SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team (19-16, 14-12 CCAA) will head to Seaside for a four-game series against No. 24 Cal State Monterey Bay (25-12, 18-10 CCAA) beginning on Thursday at 6 p.m. The series will continue on Friday with a 2 p.m. doubleheader before concluding on Saturday at 11 a.m.
 
LAST WEEKEND

• CSUSM picked up the series win against Cal State East Bay this past weekend at home, winning three of four games.
• The Cougars began the series with a 13-11 win on Friday before earning an 8-5 win in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader.
• On Sunday, CSUSM overcame a nine-run deficit to win the series against CSUEB with a 15-14 walk-off victory in 12 innings.
• CSUSM Baseball Field also officially became Dennis A. Pugh Baseball Field in a naming ceremony on Saturday.

 
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cougars enter the weekend sixth in the CCAA standings at 14-12 (.538) in conference play and are just .002 ahead of seventh-place Cal State San Bernardino at 15-13 (.536).
• CSUSM continues to be the CCAA leader in sacrifice bunts with 31 and ranks 13th in Division II. Cameron Mahaffy, Phoenix Sommay and Garrett Teunissen are tied for third in the conference with five each.
• The Cougars also lead the league in hit-by-pitches with 70 this year while Sommay has been hit by a conference-leading 26,
• CSUSM's pitching staff is recording the second-most strikeouts per nine innings in the conference at 8.4
• The Cougars have the third-best on-base percentage in the CCAA at .389 while being walked the third most with 158.
• Hitting 1.03 home runs per game, CSUSM is fourth in the conference. Individually, Hayden Tregidga is 10th with seven.
• With 39 stolen bases at a rate of 1.11 per game, the Cougars rank fourth in the conference.
• Slugging .422, CSUSM is fifth in the CCAA.
• Jordan Townley has the sixth-best ERA in the league at 3.54 while allowing the fourth-fewest hits per nine innings at 7.82. He also has the 11th-best WHIP at 1.34.
• Nolan Long has a CCAA-leading seven saves and ranks 13th nationally. His season total is tied for the third most in program history and is three shy of Justin Hertzmann's 2015 record of 10.
• Ethan Rivera is the second-toughest player to strikeout in the conference at 16.7 at-bats between strikeouts and ranks 21st nationally.

COUGARS VERUS OTTERS

• CSUMB enters the weekend tied for second in the CCAA standings with San Francisco State at 18-10 and on a five-game winning streak.
• This past weekend, the Otters swept Cal State LA in four games in Los Angeles by scores of 4-2, 9-8, 5-4 and 12-6.
• CSUMB moved back into the NCBWA Top 25 Poll at No. 24 this week after previously receiving votes.
• Last season, the Cougars took the series against the then-No. 19 Otters in San Marcos with wins in three of the four games.
• In Seaside, CSUSM and CSUMB have split the last two series in 2019 and 2023.
• The Otters lead the CCAA in ERA (4.46), hits allowed per nine innings (8.94), home runs (57), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.82), strikeouts per nine innings (8.8) and WHIP (1.34).
• CSUMB's batting average (.297) and runs per game (7.3) both rank third in the league.
• The Otters rank last in the conference in stolen bases (17), sacrifice bunts (4) and double plays (16).
• KW Quilici has the sixth-best batting average in the CCAA at .393 while recording the second-most hits with 59.
• In a team-high 48.0 innings, Nate Rohlicek has thrown 52 strikeouts and has the conference's best strikeout-to-walk ratio at 6.50.

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 66-62 (.516).