LEADING OFF: CSUMB welcomes the Coyotes of Cal State San Bernardino for its final full homestand of 2014. The series begins on Friday with a 3 p.m. single game followed by a Saturday doubleheader at noon. The series finale is slated for Sunday at 11 a.m.
SCOUTING CAL STATE SAN BERNARDINO: The Coyotes have won only four of their last 17 games, dropping a 3-1 series to Chico State last weekend in San Bernardino. CSUSB is one game back on the Otters in the CCAA standings.
Players To Watch: Junior shortstop William Ouellette (.335 BA, 20 R, 53 H, 23 RBIs), junior second baseman Kevin Meriwether (.325 BA, 24 R, 52 H, 10 HBP), senior outfielder Nolan Almodovar (.312 BA, 21 R, 49 H, 13 SH), senior LHP Kerry Kelley (4-5, 3.40 ERA, 76.2 IP, 58 SO)
LAST SERIES AGAINST THE COYOTES: After dropping the first two games, the Otters surged back to win the remaining two, 11-4 and 4-2, to split the series in San Bernardino last season.
Jeff Owen (Clovis East HS) picked up his eighth win and
A.J. Quintero (Vacaville/Sacramento CC) snagged two saves in the series.
LAST TIME OUT: Playing their best baseball of the season according to Coach
Walt White, the Otters snapped up two of the four games from second place Sonoma State last weekend. The series opener was a true pitching duel between
Jeff Owen and George Asmus who has the second lowest ERA for a starter in the nation. The result went in the favor (3-1) of the Seawolves but CSUMB fed off of the energy entering Saturday's doubleheader where the Otters swept Sonoma with scores of 10-8 and 3-1. The Seawolves prevented the CSUMB series win with a 6-3 victory on Sunday.
OTTERS TOP (OR NEAR) OF CCAA: Junior
Brian Hamm (Pleasanton/Chabot College) exploded last weekend, racking up five stolen bases to take a comfortable lead in the CCAA. Cal State East Bay's Marcus Wise sits in second with 15. After accumulating two for the second consecutive weekend, senior
Mark Hurley (Hollister/College of San Mateo) moved up with Cal Poly Pomona's David Armendariz into the top spot with 15 doubles. Junior
Jeff Owen dropped to fourth with 52 strikeouts.
CCAA WEEKEND RECAP: There were no sweeps this past weekend in the CCAA. Three series ended with the top teams earning a 3-1 win: Chico State over Cal State San Bernardino, Cal Poly Pomona over Cal State Stanislaus and Cal State East Bay over Cal State Dominguez. Joining the Otters and Seawolves in a series split was UC San Diego and SF State.
CSUMB LEADS CONFERNECE: CSUMB leads the CCAA in four categories: doubles (80), doubles per game (1.90), stolen bases (54) and stolen base per game (1.29). The Otters rank second in triples (10) and triples per game (0.24)
OWEN FRUSTRATING BATTERS: Junior RHP
Jeff Owen is making CSUMB's opponents irked by allowing only 5.78 hits per nine innings, ranking him 24th in the nation.
OTTERS ON THE MOVE: Senior
Mark Hurley and
Brian Hamm are each leading the CCAA and now are in the top 50 in the latest NCAA statistics. Hurley has accumulated 15 doubles this season, ranking him 39th in the nation. Hamm has been a nightmare for pitchers this season once. His 22 stolen bases ranks him 38th among Division II teams.
RECORD ACHIEVED: With five stolen bases over the weekend, junior
Brian Hamm is flew past
Tommy George's CSUMB record of 21 set in 2012. Hamm has eight games remaining in the season to raise his total of 22 stolen bases.
DANIELS SHOWS ANOTHER SIDE: Not known to be a strikeout pitcher, senior
Chris Daniels (Citrus Heights/Sierra College) proved that he could be after racking up a career-best nine strikeouts against Sonoma State.
