SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team (13-14, 8-10 CCAA) will return to action in a four-game road series at Sonoma State (8-24, 5-19 CCAA) beginning on Friday at 2 p.m. The series will continue with an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Saturday before concluding at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
 
LAST WEEKEND

• CSUSM split its four-game series against Cal Poly Pomona.
• The Cougars took the first two games by scores of 3-1 and 10-6 before falling 6-4 and 7-3 in the final two.

 
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• CSUSM's pitching staff is recording the most strikeouts per nine innings in the CCAA at 8.8.
• The Cougars have been hit by a conference-high 51 pitches this season.
• With 26 sacrifice bunts for the year, CSUSM ranks 10th nationally and leads the CCAA as Cameron Mahaffy leads the league with five.
• The Cougars have the third-best on-base percentage in the league at .386.
• CSUSM is averaging the fourth-most stolen bases per game at 1.19.
• The Cougars have the fifth-best ERA in the CCAA at 5.33 while allowing the fifth-fewest hits per nine innings at 10.00.
• Slugging .420, CSUSM ranks fifth in the conference.
• Spencer Anderson's 3.27 ERA ranks seventh in the CCAA.
• Nolan Long is second in the conference with four saves for the season.
• Phoenix Sommay has been hit by a conference-leading 0.46 pitches per game and ranks sixth with 1.12 runs per game.
• Ethan Rivera is the second-toughest player to strikeout in the CCAA and 12th toughest nationally at 20.3 at-bats between strikeouts.

ON THE ROAD AT SONOMA STATE

• The Seawolves are coming off a series loss at Cal State LA last weekend, falling in three of four games.
• Since Feb. 28, SSU has recorded just three wins in 20 games and is last in the CCAA standings at 5-19.
• The Seawolves are 7-11 in home contests this season.
• SSU ranks last in the CCAA in fielding percentage (.951), on-base percentage (.357), scoring (4.5) and triples per game (0.03) and is next-to-last in batting average (.269), earned run average (6.75), runs (145) and slugging percentage (.385).
• The Seawolves are swiping the most bases in the conference at 1.56 per game and have 50 total. Aryonis Harrison leads the conference with 16 total.
• SSU is also turning the second-most double plays per game at .81.
• Evan Merz has the 10th-best batting average in the CCAA at .376 and is the sixth toughest to strikeout at 12.1 at-bats between strikeouts.
• Michael Panichi is SSU's top starting pitcher with a 5.30 ERA and the sixth-most strikeouts per nine innings in the CCAA at 8.68.
• CSUSM and SSU split last year's series in San Marcos, but the Cougars won the prior series in Rohnert Park in 2023.
• The Seawolves own the all-time series lead at 17-13 and are 7-4 when facing the Cougars at home.

2025 OUTLOOK

• CSUSM was picked to finish third in the 2025 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
• The Cougars' roster of 39 includes 19 transfers, 14 returners and six freshmen.
• CSUSM has 18 pitchers in its arsenal, with 15 right-handers and three southpaws.
• The Cougars have 22 position players, including one two-way player.
• All but seven Cougars are upperclassmen.

THE GARCIA FILE

• Head Coach Jose Garcia enters his third season in San Marcos after taking over the CSUSM baseball program on Aug. 1, 2022.
• Garcia was the 2024 CCAA Coach of the Year in just his second season as a head coach. The Cougars finished second in the CCAA standings and made their first-ever appearances in the NCAA West Regional and CCAA Tournament. CSUSM's 27-21 overall record and 26-13 conference record were the program's best since joining NCAA Division II in 2016.
• 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.
• Garcia has a career record of 60-60 (.500).