This Week in Cougar Athletics: Feb. 25 – March 3
2/25/2019 | Baseball
SAN MARCOS, Calif. – It will be another busy week for Cal State San Marcos athletics as the Cougars host men’s and women’s basketball, softball and baseball while men’s and women’s track and field go on the road.
Men’s and women’s basketball will get the week started on Thursday as they host Cal State East Bay at The Sports Center. The women will go at 5:30 p.m. before the men get started at 7:30 p.m. Both squads will host their Senior Day games on Saturday against Cal State Monterey Bay. The women’s game will tipoff at 1 p.m. and will be followed by the men’s contest at 3 p.m.
Men’s and women’s track and field will travel to Riverside for the RCC Invitational on Friday beginning at 11 a.m.
Softball will host nationally-ranked Chico State in a four-game series at CSUSM Softball Field. Friday’s doubleheader will commence at noon, and Saturday’s doubleheader will begin at 11 a.m.
Baseball will play San Francisco State in a four-game series beginning on Friday at 2 p.m. On Saturday, the two squads will play a doubleheader consisting of nine and seven innings beginning at 11 a.m. The series will come to a close on Sunday with the first pitch set for 11 a.m.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Feb. 28 – 5:30 p.m.
Cal State San Marcos (15-9, 12-8 CCAA) vs. Cal State East Bay (13-13, 10-10 CCAA)
San Marcos, Calif. – The Sports Center
LIVE STATS | COUGAR SPORTS NETWORK
Saturday, March 2 – 1 p.m.
CSUSM vs. Cal State Monterey Bay (1-23, 1-19 CCAA)
San Marcos, Calif. – The Sports Center
LIVE STATS | COUGAR SPORTS NETWORK
PREVIOUS WEEK •The Cougars will be making their first postseason appearance since moving to NCAA Division II after punching their ticket to the CCAA Tournament with Saturday win at Sonoma State.
•CSUSM got payback against San Francisco State with a 75-62 win on Thursday after falling 53-49 to the Gators last December.
•With Saturday’s 68-54 win, CSUSM collected a series sweep against Sonoma State.
•Two CSUSM individual single-game records were broken on Thursday as Akayla Hackson recorded eight 3-pointers and Stephanie Custodio dished out 11 assists.
•As a team, the Cougars broke the single game record for 3-pointers with 12 against SF State as Kelsey Forrester sunk four to go along with Hackson’s eight.
•A win against Cal State East Bay gives CSUSM the fourth seed in the CCAA tournament and grants the Cougars a first-round home game.
•CSUSM leads the CCAA in opponent rebounding percentage (35.0) and ranks second in field goal percentage (42.8).
•Jon’Nae Vermillion remains in the top 10 in scoring (8th, 13.8) and rebounding (10th, 8.0).
•Stephanie Custodio moved up to the No. 6 spot in the CCAA in assists, averaging 3.9 per game.
•CSUSM made its program debut at No. 9 in the first release of the NCAA Division II West Regional Rankings, posted last Wednesday.
THURSDAY NIGHT VS. EAST BAY •The Pioneers are still fighting for a spot in the CCAA Tournament after winning both of their games last weekend.
•East Bay took down Sonoma State, 59-49, on Thursday before crushing Cal State Monterey Bay 73-59.
•The Cougars are 2-5 in the all-time series against the Pioneers, splitting the series last season with the home teams being victorious.
•The Pioneers are holding opponents to a CCAA-best 60.1 points per game.
•Savannah McGill ranks No. 2 in the CCAA with 11.6 rebounds per game.
•East Bay is fifth in the CCAA standings, one game ahead of Chico State and Cal State Dominguez Hills.
SENIOR DAY AGAINST CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY •The Otters snapped a 26-game losing streak with their first win of the season on Feb. 16, defeating San Francisco State 75-65 on their Senior Day.
•CSUMB dropped a 73-59 decision to Cal State East Bay on Saturday.
•Against the CSUMB, the Cougars hold a 4-2 lead in the all-time series with three wins in their last meetings and are 2-0 in games in The Sports Center.
•The Otters rank last in field goal percentage (32.9) and scoring (54.3).
•CSUMB has already been eliminated from the CCAA Tournament.
THE JIMENEZ FILE •Head coach Renee Jimenez enters her fourth season in charge of the Cougar women’s basketball team, a program that is only in its eighth season of existence.
•In her eleven seasons coaching in the CCAA, Jimenez has compiled a 168-128 (.568) coaching record. She spent two seasons at Cal State San Bernardino after a five-year stint at Cal State Monterey Bay
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Feb. 28 – 7:30 p.m.
CSUSM (7-19, 4-16 CCAA) vs. Cal State East Bay (21-5, 16-4 CCAA)
San Marcos, Calif. – The Sports Center
LIVE STATS | COUGAR SPORTS NETWORK
Saturday, March 2 – 3 p.m.
CSUSM vs. Cal State Monterey Bay (2-23, 2-18 CCAA)
San Marcos, Calif. – The Sports Center
LIVE STATS | COUGAR SPORTS NETWORK
PREVIOUS WEEK •CSUSM took an 87-60 loss on Thursday at San Francisco State.
•Dalton Soffer and Darae Elliott each tallied 17 points for the game.
•The Cougars earned an 80-74 win at Sonoma State on Saturday as Elliott and Soffer each posted season highs for points with 25 and 23 points, respectively.
THURSDAY AGAINST CSUEB •Cal State East Bay comes into Thursday’s contest in first place in the CCAA standings at 16-4.
•The Pioneers have won five consecutive games and took an 80-75 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday.
•The Pioneers have the seventh-most points per game in the league at 73.7, but it’s allowing the second-fewest points per game at 66.8.
•Ant Navarette leads CSUEB with 12.8 points per game and ranks 12th in the league.
•CSUSM owns a 6-1 lead in the all-time series and is 3-0 at home.
SENIOR DAY AGAINST CSUMB •The Cougars will honor seniors Dalton Soffer, JR Williams and Patrick Sniff prior to CSUSM’s final game of the season on Saturday.
•The Otters are in last place in the CCAA standings at 2-18 and are 2-23 overall for the season.
•CSUMB is currently on a five-game losing streak.
•The Otters’ offense ranks 10th in the CCAA at 70.1 points per game while its defense ranks last at 82.6 points per game allowed.
•Jahvon Johnson leads the Otters with 12.4 points per game while ranking 15th in the conference.
•CSUSM owns a 4-1 lead in the all-time series against CSUMB and is 2-0 when playing at home.
THE FOSTER FILE •Head coach B.J. Foster enters his third 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 47-38 (.553).
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD
Friday, March 1 – 11 a.m.
RCC Invitational
Riverside, Calif. – Wheelock Stadium and Field
Live Results
PREVIOUS WEEK •The Cougars opened the season at the Rossi Relays in Claremont this past Saturday.
•Ndoto Strong won both the men’s shot put and discus throw while putting up an NCAA Division II provisional mark of 16.33 meters in the shot put.
•Antonio Riggins posted an NCAA provisional mark of 14.97 meters in the men’s triple jump and won the event by 1.53 meters. Had the mark not been wind-aided, it would have set a new school record.
•Tim Stalboerger broke the CSUSM school record in the men’s javelin throw with a mark of 57.38 meters.
•Junior Betsabe Reyes broke the CSUSM women’s hammer throw record with a mark of 42.32 meters in her first meet with the Cougars.
•Freshman Olivia Krog posted the second-best mark in program history in the women’s javelin throw at 37.71 meters.
•Junior Kylene Shuler moved up CSUSM’s top 10 for the women’s long jump as she posted the fourth-best mark in program history at 5.25 meters.
RCC INVITATIONAL •The Cougars will travel to Riverside for the RCC Invitational at Riverside Community College on Friday at 11 a.m.
•Currently, the Cougars will be going up against Cal State Fullerton, UC Riverside, California Baptist, Azusa Pacific and CCAA foe Cal State San Bernardino.
THE OLSON FILE •Head coach Torrey Olson begins his first season at the helm of the men’s and women’s track and field programs after taking over in the summer of 2018.
•Olson came to CSUSM after spending three seasons as the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country at the Academy of Art University where his teams earned 50-plus All-American honors.
•Olson served as the head cross country coach the previous three years at Academy of Art.
•In addition to the Academy of Art, Olson has also worked with the University of San Francisco and Pomona-Pitzer College.
•A graduate of Pomona College in 2009, Olson also holds an MFA from St. Mary’s College (2012).
SOFTBALL
Friday, March 1 – Noon (DH)
Saturday, March 2 – 11 a.m. (DH)
CSUSM (5-5, 4-4 CCAA) vs. No. 6 Chico State (12-3, 10-2 CCAA)
San Marcos, Calif. | CSUSM Softball Field
LIVE STATS | COUGAR SPORTS NETWORK (Friday Only)
PREVIOUS WEEK •The Cougars won their first CCAA series sweep in program history with four victories against Cal State East Bay this past weekend.
•Andrea Wood hit .500 (5-for-10) against East Bay with a home run and a double while driving in five runs.
•Kammy Fisher registered a .417 (5-for-12) batting average, accumulating two home runs, six runs and four RBIs.
•CSUSM hit and batting average leader Melody Forstie is ranked seventh in the CCAA with 18 hits and a .474 batting average.
•Ronni Silas is boasting a .630 on-base percentage, ranking her third in the CCAA.
•As a team, CSUSM ranks second in the CCAA with five sacrifice flies and fifth with a .308 batting average.
NO.6 NATIONALLY-RANKED CHICO STATE •The Wildcats hold a 5-9 lead in the all-time series against CSUSM.
•The Cougars were swept at Chico State in 2018 by scores of 3-0, 4-0, 4-0 and 7-1.
•After sweeping San Francisco State to open conference play, the Wildcats won back-to-back series 3-1 against Humboldt State and Sonoma State.
•Chico State has hit a conference-best 11 home runs with Bailey Akins raking up three.
•The Wildcats were picked to repeat as the conference regular season champions in the CCAA preseason coaches’ poll.
THE EWING FILE •Head coach Stef Ewing enters her first season in charge of the Cougar softball season as the fourth head coach in program history.
•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, March 1 – 2 p.m.
Saturday, March 2 – 11 a.m. (DH)
Sunday, March 3 – 11 a.m.
CSUSM (10-4, 6-2 CCAA) vs. San Francisco State (5-0-1, 3-0 CCAA)
San Marcos, Calif. – CSUSM Baseball Field
LIVE STATS | COUGAR SPORTS NETWORK (Sunday Only)
PREVIOUS WEEK •The Cougars won their second consecutive CCAA series as they took three of four games against Cal State Dominguez Hills this past weekend.
•On Friday and Saturday at CSUDH, CSUSM won the series opener by a score of 9-8 before falling 7-5 in the second game.
•The Cougars swept Sunday’s doubleheader in San Marcos by scores of 7-2 and 9-5.
•At 6-2 in CCAA play, CSUSM is off to its best-ever conference start since joining the league in 2016.
•CSUSM leads the conference in team batting average (.334), hits (159), sacrifice flys (10), triples (7) and runs per game (7.7).
•Austin Ott has the third-best batting average in the CCAA at .442 and leads the conference in runs scored (17), triples (2) and RBIs (17). He told leads the nation with four sacrifice flies this season.
•Ott tallied his 200th career hit on Sunday, becoming just the fifth Cougar in program history to do so.
•Cabot Van Til is tied for the league lead in hits with 24 and ranks sixth nationally.
AT HOME AGAINST SF STATE •The Gators are 5-0-1 to start the season and are just 3-0 in CCAA play due to multiple postponements.
•SF State swept Sunday’s doubleheader against Chico State by scores of 5-4 and 10-9.
•The Gators have the second-highest batting average in the CCAA at .318.
•SF State’s pitching staff has the sixth-best ERA in the league at 4.41, but its opposing batting average is the third-highest in the conference at .309.
•CSUSM is 3-5 in the all-time series against San Francisco State and is 1-2 when playing in San Marcos.
THE GUILIANO FILE •Head coach Matt Guiliano enters his third season at the helm of the Cougars 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 47-70 (.402) as CSUSM’s head coach and is 222-303-1 (.423) for his entire head coaching career.
