FULL NOTEBOOK WITH STATS AND CCAA STANDINGS

Live Coverage of Baseball at Turlock: Live Stats & Play-by-Play
Live Coverage of Baseball at Seaside: Live Stats & Play-by-Play

LEADING OFF: With only two days of rest, the Otters return to the field to face Cal State Stanislaus (11-11, 8-8 CCAA) on Friday, Mar. 23 in Turlock. CSUMB hosts the Warriors in a doubleheader on Saturday before returning to Turlock for the series finale on Sunday, Mar. 26. The Otters are in a three-way tie for sixth place with the Warriors and San Francisco State in the CCAA standings. 
 
UP NEXT: The Mar. 30-Apr. 1 weekend series against Cal State East Bay will have the Otters hosting on Saturday in a doubleheader and at Hayward on Friday and Sunday. 
 
SCOUTING CAL STATE STANISLAUS: The Warriors enter this weekend's contests after splitting with Cal State Dominguez Hills (9-13, 5-15 CCAA) the previous series. Prior to that, Stanislaus won its series with Cal State East Bay (Mar. 9-11), split with Cal State Stanislaus (Mar. 2-4 and fell in its conference series opener to Cal State L.A. (Feb. 17-19).  Top Performers: center fielder Eli Davis (.378 BA, 32 H, 13 RBI, 6 SB); left fielder Craig Beevers (.333 BA, 9 RBI); third baseman Justin Manci (.322 BA, 29 H, 20 R, 20 RBIs, 10 2B).
 
LAST SERIES RECAP:  The fourth in the nation ranking given to Chico State did not faze CSUMB in the least as the Otters came out with a vengeance over the Wildcats on Sunday.  The Otters held a 9-3 lead with two outs in the top of the ninth when the game was halted due to lightning.  When play was resumed on Monday, CSUMB earned a 9-4 series opener victory.  After picking up a 3-2 win in the first game of Monday's scheduled doubleheader, the Otters and Wildcats were knotted at 4-4 in the seventh when Chico State hit a walk off single to take the win.  A seventh inning blunder in Tuesday's game led to a Wildcats victory as CSUMB had to settle for a series split.
 
MEDLINGER STRIKES HARD:  Following his worst start of the season at UCSD, Donny Medlinger (San Jose, Calif./Cal Poly SLO) set a season-high record with 10 strikeouts against Chico State in Monday's doubleheader opener.  This ranks him second in CSUMB single game record books. Medlinger is the team leader in strikeouts, with 38 while walking 14 in 34.0 innings.
 
 REGIONAL ACCOLADES: Freshman right-hander Jeff Owen (Clovis, Calif./Clovis East HS) has been named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association West Region Pitcher of the Week for his stellar one-hit complete game effort at UC San Diego on Mar. 10. This is the second time an Otter pitcher has garnered this award as senior right-hander Aaron Appino earned CSUMB's first regional honor this season on Feb. 22.
 
CCAA WEEKLY HONORS:  Jeff Owen (Clovis, Calif./Clovis East HS) earned CSUMB's third CCAA weekly honor after being selected CCAA Pitcher of the Week Mar 5-11.   The freshman gave up just one hit while striking out seven and walking none.  Senior right-hander Aaron Appino (Rancho Cordova, Calif./Sacramento CC)  was named Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 13-19) and junior shortstop Jason Merjano (San Ramon, Calif./Sierra College) was selected Player of the Week honors (Feb. 6-12).
 
NCAA STATISTICS: Junior Tommy George  (Elk Grove, Calif./Elk Grove)remains as the NCAA leader in triples with six and the Otters stay steadily with a No.3 ranking with a total of 13.  Junior Jason Merjano (San Ramon, Calif./Sierra College) leads the Otters with 10 doubles, putting him 19th in the nation. Senior Danny Nelson is ranked fifth in the Toughest To Strikeout category after finishing 14th last season. On the mound, starter Jeff Owen   (Clovis, Calif./Clovis East HS)ranks 15 in hits allowed per nine inning (4.62) while closer Harold Zosel (Pleasanton, Calif./San Jose CC) is 7th in saves with six on the year.
 
OTTERS EIGHTH IN REGIONAL RANKING: The Otters stay steady in the No. 8 spot in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) West Region rankings after making the program's debut on Feb. 13.  Chico State (17-5) holds the No. 1 spot, with Cal Baptist (23-6) moving up two spots to No. 2.  Cal Poly Pomona (16-7) is third, followed by No. 4 Western Oregon (15-6) No. 5 Hawaii Pacific (17-5), No. 6 Dixie State (14-6), No. 7 Sonoma State (12-8), No. 8 Cal State Monterey Bay (13-9), No. 9 Cal State San Bernardino (12-9) and No. 10 UC San Diego (14-14). Note: The rankings were released prior to the CSUMB-Chico State series.
 
RUN TOMMY RUN:  Junior outfielder Tommy George (Elk Grove, Calif./Elk Grove) is the new stolen base record holder, passing former leader Matt DeJesus' 26 (2008-09).  George picked up his 27th and 28th stolen bases on Feb. 24th's 5-3 series opener victory over Cal State San Bernardino.  Last season, he led the Otters with 16 stolen bases in 18 attempts.
 
REGIONAL POST SEASON HONORS:  Senior Danny Nelson (Morgan Hill, Calif./San Jose CC), who is making the move from second baseman to outfield this season, picked up three regional honors in 2011.  His accolades were Daktronics All-West Region, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-West Region and ABCA All-West Region.  Senior OF Jared DeCastro (Torrance, Calif./L.A. Harbor) was also named to the Daktronics All-West Region team. Gerry Rommel and Brian Trump are the only other Otters in program history to have been selected to any all-west region team (NCBWA in 2007).
 
PRESEASON HONORS:  Senior Jared DeCastro (Torrance, Calif./LA Harbor) raised the bar by being CSUMB's first National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason All-American. DeCastro was also named to the NCBWA Preseason All-West Region first team along with senior Danny Nelson (Morgan Hill, Calif./San Jose CC).
 
OTTERS HIT IN CLASSROOM:  While preparing for their spring season, the Otters have already proved they can balance the art of practice and performing in the classroom this past fall.  The CSUMB baseball team led all men's programs with a 3.08 grade point average during the fall semester.  Juniors David Garcia (Gilroy, Calif./Mission College) and Brian Haggett (Hollister, Calif./West Valley CC) were among the 11 student-athletes to record a perfect 4.0. 
 
RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN:  The 2011 squad under the direction of first-year coach Walt White made a huge impact the CSUMB record books.
         Lowest Opponent Batting Average - .269 (.332, 2007)
Most Saves - 9 (6, 2008)
Most Complete Games - 8 (6, 2009/06)
Lowest ERA - 4.68 (7.47, 2007)
Fewest Earned Runs Allowed - 216 (312, 2007)
Fewest Hits Allowed - 426 (522, 2007)
Most Wins - 21 (19, 2007)
Most Conference Wins - 18 (11, 2007)
Fewest Home Runs Allowed - 24 (38, 2007)
Highest Fielding Percentage - .962 (.959, 2007)
Most Assists - 607 (521, 2006)
Fewest Passed Balls - 13 (15, 2010)
Most Double Plays Turned - 58 (47, 2009) - 2nd in the nation
 
SUMMER BALL:  This summer, seven Otters will be playing ball all over the United States Ty Morris (Castroville, Calif./North Monterey County HS), Matt Urakami (San Jose, Calif./Branham HS) and Chris Blanton (Burlingame, Calif./Burlingame HS) will be for the Cooperstown, New York for the Hawkeyes of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL). 2B David Garcia (Gilroy, Calif./Mission College) is heading to Minnesota to play for the Alexandria Beetles of the prestigious Northwoods League. OF Tommy George (Elk Grove, Calif./Elk Grove HS), C Garrett Gemgnani (Los Angeles, Calif./Culver City HS) and OF Devin Finn (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley HS) will be playing for the newly formed Myrtle Beach Collegiate Summer Baseball League in South Carolina.