TOWSON, Md. – Now the fun begins for the Towson University softball team.
Off to their best start to a season since 1997 at 19-5, the Tigers open Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play against Hofstra on Saturday, March 26. The three-game weekend series starts with a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 p.m. and concludes with a single game on Sunday, March 27 at 1 p.m.
AGAINST HOFSTRA: Towson is 17-65 all-time against Hofstra. The Pride defeated Towson in all three meetings last season in New York. The Tigers last defeated Hofstra in the 2014 CAA Tournament, 5-4. This will be Hofstra's first games at Towson since 2012 due to the 2014 series being cancelled. Hofstra has won 11 consecutive regular season meetings against the Tigers since Towson claimed a 4-3 victory in the 2010 series finale.
LAST WEEK: Towson went 3-1 in defeating Pacific, Mount St. Mary's and Fordham. The Tigers only setback was to Fordham. The Tigers hit .294 as a team. Towson's top hitters last week were
Shelby Stracher (.545),
Kendyl Scott (.400) and
Bailey Boyd (.385).
LEADERS OF THE CAA: Through 24 games, the Tigers have the top offense in the conference. Towson leads the CAA in slugging percentage (.565), on-base percentage (.408), runs scored (162), RBIs (146) and home runs (32). The Tigers are second in doubles (43), sacrifice bunts (21), sacrifice flies (seven) and stolen bases (46). They are third in hits (214) and tied for third in triples (five).
SUPERWOMAN STRACHER: Stracher has fueled Towson's potent offense as she leads the CAA in batting average (.479), home runs (eight), RBIs (33) and total bases (64). She is also third in runs scored (23) and fourth in hits (34). Stracher recently tied a single-game program record with six RBIs in a 9-1 win over Pacific. She became the ninth player in program history to drive in at least six RBIs in a single game.
PLEADING THE FIFTH: Towson has outscored its opponents, 32-7, in the fifth inning this season.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Senior
Olivia Yarbrough has 182 career hits, which is 11th all-time in program history. With two more hits, she would pass Jen Weaver (183) and move into the Towson top 10 in career hits. Other former players in Yarbrough's sights are Aimee Ross (185) and
Hailey Balk (187). She needs 18 hits to become the sixth player in Towson softball history with 200 career hits. Yarbrough ranks third all-time in program history with 128 runs scored. She needs 13 more to become the all-time leader in that category. She is fifth all-time with 38 stolen bases.
COOL CAHILL: Holiday Cahill hit her second grand slam of the season against Fordham. The grand slam was significant, as it was her 20th career homer, which made her the fourth player in Towson softball history to hit that many homers. She has four games this season in which she has driven in at least four runs.
RUNS RUNNETH OVER: Towson has scored double-digit runs eight times this season. The Tigers are 12-0 when scoring at least six runs this season. Three players have scored at least 20 runs for the Tigers: Stracher (23), Edwards (23) and
Olivia Yarbrough (21).
Kendyl Scott has scored 19 runs. Towson also erupted for a season-high 11 runs in the fourth inning during a 12-3 win over UMBC on March 1 in its home opener.
WALK IT OFF: Towson has enjoyed the euphoria of two walk-off homers this season. Stracher's blast helped the Tigers open the season with a victory over Georgetown. Scott slammed a homer leading off the bottom of the seventh to give Towson a victory over Fordham.
TWICE AS NICE: Towson's
Bailey Boyd was named the CAA Rookie of the Week for the second consecutive week. In compiling a .385 batting average last week, Boyd had a hit in every game for the Tigers. Three of Boyd's hits went for extra bases as she had two doubles and a home run. Boyd also scored four runs, had four RBIs and enjoyed a .679 slugging percentage. Boyd scored two runs in a 9-1 win over Pacific. She had two hits in a 12-3 loss to Fordham. In a 10-4 victory over Mount St. Mary's, Boyd had a career-best three RBIs. She had a two-run double and a groundout. Boyd concluded her week by hitting a home run against Fordham in an 8-7 Towson victory.
SCHEDULE ADDITIONS: The Tigers have added a pair of home doubleheaders against Norfolk State (Tuesday, April 5 at 2 p.m.) and Villanova (Tuesday, April 26 at 2:30 p.m.).
A LOOK AT HOFSTRA: The Pride are 13-11 following a 7-6 loss to Rutgers on Tuesday afternoon. Michaela Transue went 3-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. The Chenango Forks, New York native is 12-for-14 in her last five games. She is hitting .857 in that span with three home runs, 11 RBIs, seven runs scored and a 1.714 slugging percentage while posting a .900 on-base percentage. Transue leads the Pride with a .408 batting average. Hofstra has three additional hitters with over .300 averages: Kim Smith (.325), Brittany Allocca (.324), and Nikki Michalowski (.322). Smith and Michalowski lead Hofstra with 21 RBIs each. The Pride hit .294 as a team and has hit 28 homers this season. The Pride has a 5.03 staff earned run average.
ON DECK: The Tigers host George Mason in a doubleheader on Wednesday, March 30. First-pitch is at 2:30 p.m.
