This Week in Cougar Athletics: March 25-31
SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Men’s and women’s track & field, softball and baseball will be in action this week for Cal State San Marcos Athletics.
Men’s and women’s track & field will split up and attend three different meets beginning on Thursday. The Cougars will compete at San Francisco State’s Mike Fanelli Track Classic on Thursday through Saturday in Hayward. CSUSM will participate in select field events and the women’s 4×100-meter relay at the Stanford Invitational on Friday through Saturday in Palo Alto. Closer to home, the Cougars will compete in UC San Diego’s California Collegiate Open on Saturday in La Jolla.
Softball will head up to Turlock for Stanislaus State’s Tournament of Champions beginning on Friday. On the first day, CSUSM will play Montana State Billings at 11:30 a.m. before taking on Hawaii Hilo at 2:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Cougars will play Holy Names at 9 a.m. and Dominican at 12:30 p.m. The Cougars will conclude the tournament by facing Saint Martin’s at 9 a.m. on Sunday.
Baseball will return to CSUSM Baseball Field for a its final home four-game series of the season, taking on Stanislaus State beginning on Friday. The Cougars and Warriors will open the series at 3 p.m. on Friday. The series will continue with a noon doubleheader on Saturday before wrapping up at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD
Thursday, March 28 – Saturday, March 30
The Mike Fanelli Track Classic
Hayward, Calif. – Chabot College
LIVE RESULTS
Friday, March 29 – Saturday, March 30
Stanford Invitational
Palo Alto, Calif. – Cobb Track and Angell Field
LIVE RESULTS
Saturday, March 30
California Collegiate Open
La Jolla, Calif. – Triton Stadium
LIVE RESULTS
PREVIOUS WEEK •The Cougars competed at San Diego State’s Aztec Invitational.
•Bryan Quintero posted the fourth-best hammer throw mark in program history at 46.97 meters.
•In the 400-meter hurdles invite, Jonathan Burton tallied the seventh-best time in program history at 53.90 while finishing fifth.
•Antonio Riggins placed second in the triple jump invite with a distance of 14.18 meters.
•Jenna Hernandez scored the fourth-most heptathlon points in program history as she finished with 3,612.
•Danielle Pettit finished the heptathlon with the sixth-most points in program history at 3,300.
•Alyssia Gonzalez posted the third-fastest 100-meter time in program history at 12.32.
•Gonzalez then put up the eighth-fastest 200-meter time in program history at 25.44.
•Micaela Ecija posted the fifth-best discus throw mark in program history at 37.43 meters while Betsabe Reyes had the sixth-best mark at 37.26 meters.
NOTES FOR THIS WEEK •This will be CSUSM’s first time competing at San Francisco State’s Mike Fanelli Track Classic.
•The Cougars last competed at the Stanford Invitational in 2009, and this year’s visit will mark just the second time they’ve made the trek to Palo Alto.
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
Tournament of Champions
Turlock, Calif.
Friday, March 29
vs. Montana State Billings – 11:30 a.m.
vs. Hawaii Hilo – 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 30
vs. Holy Names – 9 a.m.
vs. Dominican – 12:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 31
Saint Martin’s – 9 a.m.
LIVE STATS
PREVIOUS WEEK •The Cougars dropped all four games this past weekend at Cal State Monterey Bay by three runs or less.
•Andrea Wood tallied a double and a solo home run in the series.
•Carly Slack appeared in the circle in three games with one start, finishing with a 1.80 ERA over 11.2 innings.
INSIDE SCOOP ON EACH TEAM •Montana State Billings (7-14, 1-7 GNAC) – The last meeting took place at the Desert Stinger Tournament in 2015 when the Cougars took down the Yellowjackets, 10-5.
•Hawaii Hilo (20-8, 15-5 PacWest) – It will be the first meeting between the Cougars and the Vulcans.
•Holy Names (9-12, 8-8 PacWest) – The Cougars have faced the Hawks a total of nine times with eight wins and are currently on a four-game winning streak.
•Dominican (5-16, 4-14 PacWest) – It will be the first meeting between the Cougars and the Penguins.
•Saint Martin’s (12-12, 5-5 GNAC) – The Cougars were victorious against the Saints at last year’s TOC, defeating SMU 6-5.
THE EWING FILE •Head coach Stef Ewing enters her first season in charge of the Cougar softball team 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 29 – 3 p.m.
Saturday, March 30 – 12 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, March 31 – 11 a.m.
CSUSM (13-17, 9-15 CCAA) vs. Stanislaus State (17-11, 13-9 CCAA)
San Marcos, Calif. – CSUSM Baseball Field
LIVE STATS | COUGAR SPORTS NETWORK
PREVIOUS WEEK •CSUSM split its four-game series at Cal State Monterey Bay.
•The Cougars swept Saturday’s doubleheader – their third doubleheader sweep of the season.
•Grant Buck led the Cougars with a .467 batting average, seven hits, seven runs, two home runs, 14 total bases, a .933 slugging percentage and a .556 on-base percentage.
•Austin Ott has reached base in 19 consecutive games.
•Cabot Van Til has tallied multiple hits in 20 games this season – tying for the fifth most in program history.
•The Cougars still lead the CCAA in batting average (.309), runs (181), hits (.308), RBIs (168), total bases (425) and sacrifice flies (19).
AT HOME AGAINST STANISLAUS STATE •The Warriors swept their four-game series at home against Cal State San Bernardino this past weekend.
•Stanislaus has the third-best pitching staff in the CCAA with a 4.07 ERA and has struck out the third-most batters at 183.
•The Warriors’ opponents are hitting just .236 against them this season – the second-lowest average in the conference.
•Offensively, Stanislaus has the eighth-best offense in the league with a team batting average of .278.
•Braeden Oki is the Warriors’ leading hitter with a .344 batting average.
•The Cougars and Warriors are knotted at 5-all in the all-time series.
•CSUSM and Stanislaus split last year’s series in Turlock.
•The Cougars hold a 2-1 lead when playing the Warriors 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 50-83 (.376) as CSUSM’s head coach and is 225-316-1 (.416) for his entire head coaching career.
