SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team (21-15, 20-11 CCAA) will play its final home games of the 2024 season this weekend as it faces San Francisco State (23-15, 17-11 CCAA) in a four-game series beginning on Friday at 3 p.m. The series will continue on Saturday with a doubleheader at noon and will conclude on Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
Prior to Sunday's game, CSUSM will honor seniors Bradley Chesterton, Niko Diaz, Hayden Johns, Emilio Luna, Sean McGrew and Luke Reece.
 
LAST SERIES

• CSUSM split its series at Cal Poly Pomona, taking the first and last games of the set.
• The Cougars opened the series with a 6-4 win on Friday but fell in Saturday's doubleheader by scores of 11-1 and 6-5.
• Sunday's series finale was halted due to rain after five innings with score knotted at 6-all.
• Play resumed on Tuesday night and saw CSUSM earn a 13-10 win to split the series.
• The Cougars' win on Tuesday was their program-record 20th CCAA victory of the season and guaranteed they finish conference play with a winning record for the very first time.

 
COUGAR FACTS

• CSUSM is second in the CCAA standings and is a half-game back of leader Cal State Monterey Bay.
• The Cougars are eighth nationally with 36 sacrifice bunts this season while Garrett Teunissen is third in the category with 10.
• CSUSM batters have been hit by program-record 86 pitches this season, ranking 12th nationally. Phoenix Sommay accounts for 17 of those, also ranking 12th in the nation.
• The Cougars are converting the ninth-most double plays per game in the nation at 0.94 and have a total of 34 for the season, ranking 17th nationally.
• At 2.06 doubles per game, CSUSM leads the CCAA.
• The Cougars have the top on-base percentage in the conference at .427 while posting the second-best slugging percentage at .505.
• CSUSM is the top scoring team in the CCAA at 8.4 runs per game.
• Hitting .321 for the season, the Cougars' team batting average ranks second in the league while Ethan Rivera and Teunissen are first and second in the category as individuals at .404 and .403, respectively.
• The Cougars have swiped the second-most bags in the CCAA at 42 while Teunissen leads the conference with 17.
• Preston Kelly's conference-leading six saves rank 20th nationally.
• Roman Connolly has the sixth-best ERA in the CCAA at 3.30 while ranking third in walks allowed per nine innings (1.65), fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.63) and ninth in WHIP (1.33).
• Luke Reece has the second-most RBIs in the conference at 41.

FINAL HOME SERIES

• The Gators are coming off a series win against Stanislaus State this past weekend.
• The Warriors took the first two games of the series 12-11 and 8-4, fell 8-7 in the third game and won the finale 3-0.
• SF State is currently ## in the CCAA standings with a .607 winning percentage.
• The Gators' pitching staff has the third-best ERA (5.47) and WHIP (3.60) in the CCAA. SF State's WHIP also ranks 25th nationally.
• SF State is hitting .316 as a team, ranking fourth in the conference.
• In the CCAA, the Gators ranks second in doubles (75), second in hits (413), second in sacrifice flies (24), third in slugging (.454), third in strikeouts per nine innings (2.03) and third in walks allowed per nine innings (3.60).
• Scoring 7.1 runs per game, SF State ranks fourth in the conference.
• SF State's pitchers have hit 29 batters this season – the most in the CCAA.
• David Eichhorn has the 12th-best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the nation and leads the conference at 6.50 while boasting Division II's 14th-best WHIP at 1.16.
• Ryan Garza has a conference-leading 60 strikeouts for the season while posting the seventh-best ERA in the league at 3.53.
• Offensively, Derek LaFerierre has the sixth-best batting average in the CCAA at .379 while Justin Johnson leads the conference with 48 RBIs.
• Last year, the Gators took the series against the Cougars in San Francisco by winning three out of four games.
• CSUSM and SF State split the 2022 series in San Marcos.
• The Gators are 18-6 in the all-time series against the Cougars and are 8-3 when playing in San Marcos.

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.