Coach White on Fresno Pacific Series: "Fresno Pacific is always a very talented team. They have strong pitching and a very deep roster. This should be another challenging series and our team is looking forward to it." 

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LEADING OFF: The Otters conclude their nonconference schedule with a 3-game series against Fresno Pacific March 21-22.  CSUMB travels to Fresno for a 6 p.m. Friday game before returning to the Otter Sports Complex on Saturday to host the Sunbirds in a doubleheader beginning at noon.
 
SCOUTING FRESNO PACIFIC: The Sunbirds are in a 3-way tie with Point Loma and Hawai'i Hilo for fourth in the PacWest Conference standings. FPU has held the upper hand against CCAA opponents this season with a 10-4 record. The Sunbirds split a doubleheader at Chico State as well as a 4-game series against Cal State Stanislaus at the beginning of the year. After winning a 3-game series at SF State, the Sunbirds swept Sonoma State in a trio of games. Players To Watch: junior 1B Joshua Banuelos (.430 BA, 34 H, 17 R, 13 2B, 26 RBIs); senior OF Kaohu Gaspar (.381 BA, 32 H, 7 2B, 6 SB) and junior RHP Wilson Ashford (3-1, 1.97 ERA, 45.2 IP, 33 SO, 35 H, 6 BB, 15 R, 10 ER)
 
LAST SERIES AGAINST THE SUNBIRDS: CSUMB and Fresno Pacific last faced each other in 2012, the Sunbirds' first year of NCAA Division II provisional status. After splitting the doubleheader in Fresno, the Otters won the rubber game in Seaside 3-1 with then freshman Chris Blanton (Burlingame HS) going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run.
 
HOME SWEET HOME:  Under Coach Walt White's, CSUMB has a 62-36 record when playing at the Otter Sports Complex, including an impressive 25-6 record in 2013. So far in 2014, the Otters are 6-7 when playing on their home field.
 
CCAA WEEKEND RECAP:  Chico State and Sonoma State each registered 3-1 wins over Cal State L.A. and Cal State Dominguez Hills respectively.  Three CCAA series were split down the middle: CSUMB at UCSD, Cal Poly Pomona at Cal State East Bay and Cal State San Bernardino at Cal State Stanislaus.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The defending CCAA regular season champion Otters snagged a series split down at UC San Diego last weekend.  After dropping Friday's series opener 10-2, CSUMB swept the doubleheader, 10-5 and 6-2, on Saturday.  The Otters saw another walk off win not go their way, falling 4-3 in Sunday's series finale.
 
OTTERS ON TOP OF CCAA: Senior Mark Hurley is the CCAA hit leader with 38 and has a conference-best .380 batting average among players with more than 90 at bats. Junior Brian Hamm (Pleasanton/Chabot College) sits in second place in the CCAA stolen bases category with 11, four less than leader Mark Wise of Cal State East Bay. Junior Jeff Owen joins two other pitchers, Cal Poly Pomona's Max Bethell and Nick Hudson of Cal State East Bay, on top of the conference statistic list with five wins.
 
CSUMB LEADS CONFERNECE: CSUMB leads the CCAA in five categories: doubles (56), doubles per game (2.07), stolen bases (34), sacrifice flies (16) and triples (5).  The Otters rank second in walks (99), hits (243), on base percentage (.366), runs (141), runs batted in (126), and triples per game (.22).
 
NCAA STATISTICS, INDIVIDUAL EDITION:  Senior Mark Hurley ranks No. 20 in the country with 38 hits.  Hurley is also ranked No. 35 with nine doubles. Senior Richie Johnson (San Leandro/San Jose State) is No. 42 in the nation with two triples while junior Brian Hamm (Pleasanton/Chabot College) ranks No. 47 with 11 stolen bases. On the mound, junior Jeff Owen is No. 9 with five wins.
 
NCAA STATISTICS, TEAM EDITION:  The Otters are in the nation's top 30 in five categories with No. 10 in the nation with 56 doubles and No. 11 with 16 sacrifice flies. The other three are: No. 25 in walks (99), No. 26 in doubles per game (2.07) and No. 26 in hits (243).
 
BREAKING UP THE NUMBERS: In Head Coach Walt White's three years at the helm, the Otters have an 18-8 overall record against nonconference opponents including an 8-2 record in 2013.  CSUMB dominates the PacWest series record in the last three seasons with seven wins and two losses (Point Loma 5-1 and Fresno Pacific 2-1).
 
NCAA STATISTICS, 2013 EDITION: Jeff Owen also made a mark in the final NCAA Division II statistics (6/2/13) by appearing in three Top 20 categories: wins (5th, 12), strikeouts (13th, 98) and hits allowed per 9 innings (16th, 6.29). A.J. Quintero finished 12th in the nation with his 10 saves.  
 
FIRST BROOM SIGHTING SINCE 2012:  The Otters suffered a series sweep at Cal Poly Pomona to begin the 2014 conference season.  CSUMB had not been swept since its 2012 series against Cal State Stanislaus (March 23-25).  Under Coach Walt White's tutelage, the Otters have only been swept twice with the other one against his alma mater Sonoma State in a non-conference action in 2011 to begin his reign as CSUMB head coach.
 
COUNTDOWN TO 200: Junior Jeff Owen is only 20 strikeouts away from being the first CSUMB pitcher to reach the 200 strikeouts milestone.  In less than three seasons, Owen has dominated the pitching career records at CSUMB.
 
CAREER RECORD ACHEIVED: Junior Jeff Owen captured another CSUMB career record this season to add to his already impressive resume.  Catching four batters looking at strikeouts in his 4-0 shutout over San Francisco State, passing previous leader Patrick McClain's (2007-10).  Owen now holds seven CSUMB career record: most strikeouts (180), most strikeout looking (48) most strikeouts in a 9-inning game (8.28), most wins (21), most complete games (10), most shutouts (4) and most combined shutouts (3).
 
PRESEASON HONORS:  Senior A.J. Quintero became CSUMB's second NCBWA Preseason All-American after being selected to the third team.  Outfielder Jared DeCastro received honorable mention honors in 2012. Quintero recorded 10 saves in 2013, ranking 12th in the nation. Quintero on the NCBWA Preseason All-Region first team is senior Mark Hurley and junior Jeff Owen.  Senior Chris Daniels (Citrus Heights/Sierra College) was a second team selection. 
 
SECOND ISN'T BAD:  The Otters were picked second by the league coaches in the CCAA preseason poll despite receiving five first-place votes.  Chico State, with only one first-place vote, was deemed the favorite.  CSUMB and Chico State had equal number of votes to win the CCAA Championship Tournament which will be played in Stockton May 8-11.
 
BROKEN RECORDS BREAKDOWN OF 2013:  RHP Jeff Owen passed Grayson Adams (2007) as the CSUMB single season leader in strikeouts with 98. Owen also clinched the top spot in the CSUMB record books in the 2013 season with most wins in a season (12).  Junior A.J. Quintero (Vacaville/Sacramento CC) became the single season and career record leader with 10 saves, passing Harold Zosel's eight in 2012.
 
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 its last six series that included 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.