SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team (7-6, 3-5 CCAA) will return to non-conference action this weekend as it welcomes No. 1 Tampa (14-2, 3-0 Sunshine State) for a four-game series beginning on Friday at 2 p.m. at CSUSM Baseball Field. The series will continue with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. and will conclude on Monday at 2 p.m.
 
LAST WEEKEND

• CSUSM took its first road trip of the season to play Cal State LA, where it split a four-game series.
• The Cougars fell 8-7 in 13 innings to open the series on Friday before earning a 7-0 shutout in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. The Golden Eagles earned a 6-0 shutout in the second game on Saturday before the Cougars closed the series with a 7-6 win on Sunday.
• Jordan Townley threw 7.0 innings of shutout baseball while striking out a season-high seven batters and allowing just five hits and a walk.
• CSUSM's pitching staff struck out 40 batters and recorded a 3.00 ERA for the weekend.
• The Cougars' offense was held in check, hitting just .239 for the series.

 
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• CSUSM's pitching staff is averaging 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings, ranking 20th nationally and leading the CCAA.
• The Cougars have drawn the second-most walks in the conference at 77.
• CSUSM's batters have been hit by a pitch 30 times this season, ranking second in the league.
• Averaging 1.54 stolen bases per game, the Cougars are second in the CCAA.
• CSUSM is turning .85 double plays per game, ranking third in the conference.
• The Cougars' .409 on-base percentage ranks third in the league.
• Scoring 7.3 runs per game, CSUSM is third in the CCAA.
• At 170 career strikeouts, Nolan Long is three shy of Garrett Apker's program record of 173. He ranks second in the CCAA with two saves this season.
• Hayden Tregidga's .383 batting average leads the team while in the conference ranks, he's second in runs per game (1.31), fifth in RBIs per game (1.23) and fourth in home runs (5). His on-base percentage (.516) and slugging percentage (.702) rank seventh and eighth, respectively.
• Spencer Anderson's 2.66 ERA ranks fifth in the CCAA while his 23 strikeouts rank sixth.
• Jordan Townley and Anderson rank third and fourth in the conference for strikeouts per nine innings at 10.93 and 10.18, respectively.

CSUSM VS. TOP-RANKED TAMPA

• Friday will mark the first-ever meeting between the Cougars and Spartans.
• A nine-time NCAA Division II National Champion, Tampa earned the honor once again last season with a 52-8 overall record.
• So far this season, the Spartans are off to a 14-2 start overall and are 3-0 in Sunshine State Conference action.
• This past weekend, Tampa earned an 8-0 win against then-No. 15 Ashland on Friday before a pair of 1-0 and 5-0 wins against Davenport on Saturday. The Spartans then won by a score of 15-8 against Minnesota Crookston on Monday.
• The Spartans moved from No. 3 to No. 1 in this week's NCBWA Division II Top 25 Poll.
• Tampa's lone losses of the season came in a 5-2 decision at Montevallo on Feb. 7 and a 9-2 defeat at home against Quincy on Feb. 15.
• A rare cross-country opponent for both teams, the last time the Spartans played a California squad was former CCAA member UC San Diego at the 2019 NCAA Division II Championship while the Cougars' only game against a Florida opponent was St. Thomas in the opening round of the 2011 NAIA Tournament.
• This will be Tampa's first-ever road game in California dating back to the program's inception in 1961.
• Nationally, the Spartans' pitching staff ranks first in shutouts (5), fourth in WHIP (1.12), seventh in hits allowed per nine innings (7.11), eighth in ERA (2.77), ninth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.43), 26th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.1).
• Offensively, Tampa is third in sacrifice flies (15), ninth in stolen bases (3.13), 16th in triples (7), 37th in doubles (36), 39th in walks (91), 47th in on-base percentage (.420), 57th in slugging (.459) and 67th in batting average (.298).
• Jordan Williams is the nation's stolen base leader with 28 while leading the team with a .444 batting average, 24 hits, 19 runs and 20 RBIs.
• On the mound, Skylar Gonzalez has a team-best 1.55 ERA while C.J. Williams leads the team in strikeouts with 38.
• This will be CSUSM's second time going up against Division II's No. 1 team in a series as it faced top-ranked Chico State in a three-game series on the road in 2017, but it fell in all of those contests.

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 54-52 (.509).