LEADING OFF: The top-seeded Otters will begin play of their first double-elimination NCAA Tournament on Thursday, May 16 at 11 a.m. (MST) against sixth-seeded Chico State at Brian Hurst Field in St. George, Utah. No. 2 Sonoma State and No. 5 Cal State L.A. will follow with a 3 p.m. first pitch while No. 3 and host Dixie State will take on fellow PacWest opponent, fourth-seeded Grand Canyon at 7 p.m.
SCOUTING CHICO STATE: The Wildcats held on by the fingertips, receiving the sixth seed in the final NCAA West Regional poll and booting out UC San Diego. Chico State has lost eight of its last 10 games, including most recently a 9-4 loss to CSUMB in the first elimination game of the CCAA Tournament.
Players to Watch: senior 1B Austin Prott (.350 BA, 48 H, 10 2B), senior 2B Cody Webber (.315 BA, 47 H, 29 RBIs, 31 R), junior RHP Nick Baker (7-3, 2.31 ERA, 93.1 IP, .241 opp. BA), senior RHP Troy Neiman (8-3, 1.68 ERA, 69.2 IP, .189 opp. BA).
LAST TIME OUT: The Otters went 1-2 in their first ever appearance in the CCAA Tournament last weekend. CSUMB dropped a 4-0 decision to Sonoma State to open the tournament on Thursday, May 9. A five-run spurt in the ninth inning kept the Otters alive as they went on to defeat the Chico State Wildcats 9-4 victory the following day. CSUMB packed its bags and hit the road after a 14-3 loss to the eventual CCAA tournament champion, Cal State L.A., on Saturday, May 11.
BREAKING UP THE NUMBERS: The Otters have an impressive 22-8 record against West Region teams with .500 or better record. CSUMB had the program's longest home win streak of 14 straight victories come to an end in Saturday's twinbill opener after falling to the Tritons 6-1. The previous home win streak record was eight, set at the end of the 2007 season.
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.
CCAA STATISTICS: Sophomore RHP
Jeff Owen (Clovis East HS) and junior RHP
Will Anderson (Pleasanton/Fresno State) ended the regular season ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the CCAA statistics in wins. Owen earned a CCAA-best 11th win in the twinbill nightcap on May 4 against UC San Diego. In his first Friday start of 2013, Anderson picked up his eighth win with a 7-1 decision against Cal State Stanislaus (4/26). Owen slipped past Sonoma State's Harmen Sidhu (80) for the top spot in the CCAA with 86 strikeouts entering the conference tournament. Picking up his 9th and 10th save against UC San Diego, junior
A.J. Quintero (Vacaville/Sacramento City College) has a large lead among the over relievers in the conference with Cal Poly Pomona's Cody Ponce ranking second with six.
NCAA STATISTICS: With his 11 wins on the mound,
Jeff Owen ranks third in the latest NCAA Division II statistics. As a team, CSUMB ranks fifth in with a .973 fielding percentage.
A.J. Quintero ranks ninth in the nation with 10 saves.
SAN BENITO BOYS: Products of San Benito High School make up the 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots in the Otter lineup. They also have CSUMB's top three batting averages in 2013. Junior
Mark Hurley, who played two seasons at College of San Mateo after graduating from San Benito, leads the Otters with a .346 BA. Senior
Ronnie Fhurong is a four-year letterwinner at CSUMB and has a .344 batting average. After a stint at West Valley College following his time as a Baler, senior
Brian Haggett is hitting .333.
FROM BOTTOM TO THE TOP: Mark Hurley's walk-up song says it all (Started From The Bottom by Drake). Head Coach
Walt White has taken a team with an 8-41 record (2010) to a CCAA title behind a 37-13 record in just three short years. Prior to 2013, CSUMB had only had one series sweep (Cal Poly Pomona 2007) to five sweeps and no series losses this season.
RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN: Senior
Tommy George (Elk Grove HS), Ronnie Fhurong (Hollister/San Benito HS) and
David Garcia (Gilroy/Mission College) on in a frantic race to see who will finish their career with the CSUMB record for RBIs. George leads the three with 78, followed by Fhurong at 76 and Garcia at 75. Seniors
Jason Merjano (San Ramon/Sierra College) and
Brian Haggett entered the top 10 following the CCAA tournament. The record leader at the moment is Matt DeJesus (2008-09) with 79 RBIs. Note: Garcia has recorded his 75 RBIs in only two years while the other two are four-year players at CSUMB.
RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN II: With 65 hits thus far, junior
Mark Hurley is eight away from tying the CSUMB season hit record set by Gerry Rommel in 2007. Also on that list is seniors
Brian Haggett and
Ronnie Fhurong, who is ranked 8th with 63.
SEASON RECORDS - CHECK: With six strikeouts at CSUSB on Saturday, April 13, sophomore RHP
Jeff Owen passed Grayson Adams (2007) as the CSUMB single season leader in strikeouts with 79 thus far. Owen already clinched the top spot in the CSUMB record books this season with most wins in a single season (11) and career (15). Junior
A.J. Quintero has snatched the CSUMB single season record from
Harold Zosel (2012) with 11 saves.
MR. MARCH: With Reggie Jackson claiming the Mr. October nickname, senior
Will Anderson is CSUMB's Mr. March. He had a lights-out month by going 4-0 with a 0.90 ERA that consisted of 30 innings of work, giving up only three runs and 14 hits. He racked up 24 strikeouts while walking only seven batters.
AND MR. APRIL: If Anderson is Mr. March, then
Mark Hurley is unquestionably Mr. April. The junior left fielder hit .451 with 19 RBIs and 11 runs. In his 30 hits, Hurley had seven doubles, two home runs and a triple. He was also 4-for-4 in stolen bases. In the final two weeks, Hurley earned back-to-back CCAA Player of the Week's which was a first in the conference this season.
