SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Coming off its third consecutive CCAA series win, the Cal State San Marcos baseball team (11-6, 10-2 CCAA) will head to Chico State (11-6, 6-6 CCAA) for a four-game series beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. at Nettleton Stadium. The series will continue with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon before concluding on Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
LAST WEEK

• The Cougars won their third CCAA series in a row by taking three out of four games against Cal State San Bernardino.
• CSUSM had never won three consecutive conference series since beginning CCAA play in 2016.
• The Cougars improved their winning streak to eight games with a 9-5 win against the Coyotes on Friday – their longest winning streak since joining Division II (2016-present).
• After falling 16-8 in the second game of the series, CSUSM capped off the third game with a 17-5 victory to take the series lead.
• Down 6-0 in the series finale, the Cougars stormed back with eight unanswered runs to win the series.

 
CCAA & NCBWA WEST REGION PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• For his outstanding play, Garrett Teunissen earned CCAA Player of the Week honors on Monday and followed that with NCBWA Divison II West Region Player of the Week honors on Tuesday.
• Teunissen hit .600 for the series against CSUSB, going 9-for-15 with a 1.678 OPS against the reigning West Region champions.
• Teunissen had four extra-base hits with two doubles, a triple and a homer. He also drove in seven runs and scored eight times during the series. 
• This was the first career CCAA Player of the Week award for Teunissen, becoming the first Cougar to earn the award since Grant Buck on March 26, 2019.
• Teunissen became CSUSM's first-ever NCBWA West Region Player of the Week.

COUGAR FACTS

• The Cougars are first in the CCAA standings and have a one-game lead over Cal State Monterey Bay.
• CSUSM moved up to No. 6 in the NCBWA West Region rankings after receiving votes last week.
• The Cougars are turning the 11th-most double plays per game in the nation and lead the CCAA at 1.06.
• CSUSM has put down a conference-best 16 sacrifice bunts per game and rank 14th nationally.
• The Cougar offense is averaging the most doubles per game in the CCAA at 2.24.
• CSUSM's batters have been hit a conference-high 42 times this season.
• The Cougars ranks second in the CCAA in doubles (38), on-base percentage (.425), runs per game (8.7), slugging (.494), triples (6) and triples per game (0.35).
• CSUSM has the third-best team batting average in the CCAA at .316.
• Phoenix Sommay has been hit by 11 pitches this season, ranking first in the conference and 10th nationally. Per game, he's been hit by the third most at 0.69.
• Sommay has the league's best on-base percentage at .519 and is scoring the second-most runs per game (1.31).
• Garrett Teunissen has laid down the second-most sac bunts in the nation this season with seven and has the 10th-most sac flies at four.
• Teunissen leads the CCAA with seven stolen bases at a league-best rate of .41 per game.
• Ethan Rivera has the fourth-best batting average in the conference at .426 while having the third-best on-base percentage at .509.
• Rivera and Cameron Mahaffy are driving in 1.07 runs per game, ranking seventh in the CCAA.
• Mahaffy has the fourth-best slugging percentage in the conference at .690.
• Conner Gleissner has the seventh-best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the CCAA at 3.67 and ranks 10th with 2.31 walks allowed per nine innings.

COUGARS VISIT WILDCATS

• Chico is coming off a series win at Stanislaus State this past weekend as it took the first three games by scores of 26-4, 11-2 and 8-2 before falling 12-6 in the series finale.
• Through its first 12 CCAA games, the Wildcats are 6-6 and sit fifth in a tie for fifth in the standings.
• Chico is allowing the third-fewest walks per nine innings in Division II at 2.38 while having the ninth-best strikeout-to-walk ratio at 2.89.
• The Wildcats have the 13th-best fielding percentage nationally at .978 and lead the conference.
• Chico ranks fourth in CCAA for ERA at 5.34 and fifth in WHIP at 1.55.
• The Wildcats are scoring the fourth-most runs per game in the CCAA at 7.8 and have the fifth-best team batting average at .309.
• Chico ranks fourth in on-base percentage at .402 while ranking eighth in slugging at .418.
• Kevin Lyons has the CCAA's second-best ERA at 2.70 while ranking sixth in WHIP at 1.24.
• Kaden Bass has a team-best .429 batting average when meeting the minimum requirement of two plate appearance per game and playing in 75% of contests.
• Thade Miller is the CCAA's toughest player to strikeout at 26 at-bats between strikeouts.
• This will be the first meeting between CSUSM and Chico since 2022 as the 2023 series in San Marcos was canceled due to rain and poor field conditions.
• The Wildcats are 13-5 in the all-time series against the Cougars.

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.