TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University softball team concludes its California trip with a Tuesday night match-up against the University of Pacific. In a battle of Tigers, first-pitch from Bill Simoni Field will be 9 p.m. Eastern Time.
As evidenced by the latest Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) team statistics, Towson has enjoyed orchestrating a symphony of choreographed chaos on the bases during its 16-4 start to the season. The Tigers lead the CAA in batting average (.340), slugging percentage (.556), on-base percentage (.414), RBIs (118) and home runs (26).
They have also done the little things that makes teams successful as the Tigers lead the conference in sacrifice flies (seven) and stolen bases (40). Towson is also second in runs scored (132) and sacrifice bunts (18). That's a lot of action on the bases for the Tigers this season.
LAST WEEK: Towson enjoyed a perfect week in which it won all four games behind strong pitching, solid defense and timely offense. The Tigers swept the University of Virginia in a doubleheader, winning 10-2 and 6-3. In a rain-soaked Saint Mary's College tournament, Towson edged Manhattan, 1-0, and beat Portland State, 5-1. Towson hit .301 as a team while slugging eight homers. Sophomore
Daria Edwards led Towson with a .500 batting average.
Bailey Boyd hit three home runs to lead the Tigers. She hit .455.
Nicole Stockinger (.364),
Olivia Yarbrough (.357) and
Shelby Stracher (.333) also swung hot bats for Towson last week.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Boyd was named CAA co-Rookie of the Week following a memorable week in which she hit .455 and hit three home runs. She's the second Towson player to receive Rookie of the Week recognition this season. Stockinger was named Rookie of the Week on Feb. 15.
DYNAMIC DUO: Towson's powerful lineup has been anchored by two of the top hitters in the CAA. Stracher leads the CAA with a .467 batting average. Edwards has the fourth best average (.431). They have the top two slugging percentages in the CAA: Stracher (.850) and Edwards (.845). Stracher's 25 RBIs lead the CAA. Edwards and Stracher are third and fourth, respectively in the CAA in on-base percentage. Edwards has scored 19 runs, which is second in the CAA. She also leads Towson with nine multi-hit performances while Stracher is second with eight. They are tied for the CAA lead with six home runs each. Stracher's 51 total bases leads the CAA and Edwards' total of 49 is third.
EXTRA, EXTRA: Towson has at least one extra base in every game this season. Overall 34 percent of Towson's 184 hits have been for extra bases. The Tigers have 35 doubles, two triples and 26 homers.
POWERFUL PITCHING: Towson's pitching was awesome last week as it allowed four earned runs over 27 dominant innings.
Megan Dejter (0.54 earned run average) and
Ambar Hickman (1.62) combined to help Towson enjoy a 1.04 team ERA.
Blakely Thrower earned her first career save by throwing nine pitches against Virginia. During the week, Hickman tossed a shutout and struck out a season best seven batters. In two games last week, she tallied 13 strikeouts.
A LOOK AT PACIFIC: Members of the Big West Conference, The Tigers are 11-10 following a split of a pair of games at the Louisville Slugger Classic they hosted over the weekend. Pacific lost to seventh-ranked Oregon, 11-0, and defeated Sacramento State, 7-2. In the win over Sacramento State,
Nicole Zapotoczny had a career day with a collegiate-best five RBIs. As a team, the Tigers are hitting .273. They have four hitters with averages above .300: Rachel Sellers (.383), Sydney Lahners (.367), Sara Anderson (.361) and Zapotoczny (.344). Zapotoczny leads Pacific with five homers and 18 RBIs. Pacific has played several top 10 programs this season and one of its victories was a 2-1 win over LSU.
ON DECK: Towson returns home to host its annual Tiger Classic. Towson battles Fordham (1:30 p.m.) and Mount St. Mary's (3:30 p.m.) on Friday afternoon.
