SAN MARCOS, Calif. – It’s shaping up to be a busy weekend at home for Cal State San Marcos Athletics as softball, baseball, women’s basketball and men’s basketball will all be in action.
Softball will host Concordia Portland in a non-conference doubleheader on Friday beginning at noon.
Baseball will welcome Sonoma State for a four-game series at CSUSM Baseball Field beginning on Friday at 2 p.m. The series will continue with a doubleheader on Saturday at 11 a.m. and will wrap up on Sunday at 11 a.m. Sunday will be Alumni Appreciation Day at CSUSM Baseball Field. Prior to the Cougars’ series finale against the Seawolves, former Cougars in attendance will be recognized.
Women’s basketball will look to earn a share of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Regular-Season Championship while locking up the No. 1 seed against UC San Diego on Saturday at 1 p.m. Seniors Stephanie Custodio, Chloe Eackles and Jon’Nae Vermillion will be honored prior to the game. Fans are encouraged to wear blue to support the Cougars in this pivotal matchup against the Tritons. Pizza will be given away and fans will have the opportunity to receive a free t-shirt every time CSUSM makes a three.
Men’s basketball is still fighting for a spot in the CCAA Tournament and will take on regular-season champion UC San Diego on Saturday at 3 p.m. Prior to the game, seniors Darae Elliott, Alec Frank and Khalil Fuller will be honored.
SOFTBALL
Friday, Feb. 28 – 12 p.m. (DH)
CSUSM (5-10) vs. Concordia Portland (9-6)
San Marcos, Calif. | CSUSM Softball Field
Live Stats | Watch Live
PREVIOUS WEEK •CSUSM dropped both ends of its CCAA doubleheader on Friday to Cal State Dominguez Hills, 1-0 and 7-3.
•Saturday’s twinbill was halted in the top of the second in the first game because of a sudden downpour. The games will be rescheduled for a later date.
•Ronni Silas went 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI in Friday’s doubleheader against the Toros.
•Jaime Ponce tossed a one-run, three-hit complete game in Friday’s opener.
•CSUSM’s .319 team batting average ranks fifth in the CCAA.
•The Cougars’ nine home runs are tied for third with Chico State in the conference.
•CSUSM is ranked second in the CCAA and fifth in the nation with eight sacrifice flies.
•In the CCAA, Andrea Wood is first in home runs (4), second in RBIs (19) and third in slugging percentage (.732). In the nation, Wood’s four home runs rank her 17th while her 19 RBIs rank her 19th.
•Gianna Lombardi’s seven doubles are tied for the best in the conference and rank her 12th in the nation.
•Nikki Andelin ended her hitting streak at 12 games while Lombardi stopped hers at nine games.
•Lombardi has reached base safely in all 15 games this season.
CONCORDIA PORTLAND •The Cavaliers have won four of their last five games with an 11-3 win over Notre Dame de Namur on Feb. 14 before splitting a doubleheader, 6-2 and 2-6, at Dominican on Feb. 15. CUP swept Northwest Christian on Feb. 19 by scores of 8-0 (5 inn.) and 7-3.
•In the first-ever meeting between these two teams last season, the Cougars recorded a 2-RBI walk-off single to defeat the Cavaliers 5-4. CSUSM dropped the second rain-shortened game 5-2.
•Karley Yoshioka has a team-leading .426 batting average with 18 RBIs, 15 runs, four doubles and a triple.
•Sally Bowles is CUP’s ace with a 5-1 record, tossing four complete games and allowing 51 hits and 22 runs (16 earned) in 45.0 innings.
•The Cavaliers were picked to finish third in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Preseason Coaches Poll.
•It was announced on Feb. 10 that CUP will cease operations at the end of the Spring 2020 academic semester, closing its doors after 115 years.
THE EWING FILE •Head coach Stef Ewing enters her second season in charge of the Cougar softball season, finishing last year with a 14-31 record that included a series sweep over Cal Stat East Bay on the road.
•Ewing captured her first win as a collegiate head coach on Feb. 17th as the Cougars won 5-4 in a walk-off over Concordia Portland at CSUSM Softball Field.
•She previously served as the assistant coach at New Mexico State where she helped the Aggies to three WAC Regular Season Conference Championships and two WAC Conference Tournament Championships.
BASEBALL
Friday, Feb. 28 – 2 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 29 – 11 a.m. (DH)
Sunday, March 1 – 11 a.m.
CSUSM (3-11, 2-6 CCAA) vs. Sonoma State (3-10, 2-6 CCAA)
San Marcos, Calif. – CSUSM Baseball Field
Live Stats | Watch Live
PREVIOUS WEEK •CSUSM was swept in a four-game series at San Francisco State.
•In the series, Joseph Bahna led the Cougars with a .375 batting average and six hits while extending his team-leading hitting streak to 12 games.
•Bahna is tied for second in the CCAA for hits with 21.
•Zach Schuberg leads CSUSM with a batting average of .372, nine RBIs and a .972 OPS.
•Niko Diaz is tied for the fourth-most stolen bases in the conference with five.
•The Cougars’ 23 stolen bases lead the league.
RETURNING HOME TO FACE THE SEAWOLVES •SSU lost three out of four games at home against No. 4 UC San Diego this past weekend.
•The Seawolves took losses of 20-1, 3-0 and 20-1 while earning a 7-5 win in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Tritons.
•Joshua Medina leads SSU’s offense with a .350 batting average.
•As a team, the Seawolves are hitting .212 for the year – next-to-last in the CCAA.
•SSU’s team ERA of 7.82 ranks last in the league.
•CSUSM has a 6-8 record in the all-time series against SSU, but the Cougars are 5-2 when playing in San Marcos.
•After the Cougars won last year’s series opener, the Seawolves rallied with three consecutive victories to take the series.
•In SSU’s last visit to San Marcos in 2018, the Cougars and Seawolves split the series.
•The Cougars and Seawolves are tied for 10th in the CCAA standings.
THE GUILIANO FILE •Head coach Matt Guiliano enters his fourth season at the helm of the CSUSM baseball program.
•Prior to making his way to San Marcos, Guiliano was the head coach for nine seasons (2008-16) at his alma mater Sioux Falls.
•Guiliano is a 2006 graduate of the University of Sioux Falls and a 2001 graduate of Valley Center High School.
•Guiliano is 63-101 (.384) as CSUSM’s head coach and is 238-337-1 (.414) for his entire head coaching career.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Feb. 29 – 1 p.m.
NR/RV CSUSM (22-4, 17-4 CCAA) vs. No. 25/18 UC San Diego (22-4, 18-3 CCAA)
San Marcos, Calif. – The Sports Center
Live Stats | Watch Live
LAST WEEK •The Cougars have secured a top-two spot in the CCAA Tournament and will host the first round on Tuesday, March 3 in The Sports Center.
•The Cougars extended their win streak to eight games after going 2-0 this past weekend with victories at Cal State Monterey Bay (66-35) and Cal State East Bay (85-69).
•CSUMB’s 35 points were the lowest by a CSUSM opponent this season and tied a school record set during CSUSM’s inaugural season on Feb. 11, 2012 against La Sierra.
•The Cougars recorded their margin of victory in the Otter Sports Center at 31 points, as the previous victories in Seaside were eight points (57-49) on Jan. 13, 2018 and six points (58-52) on Jan. 7, 2017.
•Against the Otters, Akayla Hackson led the Cougars with 18 points while Dynnah Buckner chipped in 14 points.
•CSUSM tallied a season-high 85 points in its win at CSUEB as the Cougars shot a CCAA season-best 60.9% from the field.
•The Cougars have now shot 50% or better in nine of their games this season.
•Hackson notched a career-best 31 points that included a 9-for-9 performance at the free throw line.
•CSUSM raised its program-high win total to 22 victories.
•Forel is the conference leader and ranks No. 6 in the nation in field-goal percentage at 61.3%.
•The Cougars remain in second in 3-point field-goal percentage defense in the nation, holding their opponents to 24.7%. University of the Sciences remains in first with a 24.2%.
•The Cougars continue to sit in first in the CCAA and No. 25 in the NCAA in scoring defense, limiting opponents to a 57.1 points per game average.
•CSUSM boasts the highest field-goal percentage in the CCAA and 33rd best nationally at 45.3%.
•Forel and Jon’Nae Vermillion rank third and seventh in the CCAA in rebounds per game, averaging 9.4 and 7.9, respectively.
•In the first NCAA Division II West Region Poll, the Cougars debuted at No. 4.
SENIOR DAY AGAINST UC SAN DIEGO •Prior to Saturday’s last regular-season game, seniors Stephanie Custodio, Chloe Eackles and Jon’Nae Vermillion will be honored.
•On Saturday, the Cougars will be fighting for a share of the CCAA Regular-Season Championship. UC San Diego currently has a one game lead in the conference standings. A CSUSM win will give both teams an 18-4 conference record and the Cougars will claim the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
•The Cougars made history on Nov. 21 as they defeated then-No. 6/6 UCSD 69-63 at RIMAC Arena. In the game, CSUSM controlled the lead for just over 35 minutes while the Tritons led for just over two minutes.
•The Cougars dominated the boards against the Tritons, outrebounding them 36-19.
•The Tritons enter Saturday’s game on a 14-game win streak, dating back to their two losses against Cal Poly Pomona (69-61 OT) on Dec. 22 and Cal State Monterey Bay (59-58) on Jan. 2.
•UCSD leads the all-time series against the Cougars 8-1 with CSUSM winning the last meeting on Nov. 21 on the road.
•The Tritons lead the conference in defensive rebounds (27.9), free-throw percentage (34.2) and scoring margin (12.0).
•UCSD also leads the conference and ranks 20th in the nation with a 9.0 3-point field goals per game average.
•Julia Macabuhay is leading the Tritons with a 17.8 points per game average while shooting a team-best 49.7% from beyond the 3-point line.
•Sydney Sharp is controlling the boards for UCSD this season, averaging 6.8 rebounds per game.
•This will be the Cougars’ last-ever regular-season meeting with UCSD as the Tritons are transitioning to NCAA Division I in 2020-21.
•The Tritons were ranked No. 2 in the first NCAA Division II West Region poll.
THE JIMENEZ FILE •Head coach Renee Jimenez enters her fifth season in charge of the Cougar women’s basketball team, a program that is only in its eighth season of existence.
•Jimenez has compiled a 193-133 (.592) in her 12 seasons coaching in the CCAA, spending two seasons at Cal State San Bernardino after a five-year stint at Cal State Monterey Bay.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Feb. 29 – 3 p.m.
CSUSM (12-15, 8-13 CCAA) vs. No. 4/3 UC San Diego (26-1, 20-1 CCAA)
San Marcos, Calif. – The Sports Center
Live Stats | Watch Live
PREVIOUS WEEK •CSUSM took an 88-76 loss at Cal State Monterey on Thursday before falling in a tight 73-68 game at Cal State East Bay on Saturday.
•The Cougars are currently on a three-game losing streak.
•Jayce McCain currently ranks fourth nationally and leads the CCAA with an assist-turnover ratio of 3.75.
•McCain also ranks 12th nationally and leads the conference in total steals at 60 while his 2.22 steals per game rank 17th nationally and first in the league.
•Blake Seits’ 77 3-point field goals rank 47th nationally, fourth in the CCAA and fifth for an individual season at CSUSM.
•Khalil Fuller leads the CCAA with 8.9 rebounds per game and ranks 46th nationally. Currently, his average ranks third for an individual season at CSUSM.
•Fuller’s 222 rebounds for the season currently rank fourth in program history and are just one shy of matching last year’s total.
•The Cougars are still alive in the CCAA Tournament hunt as they sit a half-game up in eighth ahead of Cal State LA and Cal State Monterey Bay.SENIOR DAY AGAINST UC SAN DIEGO •Prior to Saturday’s last regular-season game, seniors Darae Elliott, Alec Frank and Khalil Fuller will be honored.
•Frank is CSUSM’s first-ever four-year men’s basketball player.
•The Tritons have already captured the CCAA Regular-Season Championship with a 20-1 record in conference play.
•UCSD’s lone loss occurred at home against Chico State on Dec. 5, and since then, the Tritons have racked up 18 consecutive victories.
•Last week, UCSD was ranked No. 4 in the NABC Coaches Top25 Poll and No. 3 in the D2SIDA Top 25 Poll.
•The Tritons have yet to lose a game on the road this season, but they narrowly escaped Cal State East Bay 62-55 on Thursday.
•UCSD rounded out the week with an 84-64 victory at Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday.
•Nationally, the Tritons rank first for assist-turnover ratio (1.87), fourth for 3-point field goals (339), seventh for scoring margin (17.0), seventh for turnovers per game (9.9), 10th for assists per game (18.5) and 13th for scoring defense (65.7).
•Tyrell Roberts and Christian Oshita rank first and second for points per game in the CCAA at 18.5 and 18.1, respectively.
•Mikey Howell ranks fifth nationally for total assists with 193.
•This will be CSUSM’s last-ever regular-season meeting with UCSD as the Tritons are transitioning to Division I next season.
•The Cougars are 2-6 in the all-time series against the Tritons and have lost the past five meetings.
•CSUSM’s last win against UCSD occurred on Jan. 19, 2017.
•The Cougars are 1-2 against the Tritons at The Sports Center with their lone win occurring on Feb. 18, 2016.THE FOSTER FILE •Head coach B.J. Foster enters his fourth season in charge of the CSUSM Men’s Basketball program after taking over the head position in 2016.
•Under his leadership, the Cougars advanced to the CCAA Tournament for the first time in 2017-18 after finishing the season with a 15-7 conference record and a 20-9 overall record.
•Prior to becoming head coach of the Cougars, Foster was an assistant coach with the team from 2013 to 2016.
•Foster has tallied a career record of 59-53 (.527).
