SAN MARCOS, Calif. – A battle between the top two teams in the CCAA will occur this weekend as the Cal State San Marcos baseball team (13-8, 12-4 CCAA) hosts first-place No. 19 Cal State Monterey Bay (17-7, 13-3 CCAA) at CSUSM Baseball Field. The Cougars and Otters will play a doubleheader on Friday at 11 a.m. before wrapping up the series with another doubleheader on Saturday at noon.
 
LAST WEEK

• CSUSM earned its first series split in conference play this year at Chico State this past weekend.
• The Cougars opened the series with a 17-5 victory on Friday before getting swept in Saturday's doubleheader by scores of 15-4 and 3-2.
• CSUSM earned the series split on Sunday with an 11-7 win.
• This was the second series split in the all-time series between CSUSM and Chico with the last occurring in 2019.

 
COUGAR FACTS

• CSUSM sits second in the CCAA standings – one game behind Cal State Monterey Bay and a game ahead of San Francisco State.
• The Cougars remained sixth in this week's NCBWA Division II West Region poll.
• CSUSM has been hit by a pitch 56 times this season, ranking 12th in Division II and first in the CCAA. Phoenix Sommay leads the conference in this category as he's been hit 11 times and ranks 13th nationally with .55 hit by pitches per game.
• The Cougars have also put down the 12th-most sacrifice bunts in the nation this season at 22 and lead the CCAA. With seven this season, Garrett Teunissen ranks second nationally.
• Averaging 2.29 doubles per game, CSUSM leads the CCAA and ranks 23rd nationally. In total, it has tallied 48 to ranks second in the conference. Teunissen leads the Cougars and ranks fifth in the conference.
• The Cougars have also tallied seven triples this season, ranking second in the CCAA.
• Scoring 8.7 runs per game, the Cougars rank second in the league and 29th in the country.
• CSUSM's .510 slugging percentage and .426 on-base percentage ranks second in the CCAA and is 24th and 41st nationally, respectively. Cameron Mahaffy's team-leading .720 slugging percentage ranks third in the conference.
• The Cougars are stealing one base per game on average, ranking third in the CCAA. Teunissen's 10 for the year lead the conference.
• Turning 0.95 double plays per game, CSUSM ranks 17th nationally while its 20 total double plays rank 31st.
• Preston Kelly's three saves are tied for the conference lead and rank 36th nationally.
• CSUSM's team batting average of .315 ranks fourth in the CCAA and 39th nationally.
• Teunissen and Ethan Rivera rank fifth and ninth in the CCAA for batting average at .397 and .383, respectively.
• Luke Reece and Teunissen rank third and fifth for runs scored in the conference at 27 and 26, respectively.
• Reece's team-leading 25 RBIs rank sixth in the league.
• Teunissen has a team-leading 10 multi-hit games this season.
• Sommay has an active 12-game hitting streak – the longest by a Cougar this season. His 16-game reached-base streak is also the longest on the team.
• Niko Diaz is one sacrifice bunt away from tying former Cougar Griffin Teisher's program record of 21.

OTTERS COME TO TOWN

• CSUMB was ranked No. 19 in this week's edition of the NCBWA Divison II Top 25 Poll.
• The Otters are coming off a series sweep of Stanislaus State by scores of 11-5, 12-1, 10-6 and 11-9.
• CSUMB is first in the CCAA standings – one game ahead of CSUSM.
• Like the Cougars, the Otters have not lost a series in CCAA play this season.
• CSUMB's only series loss for the year came in early February as they fell in three out of four games in non-conference action against then-No. 24 Point Loma.
• The Otters' team batting average of .349 ranks fourth nationally while their .542 slugging percentage ranks ninth.
• CSUMB leads the CCAA in base on balls (120), ERA (4.52), hits (297), home runs (37), home runs per game (1.54), on-base percentage (.442), runs (216), runs per game (9.0), sac flies (20) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.6).
• KW Quilici leads the Otters and ranks third in the CCAA with a .415 batting average. He also has the conference's top on-base percentage at .533.
• Brady Miguel has eight homer for the year, ranking second in the CCAA.
• On the pitching side, Ryan Platero has a team-best 4.26 ERA among starting pitchers.
• Nate Rohlicek, Platero and Aidan Lee have 37, 34 and 34 strikeouts this season, respectively.
• CSUSM split last season's series against CSUMB in Seaside by taking the first two games.
• The Otters lead the all-time series at 16-6.
• CSUSM has just one win against CSUMB when playing at home – the last occurring in 2022's series opener.

COUGAR OUTLOOK

• CSUSM will field a roster of 35 this season with nine returners and 26 newcomers.
• The Cougars' pitching staff is made up of 15 arms, including 11 right-handers and four southpaws.
• CSUSM will have 22 position players to choose from, including two two-way players.
• Of the Cougars' 35-man roster, 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.