SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team (27-17) will make its CCAA Tournament debut as the No. 2 seed against a to-be-determined conference opponent on Thursday at 3 p.m. at Scolinos Field on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona.
 
LAST SERIES

• CSUSM concluded its regular season with a series split at Stanislaus State on April 26-28 in Turlock.
• The Warriors took the first two games of the series by scores of 8-4 and 5-1 before the Cougars took the final two games by scores of 4-3 and 18-2.
• CSUSM's bye week occurred during the final weekend of the CCAA play and saw the Cougars earn a first-round bye and clinch one of the top two seeds in the CCAA Tournament with a Cal Poly Pomona losing two games at Cal State San Bernardino.
• The CCAA Regular-Season Championship's fate came down to the final game of the season as Cal State Monterey Bay swept Cal State East Bay to win the title. CSUSM needed just one loss by the Otters to win the championship.

 
CCAA HONORS

• CSUSM took home multiple conference honors on Tuesday as Garrett Teunissen was named the CCAA Player of the Year while head coach Jose Garcia was named the CCAA Coach of the Year in just his second season with the program.
• Both yearly awards for Teunissen and Garcia were the first for the program in the NCAA Division II era (2016-present).
• The Cougars were well represented on the All-CCAA team as Teunissen, Preston Kelly, Luke Reece and Phoenix Sommay earned first-team honors while Ethan Rivera was named to the second team. Cameron Mahaffy was an honorable mention.
• CSUSM's six All-CCAA selections tied for the most in team history while its four first-team selections were a new program high.

 
COUGAR FACTS

• The Cougars came in at No. 3 in the final edition of the NCAA Division II West Region ranking on Wednesday prior to Sunday's selection show. CSUSM was No. 4 in last week's ranking.
• CSUSM is coming off its best regular season as a Division II program, setting the record for overall wins (27) and CCAA wins (26).
• The Cougars' 16 home wins were the most since their final year as an NAIA program in 2015.
• CSUSM did not drop a single four-game series during CCAA play and saw its lone series loss come in a rain-shortened three-game series at Cal State East Bay.
• The Cougars ended the regular season with five series wins in CCAA action – a program best.
• CSUSM has been hit by a program-record 104 pitches this season, ranking 12th in Division II.
• The Cougars have laid down a team-record 52 sacrifice bunts this year – the sixth most in the nation.
• CSUSM is turning 0.98 double plays per game, ranking seventh nationally, while its 43 total double plays rank 13th.
• The Cougars have the top on-base percentage in the CCAA at a program-record .428.
• CSUSM also has the best slugging percentage in the league at .503.
• Scoring 8.3 runs per game, the Cougars are scoring the most runs per game in the CCAA.
• Hitting 2.02 doubles per game, CSUSM leads the CCAA.
• Swiping 1.18 bags per game, the Cougars lead in the league stolen bags per game while its total of 52 ranks third.
• Hitting 1.16 home runs per game with a total of 51 for the season, CSUSM ranks second and third in both categories, respectively.
• Hitting .321 as a team, the Cougars have the third-best team batting average in the conference.
• Garrett Teunissen and Ethan Rivera have the best and second-best batting averages in the CCAA at .399 and .382, respectively.
• Teunissen leads the conference with 22 stolen bases and ranks fourth nationally with 12 sacrifice bunts. He's the 11th-toughest player to strikeout in the league at 9.1 at-bats between strikeouts.
• Phoenix Sommay has been hit by a conference-leading 20 pitches this season, tying the program record.
• Sommay's .485 on-base percentage and 52 runs scored both rank third in the CCAA.
• Preston Kelly's seven saves for the year lead the CCAA while his 16 career saves rank second in program history.
• At a rate of 8.80 strikeouts per nine innings, Nolan Long ranks second in the conference while his 4.09 ERA ranks 10th. His 3.31 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks seventh.
• Cameron Mahaffy has the fifth-best slugging percentage in the CCAA at .636.
• The Cougars are a perfect 18-0 when leading after seven innings this season and lost just once leading after six innings.
• When scoring six or more runs, CSUSM is 24-3 this season.
• CSUSM is 15-3 when scoring in the first inning and is 15-5 when scoring first.
• When holding opponents to five or fewer runs, the Cougars are 15-4.
• CSUSM is 24-7 when hitting at least one home run.

CCAA TOURNAMENT

• CSUSM will make its CCAA Tournament debut on Thursday as the No. 2 seed in the double-elimination portion of the bracket.
• The Cougars will face the highest-remaining seed following Wednesday's two single-elimination games featuring third-seeded Cal Poly Pomona and sixth-seeded Sonoma State at 1 p.m. and fourth-seeded San Francisco State and fifth-seeded Chico State at 5 p.m. The winners of those two games will be reseeded for the double-elimination side of the bracket.
• This will be the first postseason baseball played at Scolinos Field since 1985 and the first CCAA Tournament played there.

 
TOP-SEEDED CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY

• Cal State Monterey Bay earned the top seed in the CCAA Tournament and won the regular-season title by a half-game over CSUSM.
• The Otters were No. 2 in the final edition of the NCAA West Region ranking on Wednesday.
• The Cougars defeated the then-No. 19 Otters in the season series for the first time in program history on March 22-24 at CSUSM Baseball Field, taking three of four games.
• CSUMB will face the lowest-remaining seed from Wednesday's single-elimination games on Thursday at 11 a.m.
• The Otters have the top batting average in the CCAA at .326 while their team ERA of 5.24 ranks second.

 
THIRD-SEEDED CAL POLY POMONA

• The Broncos fell to third in the CCAA standings after losing its series at Cal State San Bernardino this past weekend.
• CPP also fell to No. 4 in the final edition of the NCAA West Region ranking on Wednesday.
• The Cougars and Broncos split their season series on April 12-14 at Scolinos Field.
• CPP will face sixth-seeded Sonoma State in a single-elimination game on Wednesday. If the Broncos win, they would be the highest-remaining seed from the single-elimination round and would face CSUSM on Thursday at 3 p.m.
• The Broncos' team batting average of .308 ranks fifth in the CCAA while its team ERA of 4.82 leads the league.

 
FOURTH-SEEDED SAN FRANCISCO STATE

• The Gators ended their regular season with a series win at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
• SF State came in at No. 6 in the final edition of the NCAA West Region ranking on Wednesday.
• The Cougars earned a four-game sweep against the Gators on April 19-21 at CSUSM Baseball Field.
• SF State will face fifth-seeded Chico State in a single-elimination game on Wednesday evening.
• The Gators have the second-best team batting average in the CCAA at .322 while its team ERA of 6.00 ranks fifth.

 
FIFTH-SEEDED CHICO STATE

• The Wildcats ended their regular season with back-to-back series losses against Cal State East Bay and Sonoma State and have just two wins in their last eight games.
• Chico was at No. 8 in last week's NCAA West Region ranking but fell out of the final edition on Wednesday.
• The Cougars and Wildcats split the season series in Chico on March 15-17.
• Chico's team batting average of .312 ranks fourth in the CCAA while its 5.83 team ERA ranks fourth.

 
SIXTH-SEEDED SONOMA STATE

• The Seawolves ended their regular season with back-to-back series wins against Cal State San Bernardino and Chico State.
• SSU was not one of the teams listed for NCAA West Regional consideration.
• The Cougars and Seawolves split the season series in San Marcos on April 6-7.
• SSU has the third-worst team batting average in the CCAA at .288 while its team ERA of 6.78 ranks eighth in the conference.
• A win by the Seawolves on Wednesday would mean they play top-seeded Cal State Monterey Bay on Thursday at 11 a.m. as the lowest-remaining seed.

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.