SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team (4-5, 3-1 CCAA) will look to stay hot this weekend as it travels to Cal State Dominguez Hills (6-7, 3-1 CCAA) for its first CCAA road series beginning on Friday at 2 p.m. in Carson at Toro Field. The four-game series will continue with a doubleheader on Saturday at 11 a.m. before wrapping up on Sunday at noon.
 
LAST WEEK

• The Cougars began CCAA play on a strong note by taking the final three games of its series against Cal State LA to win the series.
• CSUSM fell 15-11 in the first game on Friday before sweeping Saturday's doubleheader by scores of 9-1 and 5-4. The Cougars took the series with an 8-7 win on Sunday for their third consecutive victory.
• This was CSUSM's first series win against LA since 2019 and was the third in the all-time series.
• CSUSM earned its first CCAA series win at home since 2022 when it took three of four against Cal State San Bernardino.
• The Cougars were one of four teams to begin CCAA play at 3-1, the others being San Francisco State, Cal State Monterey Bay and Cal State Dominguez Hills.

 
COUGAR FACTS

• Phoenix Sommay is the toughest player to strike out in the CCAA with 25 at-bats between strikeouts.
• Getting hit by a pitch once per game, Sommay leads all of Divison II.
• Conner Gleissner has the third-best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the CCAA and ranks 35th nationally at 12.00. He also ranks third in the conference and 34th nationally for walks allowed per nine innings at 0.69. Bruno De Leon ranks 10th in the CCAA at 1.74.
• Getting hit by a pitch once per game, Sommay leads all of Divison II.
• CSUSM is averaging the fourth-most stolen bases per game in the CCAA at 1.11.
• The Cougars are getting the third-most triples per game in the league at 0.22.
• CSUSM is allowing the fifth-fewest hits per nine innings in the conference at 9.37 while also allowing the fifth-fewest walks per nine innings at 3.95.
• The Cougars' pitching staff is tallying the fifth-most strikeouts per nine innings in the CCAA at 8.1 while having the fifth-best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the conference at 2.06.
• CSUSM's WHIP of 1.48 ranks sixth in the conference and 59th nationally.

CCAA ROAD OPENER AT CSUDH

• Like the Cougars, the Toros began CCAA play by taking three of four to win its opening series at Stanislaus State last weekend.
• The Toros won the first three games of the series by scores of 10-2, 5-2 and 14-4 before falling 5-4 in the finale.
• Dominguez Hills has turned 12 double plays so far this season, ranking second in the CCAA and 28th nationally.
• The Toros have a team ERA of 5.40, ranking seventh in the CCAA.
• CSUDH is scoring the sixth-most runs per game in the conference at 5.8.
• The Toros have the top fielding percentage in the league and rank 20th nationally at .980.
• CSUDH ranks last in the CCAA in on-base percentage (.356), stolen bases per game (0.31), strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.43) and strikeouts per nine innings (6.9).
• Infielder Emilio Barrera leads the Toros with a .333 batting average and 15 hits.
• On the mound, Julian Diaz is 3-0 with a team-leading 3.52 ERA among starters and on opponent batting average of .193.
• CSUSM and CSUDH had an unconventional series in 2023 in San Marcos with rain forcing the series to play out across three weeks.
• The Cougars and Toros ultimately split the series.
• The all-time series between CSUSM and CSUDH is knotted at 16-all with the Toros having a 10-8 lead when playing in Carson.

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.