SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team (10-9, 5-5 CCAA) will head north for a four-game series at San Francisco State (12-12, 8-8 CCAA) beginning on Friday at 3 p.m. The series will continue on Saturday with a noon doubleheader before wrapping up on Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
LAST WEEK

• After rain and poor field conditions canceled the first two games against Stanislaus State, CSUSM swept Sunday's doubleheader by scores of 6-3 and 6-1 to take the rain-shortened series.
• The two wins put CSUSM back at the .500 mark in conference play and into a tie for seventh in the CCAA standings with San Francisco State.

 
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• CSUSM has laid down the sixth-most sacrifice bunts in Division II with 21, tying Stanislaus State for the conference lead.
• Cougar batters have been hit by a pitch 41 times this season, leading the CCAA.
• CSUSM's pitching staff is recording 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings, leading the league and ranking 20th nationally.
• The Cougars have walked 97 times this season, ranking second in the conference.
• CSUSM's .399 on-base percentage ranks third in the CCAA.
• Swiping 1.42 bases per game, CSUSM is third in the league.
• The Cougars have the fourth-best ERA in the conference at 5.09 and are allowing the fourth-fewest hits per nine innings at 9.75.
• CSUSM's 6.8 runs per game ranks fourth in the league.
• Spencer Anderson and Jordan Townley rank fifth and 10th in the CCAA for ERA at 2.97 and 3.55, respectively.
• Anderson's 9.79 strikeouts per nine innings rank fourth in the conference while Townley's 9.24 rank sixth.
• Ethan Rivera is the CCAA's second-toughest player to strikeout at 19 at-bats between strikeouts, ranking 29th nationally.
• Hayden Tregidga leads the Cougars with a .333 batting average, a 1.079 OPS, five home runs, 20 RBIs, a .603 slugging percentage and a .476 on-base percentage.
• At 172 career strikeouts, Nolan Long is now just one behind Garrett Apker's program record of 173 set in 2022.

WEEKEND TRIP TO SAN FRANCISCO

• SF State is coming off a trip to Cal State LA that saw the Gators fall in three of four games to the Golden Eagles this past weekend.
• The Gators are 8-3 at home this season, including a series win against then-No. 8 Chico State on Feb. 21-23.
• CSUSM swept last season's series against SF State in San Marcos, but the Gators were the team to eliminate the Cougars in 10 innings at the CCAA Tournament in Pomona.
• Like the Cougars, the Gators went to the NCAA West Regional last season where they were eventually knocked off by pod host Cal State Monterey Bay.
• SF State is scoring 7.9 runs per game and is batting .328, ranking second in the CCAA in both categories.
• The Gators have also hit the second-most home runs in the CCAA and rank 11th nationally with 36.
• SF State has a team ERA of 5.49, ranking seventh in the league, but they're allowing the second-fewest hits per nine innings at 9.71 and have the second-best strikeout-to-walk ratio at 2.55.
• Stephen Espinoza leads the Gators with a .413 batting average and ranks fourth in the CCAA.
• David Eichhorn leads the conference with a 1.50 ERA and 0.93 WHIP while Nathan Shinn leads the league with 45 strikeouts.
• SF State has a 19-10 lead in the all-time lead against CSUSM and is 10-3 when playing at home.

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 57-55 (.509).