
• The Cougars' 2.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks fourth in the league.
• CSUSM raised its team batting average to .292, ranking fifth in the CCAA.
• Phoenix Sommay and Ethan Rivera rank third and seventh in the CCAA at .525 and .500, respectively.
• Sommay has been hit by a pitch 10 times this season, leading the conference and ranking ninth nationally.
• Garrett Teunissen has put down a conference-best five sacrifice bunts this season, ranking third in Division II. He's also tallied three sac flies to rank third in the CCAA and 21st nationally.
• Cameron Mahaffy has the sixth-best slugging percentage in the conference at .667.
• Conner Gleissner is fifth in the CCAA for walks allowed per nine innings (1.45), seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.33), 10th in ERA (3.38) and 11th in WHIP (1.18).

 

GAMES 14-17 | CAL STATE SAN BERNARDINO
Dates	Friday, March 8 - Sunday, March 10
Times	Friday, March 8 - 2 p.m. Saturday, March 9 - 11 a.m. (DH) Sunday, March 10 - 12 p.m.
Locations	San Marcos, Calif.
Venue	CSUSM Baseball Field
Records	CSUSM (8-5, 7-1 CCAA) CSUSB (8-8, 1-5 CCAA)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network
Tickets	HomeTown Ticketing

THIS WEEKEND AGAINST CSUSB

• The Coyotes were only able to get two games in against Stanislaus State this past weekend due to weather and fell in both games by scores of 13-11 and 6-2.
• CSUSB has lost in five of its last six games and is last in the CCAA standings with a 1-5 record.
• The Coyotes sport the best WHIP (1.27) and ERA (3.66) in the CCAA while ranking 16th and 18th nationally, respectively.
• CSUSB has the fifth-best strikeout-to-walk ratio in Division II at 3.24.
• Benny Olguin leads the Coyote pitching staff with a 0.81 ERA in four starts and 22.1 innings pitched.
• Each of CSUSB's four starting pitchers has 21 or more strikeouts this season with Dylan O'Connor leading with 25.
• Offensively, the Coyotes have the second-worst batting average in the CCAA at .259 while ranking last in on-base percentage (.365) and slugging percentage (.346).
• CSUSB ranks ninth in scoring in the conference at 5.9 runs per game.
• Daniel Garcia Jr. is the Coyotes' top hitter with a .417 batting average and 1.54 hits per game.
• CSUSM has lost five straight to CSUSB dating back to 2022.
• The Coyotes swept last year's series against the Cougars in San Bernardino.
• CSUSM is 13-21 in the all-time series against CSUSB and is 7-8 when playing the Coyotes at home.

COUGAR OUTLOOK

• CSUSM will field a roster of 35 this season with nine returners and 26 newcomers.
• The Cougars' pitching staff is made up of 15 arms, including 11 right-handers and four southpaws.
• CSUSM will have 22 position players to choose from, including two two-way players.
• Of the Cougars' 35-man roster, all but seven are upperclassmen.
• Returners Luke Reece and Preston Kelly each earned All-CCAA honors last season as Reece was named to the second team while Kelly was an honorable mention.
• CSUSM was selected to finish ninth in the 2024 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.

THE GARCIA FILE

• Head Coach Jose Garcia enters his second season in San Marcos after taking over the CSUSM baseball program on Aug. 1, 2022.
• The Cougars ended the 2023 season with an overall record of 20-25 and finished ninth in CCAA play at 14-21.
• 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.