LEADING OFF: The Otters take on the Warriors of Cal State Stanislaus beginning Friday, April 12 at 3 p.m. at the Otter Sports Complex. They'll play a doubleheader Saturday at 11 a.m. in Turlock before returning home for a single game on Sunday at 11 a.m.
SCOUTING CAL STATE STANISLAUS: Currently in last place in the conference standings, the Warriors have suffered four CCAA sweeps this season, most recently at the hands of Cal Poly Pomona (April 5-7). Stanislaus prevented a sweep in its latest CCAA series with a win against Sonoma State on April 13. The Warriors conclude their 2013 season at second-to-last place San Bernardino next weekend.
Players to Watch: Craig Beevers (.313 BA, 42 H, 7 2B, 20 R); Skippy Ferreria (.312 BA, 34 H, 4 2B); Rafael Vasquez (2-6, 4.57 ERA, 65 IP, 34 K)
LAST MEETING WITH THE COYOTES: Cal State Stanislaus has dominated the series with all-time record of 22-6. The Otters' lone series sweep of 2012 came against the Warriors. CSUMB's most recent victory against Stanislaus came in the doubleheader nightcap 10-9 win on March 27, 2011 in Seaside.
LAST TIME OUT: The Otters pulled off their second straight home sweep with four victories over Cal Poly Pomona last weekend. The Otters opened with a 9-4 win as junior
Mark Hurley (Hollister/College of San Mateo) went 4-for-5 for the second straight Friday. Behind the arms of
Will Anderson (Pleasanton/Fresno State) and
Jeff Owen (Clovis East HS), CSUMB clinched 10-2 and 7-3 Saturday victories. Senior
Tommy George (Elk Grove HS) stepped up to the plate on Sunday, going 3-for-3 to lead the Otters to a 7-5 win.
CCAA STANDINGS BREAKDOWN: The Otters (22-10 CCAA) enter the weekend just one game behind second place Cal State L.A. and three games back from CCAA leader Chico State. Sonoma State sits in the fourth spot with a 19-13 record. With two series (8 games) remaining in the regular season, the top four teams will advance to the CCAA Tournament held in Stockton on May 9-12 at Banner Island Ballpark.
BREAKING IN WITH STYLE: The Otters (30-12) make not only their NCAA West Regional poll debut this season but their first in program history in the remarkable No. 1 spot. Chico State ranks No. 2, followed by No. 3 Sonoma State (27-15), No. 4 Grand Canyon (32-11), No. 5 Dixie State (27-13), No. 6 UC San Diego (22-21), No. 7 Hawaii Pacific (27-15), Cal State L.A. (26-16). The top six team in the final poll stated in the NCAA Selection show on May 7 at 7 p.m. will play in the West Regional Tournament May 16-19.
COLLEGIATE BASEBALL POLL: The Otters are in their highest spot in this week's
College Baseball Newspaper Division II Top 30 (released April 23), ranked No. 12th. CSUMB received 296 votes in the latest poll and is one of five West Region programs (four CCAA schools) ranked in the top 30. Chico State leads with a No. 6 ranking and Grand Canyon moves up one spot to No. 14. Cal State L.A. dropped down to No. 25 and Sonoma State slides back into the rankings at No. 30.
OTHER NATIONAL POLLS: CSUMB is also featured in three other national polls this week. The College Baseball Lineup poll puts CSUMB at No. 17 while NCBWA has the Otters at No. 15. CSUMB is ranked No. 20 in the D2Baseball.com.
CCAA STATISTICS: Senior RHP
Jeff Owen leads the CCAA in wins (9) and shares the top spot for strikesouts with Sonoma State's Harmen Sidhu with 73 strikeouts. Among the ERA leaders with nine or more starts,
Will Anderson ranks fifth with a ERA of 1.82 and Owen is eighth with 2.08 ERA. Junior
Mark Hurley has the third-best batting average in the league at .355 and ranks eighth with 54 hits.
RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN: Senior
Tommy George became CSUMB's all-time career hit leader (171) during the CSULA series, passing Jacob Flores (2007-10) in the record books. He added most game started (150) and games played (173) during the Chico State series. With 74 RBIs, George now has his sights set on passing Matt DeJesus's record of 79. George already has three other career records; stolen bases (54), triples (18) and runs scored (96). Senior
Ronnie Fhurong (Hollister, Calif./San Benito HS) is also making his way up the RBI career record ladder with 71 (4th).
RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN II: With six strikeouts at CSUSB on Saturday, April 13, sophomore RHP
Jeff Owen passed Grayson Adams (2007) as the CSUMB single season leader in strikeouts with 73 thus far. Owen already clinched the top spot in the CSUMB record books this season with most wins in a single season (9) and career (13). Junior
A.J. Quintero (Vacaville/Sacramento CC) has tied the single season record with eight saves, set in 2012 by
Harold Zosel.
BREAKING UP THE NUMBERS: The Otters have an impressive 18-5 record against West Region teams with a .500 or better record. With a 20-5 home record, CSUMB is on its longest home win streak with 11 straight victories. The previous home win streak record was eight set to end the 2007 season.
THREE SERIES SWEEP IN 2013: The Otters achieved their first series sweep of 2013 at Point Loma Nazarene to open the season (Feb. 1-2) with scores of 7-3, 6-1 and 8-5. CSUMB followed it with two back-to-back home sweeps against then No. 23 Sonoma State (April 5-7) and Cal Poly Pomona (April 19-21). The Otters outscored the two CCAA schools by a combined score of 58-27.
HURLEY EARNS WEEKLY HONORS: Junior left fielder
Mark Hurley was selected Rawlings/CCAA Baseball Player of the Week (April 15-21) after leading the Otters to their second home series sweep against Cal Poly Pomona. Hurley wrapped up the weekend with a .529 average and .882 slugging percentage after hitting 9-for-17 with a double, triple, and a homerun. He tallied three runs and eight RBI, while reaching on a walk once. Earlier this season, senior third baseman's
David Garcia earned the honor for the week of Jan. 28-Feb. 3.
MR. MARCH: With Reggie Jackson claiming the Mr. October nickname, senior
Will Anderson is CSUMB's Mr. March. He had a lights-out month by going 4-0 with a 0.90 ERA that consisted of 30 innings of work, giving up only three runs and 14 hits. He racked up 24 strikeouts while walking only seven batters.
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/Sierra College) and right-fielder
Tommy George earned honorable mention nods.
2012 POST SEASON HONORS: Four Otters earned All-West Region honors in 2012. 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.
Owen was also 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. First baseman
Brian Haggett 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.
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:
