SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team (21-18, 16-14 CCAA) will play its final four home games of the season against Chico State (25-16, 18-14 CCAA) beginning on Friday at 3 p.m. at Dennis A. Pugh Baseball Field.
 
Before Sunday's home finale, CSUSM will its 18 honor seniors: Spencer Anderson, Trevor Eby, Conner Gleissner, Preston Kelly, Mateo Lake, Nolan Long, Cameron Mahaffy, Masen McDonnell, Sammy Murphy, Marco Pirruccello, Fisher Pyatt, Ethan Rivera, Evan Scalley, Trevor Schott, Phoenix Sommay, Garrett Teunissen, Zavien Watson and Tyler Weaver.
 
LAST WEEKEND

• CSUSM split its series at No. 24 Cal State Monterey Bay this past weekend.
• The Cougars opened the series with a 9-2 win with help from a six-run inning and a dominant outing from starter Spencer Anderson, who went a career-high 7.1 innings with five strikeouts and two unearned runs.
• After falling in the first game of Friday's doubleheader, the Cougars retook the series lead in the second game with a 6-4 win in eight innings.
• CSUSM had to settle for a series split with a 13-4 loss in Saturday's finale.
• The Cougars' wins were their second and third against a ranked opponent this season.

 
FLOCOLLEGE/CCAA PITCHER OF THE WEEK

• With his performance in Friday's game against the Otters, Spencer Anderson was named the FloCollege/CCAA Pitcher of the Week on Monday.
• This was Anderson's first career CCAA Pitcher of the Week honor, and the first for CSUSM since the 2022 season.

 
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• CSUSM enters the weekend sixth in the CCAA standings at 16-14 (.533), one game behind fifth-place Chico State (.562) and one game ahead of seventh-place Cal State San Bernardino (.500). The final standings will be determined based on winning percentage due to canceled CCAA games.
• The Cougars are tied for the most sacrifice bunts in the conference with 35, ranking 12th nationally.
• CSUSM batters have drawn the third-most walks in the league this season with 167.
• The Cougars have been hit by a CCAA-high 76 pitches this season while Phoenix Sommay has been hit by the most in the league at 18.
• CSUSM pitchers are recording 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings, the third most in the CCAA.
• With an on-base percentage of .382, the Cougars rank fourth in the conference.
• CSUSM's 40 home runs this season rank fifth in the conference.
• Scoring 6.3 runs per game, the Cougars rank fifth in the league.
• Jordan Townley and Spencer Anderson rank seventh and 10th in the CCAA with ERAs of 3.61 and 4.14, respectively.
• Townley is allowing the fourth-fewest hits per nine innings in the conference at 8.08.
• Nolan Long is tied for the most saves in the CCAA with seven and is tied for the third-most saves in a single season in team history.
• Ethan Rivera is the second-toughest player to strikeout in the conference at 15.6 at-bats between strikeouts.

HOME FINALE AGAINST THE WILDCATS

• Chico is coming off a series split against Cal State LA last weekend and a series split against Cal State Dominguez Hills the week before.
• In road games this season, the Wildcats are 10-9.
• Chico's pitching staff has the second-best ERA in the CCAA at 4.54 and is allowing the fewest walks per nine innings at 2.97.
• Marco Ibarra has the CCAA's fifth-best ERA at 3.46 and is second in WHIP at 1.06.
• The Wildcats have turned the most double plays in the conference with 35 this season.
• Chico is batting .291 for the season, ranking fourth in the league as Troy Kent leads the team with the conference's eighth-best average at .376.
• The Cougars are last in the CCAA in base on balls (117) and home runs (18) while ranking 10th in slugging (.396).
• This will be the first time since 2018 that CSUSM has played Chico at home as the last 12 games against the Wildcats have been on the road. The last two scheduled series in San Marcos were canceled due to rain/field conditions (2023) and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020).
• The Cougars and Wildcats split last year's series in Chico as CSUSM took the first and last games of the series.
• Chico owns a 15-7 lead in the all-time series against CSUSM and is 5-2 when playing in San Marcos.

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 68-64 (.515).