LEADING OFF: The Otters wrap up their 2013 regular season at home, hosting the Tritons of UC San Diego. The series begins on Friday, May 3 at 3 p.m. at the Otter Sports Complex. They'll play a doubleheader Saturday at 11 a.m. and close out the weekend at home with a single game on Sunday at 11 a.m.
SCOUTING UC SAN DIEGO: The Tritons are in sixth place in the CCAA standings with only a very remote chance in making the conference tournament but the have a strong possibility of making the West Regional Tournament. UCSD won three of its four games against Cal State San Bernardino.
Players to Watch: CCAA steal leader and senior outfielder Danny Susdorf (.352 BA, 64 H, 16 2B, 45 R, 26 SB); junior outfielder Justin Rahn (.325 BA, 55 H, 32 RBIs) and senior RHP Ryan Goodbrand (8-3, 3.67 ERA, 68.2 IP, 70 K).
LAST MEETING WITH THE TRITONS: The Otters prevented a series sweep in La Jolla last season when sophomore
Jeff Owen (Clovis East HS) tossed a 1-hit, seven-inning complete game shutout with seven strikeouts and no walks in the doubleheader nightcap. Owen was selected CCAA Pitcher of the Week after his performance.
LAST TIME OUT: The Otters notched their fifth series sweep last weekend, taking down Cal State Stanislaus in the final split series of the 2013 season. CSUMB relinquished only six runs while racking up 30 against the Warriors. On Friday, CSUMB recorded a 6-1 victory behind the arms of juniors starter
Will Anderson (Pleasanton/Fresno State) and reliever
Rickey Guerrero (Stockton/MPC). CSUMB swept the twinbill on Saturday at Turlock with scores of 10-1 and 7-3. Senior
Jesse Olson (Citrus Heights) and junior
Mark Hurley (Hollister/College of San Mateo) went 5-for-8 with two runs on the day.
CCAA STANDINGS BREAKDOWN: The Otters (26-10 CCAA) enter the final regular season weekend tied with Cal State L.A.(26-10 CCAA) and one game in front of Chico State (25-11 CCAA). Sonoma State sits in the fourth spot with a 23-13 record. With one series remaining (4 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) made not only their NCAA West Regional poll debut last week but its first time 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 broke into the Top 10 in this week's
College Baseball Newspaper Division II Poll (released April 29), ranked No. 8. CSUMB received 360 votes in the latest poll. CSUMB leads the five West Region programs (four CCAA schools) ranked in the top 30. Chico State falls to No. 21 while Sonoma State leap frogged to No. 16. Cal State L.A. moved up one spot to No. 24 and Grand Canyon dropped 12 spots to No. 26.
OTHER NATIONAL POLLS: CSUMB is also featured in three other national polls this week.
The highest ranking for the Otters is No. 6 in the National College Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA). The College Baseball Lineup poll puts CSUMB at No. 12 while D2Baseball.com has the Otters at No. 18.
CCAA STATISTICS: Sophomore RHP
Jeff Owen and junior RHP
Will Anderson are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 (tied) in the CCAA statistics in wins. Owen earned a CCAA-best 10th win in the twinbill nightcap on Saturday against Stanislaus. In his first Friday start of 2013, Anderson picked up his eighth win with a 7-1 decision. Owen dropped down to No. 2 with 79 strikeouts, just one K behind Sonoma State's Harmen Sidhu (80). Among the ERA leaders with 10 or more starts, Anderson ranks fifth with a ERA of 1.67 and Owen is eighth with 2.25 ERA. Junior
Mark Hurley has the third-best batting average in the league at .371 and also ranks third with 62 hits.
NCAA STATISTICS: With his 10 wins on the mound,
Jeff Owen ranks fifth in the latest NCAA Division II statistics. Owen and
Will Anderson are tied for 15th in hits allowed per 9 innings (6.0). As a team, CSUMB ranks seventh in with a .973 fielding percentage.
RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN: Senior
Tommy George (Elk Grove HS) 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/San Benito HS) is also making his way up the RBI career record ladder with 73 (3RD).
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 79 thus far. Owen already clinched the top spot in the CSUMB record books this season with most wins in a single season (10) and career (14). Junior
A.J. Quintero (Vacaville/Sacramento CC) has tied the single season record with eight saves, set in 2012 by
Harold Zosel.
SAN BENITO BOYS: Products of San Benito High School make up the 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots in the Otter lineup. They also have CSUMB's top 3 batting averages in 2013. Junior
Mark Hurley, who played two seasons at College of San Mateo after graduating from San Benito, leads the Otters with a .371 BA. After a stint at West Valley College following his time as a Baler, senior
Brian Haggett is hitting .341. Senior
Ronnie Fhurong is a four-year letterwinner at CSUMB and has a .331 batting average.
HURLEY NABS SECOND CCAA HONOR: Junior left fielder
Mark Hurley was selected Rawlings/CCAA Baseball Player of the Week (April 22-28) for the second consecutive week. Hew went 8-for-16 on the weekend, with three runs scored, three doubles, and five RBIs.
Earlier this season, senior third baseman's
David Garcia (Gilroy/Mission College) 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.
AND MR. APRIL: If Anderson is Mr. March, then
Mark Hurley is unquestionably Mr. April. The junior left fielder hit .451 with 19 RBIs and 11 runs. In his 30 hits, Hurley had seven doubles, two home runs and a triple. He was also 4-for-4 in stolen bases. In the final two weeks, Hurley earned back-to-back CCAA Player of the Week's which was a first in the conference this season.
BREAKING UP THE NUMBERS: The Otters have an impressive 18-5 record against West Region teams with a .500 or better record. With a 22-5 home record, CSUMB is on its longest home win streak with 13 straight victories. The previous home win streak record was eight set at the of end the 2007 season.
THE FAB FOUR: The Otter rotation of
Chris Daniels,
Will Anderson,
Jeff Owen and
Jordan Helmkamp (Aliso Viejo/Saddleback College) combine for a 2.67 ERA, third best in the CCAA. Chico State ranks first with a 1.89 ERA and Sonoma State follows with a 1.95 ERA. All four CSUMB starters picked up wins last weekend in the sweep over Cal State Stanislaus.
FAR FROM AN INDIVIDUAL EFFORT: In CSUMB's 10-game winning streak, it hasn't been just one Otter that has carried the team. CSUMB has hit .335 while the pitching staff has limited the opponents to a .235 batting average. Six Otters have recorded double-digits in hits.
Mark Hurley has a team-best 21, followed by
Brian Haggett (Hollister/West Valley College) (16),
Ronnie Fhurong (15),
Victor Rasor-Thompson (San Diego/Univ. of San Diego) (12),
David Garcia (11) and
Jason Merjano (San Ramon/Sierra College) (10). Hurley and Garcia have drove in 15 and 10 runs respectively. Haggett's touched home 16 times while Fhurong and Rasor-Thompson have done it 12 times. The Otters have 31 extra base hits including 26 doubles. On the base path, CSUMB has stolen 15 bases.
HONORING THE SENIORS: For the first time in program history, the seniors on the CSUMB baseball team will not be playing their final collegiate game on the final day of regular season. But all the same, the Otters will be honoring those 11 seniors with a short pre-game ceremony on May 5th.
Tommy George,
Nolan Murray (San Diego/Steele Canyon HS),
Ronnie Fhurong and
Jacob Crose (Simi Valley HS) have been an Otter for four years, seeing the team make the transition from a 8-41 team to a 34-10 (with four to go) CCAA tournament bound squad. The other seven Otters that will be recognized are
Jordan Helmkamp,
David Garcia,
Brian Haggett,
Victor Rasor-Thompson,
Jason Merjano,
Jesse Olson and
Jonas Noack (San Diego/UOP).
FIVE SERIES SWEEPS 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 has swept four of the last six series that inlcuded GNAC's Western Oregon, No. 23 Sonoma State (April 5-7), Cal Poly Pomona (April 19-21) and Cal State Stanislaus (April 26-28). The Otters outscored the three CCAA schools by a combined score of 88-33.
