SAN MARCOS, Calif. – A CCAA Regular-Season Championship is in play for the first-place Cal State San Marcos baseball team (25-15, 24-11 CCAA) this weekend as it travels to Stanislaus State (14-24-1, 10-20 CCAA) for its final regular-season games beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. in Turlock. The series will continue on Saturday with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. and will conclude on Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
LAST SERIES

• The Cougars earned their second CCAA series sweep of the season by taking all four games against San Francisco State at home by scores of 13-9, 10-6, 8-4 and 6-1.
• CSUSM clinched its first-ever CCAA Tournament berth following Saturday's doubleheader sweep of SF State.
• The Cougars outscored the Gators 37-20 for the series while hitting .333 to SF State's .268. CSUSM's pitching staff did its job with a 4.50 ERA and 28 strikeouts compared to the Gators' 8.70 ERA and 17 strikeouts.

 
COUGAR FACTS

• CSUSM can win its first CCAA Regular-Season Championship this weekend by sweeping the series at Stanislaus or by winning three out of four games and having Cal Poly Pomona lose a game at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
• CSUSM is first in the CCAA standings with a 1.5-game lead over second-place Cal State Monterey Bay, which is in its bye week.
• The Cougars moved up to fourth in this week's NCBWA Division II West Region poll and received one vote in the NCBWA Division II Top 25 rankings.
• The Cougars have laid down the seventh-most sacrifice bunts in the nation at 45 and lead the CCAA.
• Turning 0.93 double plays per game, CSUSM ranks ninth nationally and second in the conference.
• The Cougars have been hit by a program-record 95 pitches this season, ranking 12th in Division II and first in the CCAA.
• CSUSM has a conference-leading slugging percentage of .508 and ranks 34th nationally.
• The Cougars' team batting average of .322 ranks 35th in Division II and second in the CCAA.
• CSUSM is scoring a league-best 8.5 runs per game to rank 36th nationally.
• The also have the conference's best on-base percentage at .429.
• Ethan Rivera and Garrett Teunissen are first and second in the CCAA with batting averages of .395 and .390, respectively.
• Teunissen has a league-leading 18 stolen bases this season and has put down the third-most sac bunts in Division II at 11. He is only one sac bunt away from tying the CSUSM season record of 12 recorded by Mike Guadagnini in 2013.
• Phoenix Sommay has been hit by the 13th-most pitches in Division II this season at 19. He's only one off the CSUSM season record of 20 posted by Austin Coleman in 2011.
• Sommay has scored the second-most runs in the CCAA this season at 47.
• Sommay will enter the weekend on a 35-game reached-base streak – the fourth longest in program history.
• Luke Reece's nine homers and 44 RBIs rank third and fourth in the conference, respectively.
• Victor Castaneda has the CCAA's second-best slugging percentage at .707.
• Roman Connolly has the conference's eighth-best ERA at 4.04. He has the third-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.13) in the league while allowing the third-fewest walks per nine innings (1.47).
• Nolan Long's 9.00 strikeouts per nine innings are the second most in the CCAA. His career strikeout total of 146 ranks fifth in program history.
• Preston Kelly's seven saves on the year lead the conference and rank 16th nationally. His career save total of 16 is the second most in program history and is three shy of Justin Hertzmann's record of 19 set in 2013-15.
• CSUSM is 17-0 when leading after the seventh inning this season and is 15-1 when leading after the sixth.
• The Cougars are 23-3 when scoring six runs or more this year.
• When hitting at least one home run, CSUSM is 23-6 this season.

FINAL REGULAR-SEASON GAMES AT STAN STATE

• The Warriors are coming off their bye week, last falling in three out of four games at San Francisco State on April 12-14.
• Stan State has lost eight of its last nine games dating back to April 6.
• The Warriors' lone four-game series win of the season came against Cal State East Bay at home on March 22-24.
• Stan State has the seventh-best batting average in the CCAA at .293 and ranks eighth in ERA at 6.67.
• The Warriors rank last in the CCAA in double plays (11), on-base percentage (.370), runs (224), sacrifice flies (13), scoring (5.7) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.29).
• Chris Catalano leads Stan State with a .358 batting average and a .904 OPS. He is posting eighth-most hits in the CCAA at 1.36 per game.
• Alex Solis has tallied the seventh-most doubles in the conference this season with 13.
• Last year's series between the Cougars and Warriors was shortened to three games due to rain and saw Stan State take two games in San Marcos.
• CSUSM won the last series against Stan State in Turlock in 2022.
• The Cougars are 6-5 when playing the Warriors in Turlock and trail 10-11 in the all-time series since first meeting in 2016.

COUGAR OUTLOOK

• CSUSM will field a roster of 36 this season with nine returners and 27 newcomers.
• The Cougars' pitching staff is made up of 16 arms, including 12 right-handers and four southpaws.
• CSUSM will have 22 position players to choose from, including two two-way players.
• Of the Cougars' roster of 36, 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.