Friday, March 18, 2016
Fordham at Towson, 11:30 a.m.	LIVE STATS	LIVE VIDEO
Mount St. Mary's at Towson, 2 p.m.	LIVE STATS	LIVE VIDEO
Fordham vs. Mount St. Mary's, 4:30 p.m.	LIVE STATS
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Fordam at Towson, 9 a.m.	LIVE STATS	LIVE VIDEO
Mount St. Mary's vs. Fordham, 11 a.m.	LIVE STATS
Villanova at Towson, 1:30 p.m.	LIVE STATS	LIVE VIDEO
Villanova vs. Mount St. Mary's, 3:30 p.m.	LIVE STATS
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Fordham vs. Villanova, 11 a.m.	LIVE STATS
Villanova vs. Mount St. Mary's, 1:30 p.m.	LIVE STATS
Mount St. Mary's at Towson, 3:30 p.m.	LIVE STATS	LIVE VIDEO

TOWSON, Md. – Unfurling one brilliant performance after another, the Towson University softball team has pulverized and pummeled opposing pitchers during its 17-4 start to the season.
 
While, the Tigers have enjoyed turning the bases into a black-and-gold carousel of activity, their pitching triumvirate of Megan Dejter, Ambar Hickman and Blakely Thrower have been superb lately combining for a 0.85 earned run average during their current five-game winning streak.
 
Towson will look to keep the good times rolling when it begins a 10-game homestand when it hosts its annual Tiger Classic this weekend. There will be nine games involving four teams over three action-packed days at the Tiger Softball Classic. Towson will welcome Fordham, Villanova and Mount St. Mary's to campus.

ADMISSION: All games are free.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING: Towson is all over the national rankings. The Tigers are 12th in slugging percentage (.554) and home runs per game (1.29). They are 14th in doubles per game (1.81), and 20th in batting average (.339), scoring (6.71) and win-loss percentage (.810). Shelby Stracher leads the nation with four sacrifice flies. She is also seventh in RBIs per game (1.48), 15th in slugging percentage (.906), 19th in RBIs (31), 23rd in batting average (.484), 27th in home runs per game (0.33) and 30th in home runs (seven). Also appearing among the top 30 of the national rankings are Thrower, who is eighth in earned run average (0.91) and Kendyl Scott, who is the 17th toughest to strikeout (66.0).
 
STRACHER TIES RECORD: Stracher drove in six RBIs in Tuesday's 9-1 victory over Pacific. Stracher became the ninth Towson softball player in program history to drive in six runs in a game. It was the first time since Missy McCormick in 2014 that a Towson player had six RBIs in a single game.
 
STREAKING: Towson has trailed for only a half-inning during its five-game winning streak. Stracher is leading the Tigers sluggers with a .438 batting average. She has seven hits, three homers and 10 RBIs during Towson's winning roll. Freshman Bailey Boyd has a .429 average with six hits and three homers. Daria Edwards (.385), Kendyl Scott (.357) and Olivia Yarbrough (.333) have also consistently smacked the ball during Towson's winning streak. The Tigers have outscored their opponents, 31-7. Over half of Towson's hits (17-of-31) have been for extra bases.
 
BAILEY'S BEST: Boyd earned lots of recognition this week. She was named CAA co-Rookie of the Week and the College Sports Madness CAA Player of the Week.
 
BALTZAR'S BAT: Olivia Baltzar started as the Tigers' designated hitter against Pacific and produced a pair of hits, including a double. It was her sixth career multi-hit game and her first since May 2 when she had three hits against Delaware. During the Tigers' five-game winning streak, she is hitting .429. She also had a hit against Portland State.
 
ONE-RUN WONDERS: Towson has won four consecutive games decided by one run. The Tigers are 4-2 in one-run games this season.
 
HOMER HAPPY: Towson has hit multiple home runs in six games this season. Not surprisingly, the Tigers are 6-0 when they hit more than one home run in a game this season. Towson leads the CAA with 27 home runs. Seven different Towson players have hit at least one home run this season.
 
AGAINST THE FIELD: Towson is 5-11 against Villanova all-time. The teams split a doubleheader at Villanova last season. The Tigers lost their only game against Fordham. Towson is 36-6-1 all-time against Mount St. Mary's. The Tigers swept the Mount in a doubleheader last season.
 
Here's a look at the weekend competition:
 
FORDHAM (12-13): The Rams roll into this weekend having won six consecutive games after rallying to defeat Hofstra, 12-11, on Wednesday. Fordham's offense has been on fire lately as it has scored double digit runs in four consecutive games, and at least eight in five straight games. Madison Shaw had four hits against Hofstra to raise her team-leading batting average to .395. Sydney Canessa has a .351 average and a team-leading seven home runs and 21 RBIs. Jessica Hughes has a .333 average and a team best 11 stolen bases. Also, hitting over .300 for the Rams is Rachel Gillen (.301).
 
MOUNT ST. MARY'S (2-16): Mount St. Mary's had its two-game winning streak snapped with a 10-9 loss to Marist on Sunday. The Mount swept Coppin State for their two victories this season. After falling behind, 8-0, to Marist after two innings, the Mount battled back. Lindsay Heinze went 3-for-5 with four RBI while Ruf added two hits against Marist. The Mount has a .279 batting average as a team. They have four hitters with averages above .300: Megan Baker (.375), Ruf (.349), Heinze (.321) and Jessica Greenewald (.316). Teams are hitting .393 against Mount St. Mary's.

VILLANOVA (9-10): Members of the Big East Conference, Villanova has dropped three straight games. The Wildcats were swept in a doubleheader at Delaware last weekend. In four games last weekend, junior Lauren Herschberg went 4-for-12 at the plate with five RBI's, one run scored, and one double. She hit .333 overall and was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. The Wildcats are hitting .306 as a team. They are led by Herschburg (.400), Dana Morris (.344), Chase Snell (.333), Lauren Hanna (.313) and Nikki Alden (.300). Kate Poppe leads Herschburg and Morris are tied for first on the team in RBI's with 17. Villanova has hit six home runs this season. Villanova with five wins and has a .326 ERA.  

ON DECK: Towson opens Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play next weekend when it hosts Hofstra. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, March 26 followed by the series finale on Easter Sunday, March 27.