Coach White on Western Oregon series sweep: “The Western Oregon series was a good series for us in that our entire roster played well.  WOU is a very good team, so to play as well as we did, it is a good sign of things to come for our club.  We are starting to find our identity offensively, our team is getting healthy and we are really starting to come together as a cohesive group.”

    Coach White on pitching and defense: “Pitching and defense are the keys to our success.  Our starters have given us quality innings and they are giving us a chance to win games. When our pitchers set the tempo by pounding the strike zone, it keeps our defense involved and ready.  We expect great things from our entire pitching staff and that gives our whole club confidence in any game we play.” 

    Coach White on playing at Cal State Dominguez Hills: “It's another challenge this weekend, traveling south to take on the Toros.  Dominguez Hills is a very good club with a lot of talented players.  We will need to play our best baseball of the season.  Dominguez Hills is well coached; they are scrappy, aggressive, and fast.  Our approach will be, once again, to welcome the challenge of playing a tough team in a difficult environment.” 

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LEADING OFF: The Otters return to CCAA action this weekend, traveling to Cal State Dominguez Hills for a four-game series at Toro Field. Otters launch off the weekend with a 3 p.m. single game Friday, March 22.  CSUMB follows it with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 23 and a single game on Sunday, March 24. Both days begin at 11 a.m.  

SCOUTING CAL STATE DOMINGUEZ HILLS: After getting swept by Chico State to open the CCAA season, the Toros (13-12, 9-10 CCAA) have won series against UC San Diego and Cal State San Bernardino while splitting their last two series with Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Stanislaus. Players to Watch: junior outfielder Kevin Logan (.333 BA, 19 H, 12 R, 18 BB), senior shortstop Carlos Avila (.275 BA, 22 H, 15 R, 14 RBI), senior RHP Dimitri de la Fuente (2-1, 0.55 ERA, 32.3 IP, 30 K). 

LAST MEETING WITH TOROS: After losing 11 straight games to the Toros, the revamped Otters have been victorious five of the last six games. CSUMB dropped the first game of the 2012 series 11-8 but responded with three wins (13-5, 10-1, 6-5) to clinch the series victory in Seaside. 

PREVIOUS TIME OUT: The Otters clinched their second series sweep of the season, taking three from Western Oregon last weekend.  The CSUMB offense exploded on Friday with a 20-3 victory in the series opener. A doubleheader sweep followed with the Otters winning 5-2 and 1-0 to conclude the series. Senior Ronnie Fhurong (Hollister, Calif./San Benito HS) led the Otters, going 7-for-10 with two doubles and four runs.  After a 17 game hiatus, senior Michael Lonsdale (Castro Valley, Calif./Chabot College) went 5-for-8 with 3 RBIs and two runs. Sophomore RHP Jeff Owen (Clovis, Calif./Clovis East) earned his sixth victory of 2013 Saturday, tossing his second consecutive shutout and his third of the season.  He had a career-high 11 strikeouts in six innings of work. 

COLLEGIATE BASEBALL POLL DEBUT:  The Otters muscled their way into the baseball elite with it's highest ranking, No. 21 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II poll released March 18. CSUMB made its first national poll appearance in the 27th spot on Feb. 27, 2012. The Otters who received 168 votes in the latest poll and are one of four West Region programs (all CCAA schools) ranked in the top 30.  Chico State leads with a No. 13 ranking while Cal State East Bay debuted tied at No. 22 and Sonoma State dropped to No. 24.  

OTHER NATIONAL POLLS:  CSUMB is also featured in three other national polls this week. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) poll is CSUMB's highest ranking of the week, with a tied at No. 17 alongside Catawba College (N.C.). The Otters are ranked No. 23 in the College Baseball Lineup and No. 25 in the D2Baseball.com rankings.  

2013 NCBWA REGIONAL RANKING:  The Otters (18-8) are No. 2, their highest ranking in the program history in the ltest NCBWA West Regional poll this week. Chico State (13-3) continues to lead the Top 10 for the fifth consecutive week, followed by the Otters, No. 3 Cal State L.A. (16-11), No. 4 Hawaii Pacific (17-5) and No. 5 Cal State East Bay (19-8). Rounding out the Top 10 are No. 6 Sonoma State (15-7), No. 7. Grand Canyon (16-5), No. 8. Dixie State (12-6), No. 9 Cal Poly Pomona and No. 10 Cal Baptist (14-8). 

CCAA STATISTICS:  Senior RHP Jeff Owen is in a four-way tie for the top spot in the conference with six wins.  He ranks third with 42 strikeouts and 9.22 strikeouts per game (four or more starts).  Owen and Will Anderson (Pleasanton, Calif./Fresno State) are tied for fifth among starters (with four or more starts) with a 1.54 ERA.  

RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN:  Senior Tommy George (Elk Grove, Calif./Elk Grove HS) became CSUMB's all-time career hit leader (145) during the CSULA series, passing Jacob Flores (2007-10) in the record books. He added most game started (132) and games played (154) during the Chico State series. With 64 RBIs, George now has his sights set on passing Matt DeJesus's record of 79. George already has three other career records; stolen bases (50), triples (15) and runs scored (82).  Senior Ronnie Fhurong is also making his way up the RBI career record ladder with 61.  

RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN II:  With his win on Saturday, sophomore RHP Jeff Owen has the career record with 10 wins. The prevous record was shared by Aaron Appino (Rancho Cordova, Calif./Sacramento City College) and Jake Paolinetti (Santa Clara, Calif./San Jose City College) in 2011-12 season.  

HISTORIC SERIES SWEEP:  The Otters achieved their first-ever series sweep at Point Loma Nazarene to open the 2013 season (Feb. 1-2).  Senior third baseman David Garcia broke open a 3-3 tie in the ninth inning on a grand slam leading to a 7-3 CSUMB victory.  Never trailing in the entire series, CSUMB added two more victories on Saturday with final scores of 6-1 and 8-5. 

GARCIA EARNS WEEKLY HONORS: Game-winning, ninth-inning grand slam – check. A 4-for-4 performance on Saturday with a double and a solo home run – check.  Rawlings/CCAA Baseball Player of the Week – check.  This checklist can be found on Cal State Monterey Bay senior third baseman's David Garcia (Gilroy, Calif./Mission College) locker for the week of Jan. 28-Feb. 3. In the season opener on Feb. 1, the game was tied 3-3 in the top of the ninth inning and Garcia came up big with game-winning grand slam. Garcia led the Otters in Saturday's nightcap, going 4-for-4 with a solo home run and a double to clinch the program's first series sweep. 

2012 ALL-CCAA HONORS:  A program record-high four Otters were selected to the All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) teams in 2012. Second baseman David Garcia and right-hander Jeff Owen were named to the second team while shortstop Jason Merjano (San Ramon, Calif./Sierra College) and right-fielder Tommy George earned honorable mention nods. 

POST SEASON HONORS:  Three Otters earned All-West Region teams in 2012, another first in program history.  Senior second baseman David Garcia and sophomore right-handed pitcher Jeff Owen were selected to the Daktronics All-West Region second team.  Owen joined senior shortstop Jason Merjano on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) honorable mention team. Garcia also got selected to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) first team.  

WEST REGION HONORS:  Starting right-handed pitcher Jeff Owen was named the 2012 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) West Region Freshman Pitcher of the Year after finishing his rookie campaign with a 2.18 ERA. He allowed just 15 earned runs in his 62 innings.  On March 10, Owen tossed the program's second shutout complete game as he held the Tritons of UC San Diego to only one hit while striking out seven and walking none. 

GOLDEN GLOVE:  First baseman Brian Haggett (Hollister, Calif./West Valley College) earned the program's first-ever American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-West Region Gold Glove award for his near spotless play in the field. Haggett started 48 games at first base for the Otters, recording 471 putouts and 18 assists. He committed just one error for a fielding percentage of .998.

BY THE NUMBERS:  The 2012 squad under the direction of then second-year coach Walt White achieved new heights in its second consecutive record-breaking season:

• Most Wins - 26 (21, 2011)
• Most Conference Wins - 19 (18, 2011)
• Most Triples - 17 (11, 2010/2007/2006)
• Lowest Opponent Batting Average - .267 (.269, 2011)
• Lowest ERA - 4.01 (4.68, 2011)
• Fewest Earned Runs Allowed - 189 (216, 2011)
• Fewest Runs Allowed - 244 (273, 2011)
• Fewest Doubles Allowed - 69 (92, 2011)
• Highest Fielding Percentage - .964 (.962, 2011)
• Most Caught Stealing - 36 (29, 2009)
• Fewest Stolen Bases Allowed - 52 (71, 2008)
• Most Strikeouts/9 inning games - 6.18 (5.76, 2007)

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