SAN MARCOS, Calif. – A pivotal final series of the regular season awaits the Cal State San Marcos baseball team (23-20, 18-16 CCAA) as it will battle Cal State San Bernardino (27-19, 19-17 CCAA) for the final spot in the CCAA Tournament beginning on Thursday at 2 p.m. at Fiscalini Field in San Bernardino.
 
LAST WEEKEND

• CSUSM split its final home series of the season against Chico State his past weekend.
• After Chico won the first two games 9-3 and 14-7, CSUSM earned the split with a walk-off 8-7 win in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader before a 12-5 win in the finale on Sunday.
• This was CSUSM's fourth series split of the season.

 
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• CSUSM enters the final weekend of the regular season sixth in the CCAA standings at 18-16 (.529), just one percentage point ahead of seventh place Cal State San Bernardino at 19-17 (.528).
• Having laid down 38 sacrifice bunts this season, the Cougars lead the league and rank 12th nationally. Garrett Teunissen's seven rank second in the conference while Phoenix Sommay's six rank fifth.
• CSUSM batters have been hit by a pitch a CCAA-leading 80 times this season with Sommay leading the league with 19.
• The Cougar pitching staff is recording the third-most strikeouts per nine innings in the conference at 8.0.
• CSUSM's .385 on-base percentage ranks fourth in the CCAA.
• Cougar batters have walked the fourth-most times in the league this season at 185.
• CSUSM has the fifth-most homers in the CCAA with 46 and also ranks fifth in slugging at .428.
• With a 4.08 ERA, Spencer Anderson ranks ninth in the conference.
• Jordan Townley is allowing the seventh-fewest hits per nine innings in the CCAA at 8.62.
• Nolan Long has the second-most saves in the conference with seven.
• Ethan Rivera is the CCAA's second-toughest player to strikeouts, going 15.0 at-bats between strikeouts.

FINAL REGULAR-SEASON SERIES AT CSUSB

• CSUSM just needs a series split against CSUSB to secure a spot in the CCAA Tournament as it would still have the higher conference winning percentage between the two schools.
• The Coyotes earned a series win at Cal State LA this past weekend, falling 4-3 in the opener before earning wins of 15-5, 6-3 and 22-7.
• CSUSB is 15-10 in home games this season.
• The Coyotes lead the CCAA in base on balls (248), doubles (107), on-base percentage (.433), runs (412), sacrifice flies (25) and scoring (9.0).
• CSUSB's pitching staff has the worst ERA in the conference at 6.92.
• Jason Shedlock has the best batting average in the league at .421 and has the best on-base percentage at .517.
• Daryl Ruiz has knocked in a CCAA-leading 64 runs this season and leads the league with eight sacrifice flies and a .739 slugging percentage.
• In 12 starts this season, Dylan O'Connor has recorded the fifth-most strikeouts in the conference at 64.
• The Cougars won last year's series in San Marcos by winning three of four games.
• The Coyotes have the edge in the all-time series at 22-16 and are 13-6 against the Cougars in San Bernardino.

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 70-66 (.515).