2017 Kickin Chicken Classic (no live stats for both Towson-YSU games)
Friday, February 10, 2017	Towson vs. Youngstown State, 10 a.m.
Friday, February 10, 2017	Towson vs. #7 Alabama, 12:30 p.m.	LIVE STATS
Saturday, February 11, 2017	Towson vs. #7 Alabama, 10 a.m.	LIVE STATS
Saturday, February 11, 2017	Towson at Coastal Carolina, 5:30 p.m.	LIVE STATS
Sunday, February 12, 2017	Towson vs. Youngstown State, 10 a,m.

TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University softball team displayed perfect timing as it departed its snow-covered campus for its season-opening road trip to Myrtle Beach. Although the Tigers will enjoy great weather with sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s, this trip is far from a fun and quick weekend getaway.
 
Nope, Towson begins its much anticipated 2017 season by competing in the highly competitive Kickin Chicken Classic hosted by Coastal Carolina. Towson (37-17 in 2016) will compete against a formidable field featuring Youngstown State (30-21), seventh-ranked Alabama (51-14) and host Coastal Carolina (37-22).
 
"We are very excited to be heading out and playing down south in warm weather," junior Daria Edwards said. "This year is a new year with a brand new team that is filled with extraordinary talent. I am looking forward to the success that we will accomplish this season as a unit."
 
Towson meets Youngstown State Friday morning at 10 a.m. in its season opener. Following that contest, the Tigers will play the first two consecutive meetings over two days against Alabama at 12:30 p.m. On Saturday, Towson will battle Alabama at 10 a.m. and Coastal Carolina at 5:30 p.m. The Tigers conclude the tournament by playing Youngstown State Sunday at 10 a.m.
 
"This weekend we are focusing on playing our game and playing every opponent as hard as we can," Edwards said. "At the end of the day, we all put our uniforms the same way and a name is a name. It's important to take one game at a time and that is our main focus heading into our season opener against Youngstown State."
 
Winning Tradition
2016 was Towson's 13th season with 30 or more victories and seventh with at least 35 wins. Towson has won at least 35 games in consecutive seasons. Towson tied the 2008 team for the second-most single-season wins in program history with 37. Over the last three years, Towson has won 101 games.
 
Rewriting the Record Books
Towson  established single-season team records for home runs (70), runs scored (325), doubles (83), bases on balls (173), and total bases (720). In addition, Towson tied the single-season record with 71 stolen bases in 2016.
 
Neutral Navigators
The Tigers went 14-0 on neutral fields last season.
 
Homer Happy
Towson hit at least one home run in 36 games. The Tigers hit at least two homers in a game 19 times. Four players hit at least 10 home runs (Shelby Stracher – 15, Holiday Cahill – 12, Brook Miko – 11 and Edwards - 10). Towson hit five home runs in a 10-2 win over Virginia on March 8. The Tigers surpassed the previous single-season standard of 49, which was set in 2015. Towson has hit 119 home runs over the last two years.
 
Among the Nation's Best
Last year's Tigers slugged a single-season program record 70 homers good for 10th nationally in homers per game (1.30). Towson was also 19th in slugging percentage (.514), 26th in scoring (6.02) and 33rd in winning percentage (.685). The Tigers also finished the season leading the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in those categories.
 
Numbers To Know
Towson has won 40 consecutive games when scoring at least seven runs ... The Tigers were 28-1 in 2016 when scoring at least six runs ... Towson was 24-0 when leading after six innings. ... The Tigers scored double-digit runs 12 times.
 
Preseason CAA poll
Towson was picked to finish second in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) preseason poll. For the third straight year, James Madison earned the top spot in the polls unanimously, receiving seven first-place votes (coaches can't vote for their own teams) for 49 points. Towson, which received one first place vote and 41 points, was selected to finish ahead of College of Charleston (32), Hofstra (32), Elon (27), Delaware (19), UNCW (17) and Drexel (seven).
 
Savage Schedule
Towson will compete in tournaments in South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida this season. The spring slate is highlighted by 19 home games, including a pair of March tournaments and nine contests against schools that competed in last season's NCAA Tournament. The non-conference portion of the schedule features matchups with opponents from the Horizon League, Patriot League, SoCon, American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, Ivy League, Big East, Big South, Summit League, Mid-American Conference, Southeastern Conference, Northeast Conference, America East, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, and Atlantic-10.
 
Sensational Stracher
Junior catcher Shelby Stracher was named an honorable mention preseason All-American by Fastpitch News (FPN). Last season she was named to the NFCA All-Region First Team and All-CAA Second Team. Stracher set Towson single season program records for home runs (15), RBIs (57) and runs scored (49). In finishing with 61 hits, Stracher led the Tigers with 16 multi-hit and 18 multi-RBI games.
 
Hot Holiday
Senior Holiday Cahill is fifth all-time in batting in program history with a .362 average, second in home runs (28), and sixth in RBIs (106). She is 53 hits away from becoming the seventh player in program history to reach the 200-hit plateau. She was named first team All-CAA and Second Team All-NFCA. Cahill set a single-game program record with three home runs and seven RBIs against Delaware on May 1. Cahill hit three grand slams last season including one in the CAA Tournament against Charleston. Had 13 multi-hit and 10 multi-RBI games. Drove in at least four runs in a single-game five times.
 
New Coaching Additions
Towson welcomes two new additions to its softball staff this season in assistant coaches Jessie Hutchens and Nick French. Hutchens will have primary responsibilities working with the Tiger defense. Hutchens joins Towson after spending the last two years as an assistant coach at Valdosta State where she helped the Blazers enjoy consecutive trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament. After spending time on staff at Georgia, Arizona, Memphis and Holy Cross, French will have primary responsibilities working with the Tiger pitchers.
 
A Look at Youngstown State
The Penguins were picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League in a preseason poll. The Penguins, who finished third in the league in 2016, finished 30-21 overall and 15-7 in the Horizon League and return 18 letterwinners and nine starters from that squad. Highlighting the Penguins returners are All-Horizon League First-Team selection junior outfielder Cali Mikovich, second-team all-league pick senior outfielder Sarah Dowd and All-Freshman Team choice sophomore pitcher Paige Geanangel. 
 
A Look at No. 7 Alabama
The Crimson Tide enter the season ranked seventh in the both the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and the USA Softball preseason polls. After helping the Crimson Tide qualify for their 11th College World Series in program history, junior pitcher Alexis Osorio was selected to the Preseason All-SEC team and named to Top-50 Player of the Year Watch List. Osorio, a native of Riverside, Calif., is one of three returning pitchers for the Crimson Tide in 2017, along with 2016 All-American Sydney Littlejohn and Madi Moore, who went 9-0 as a freshman last season.
 
A Look at Coastal Carolina
The Chanticleers are entering into their first season as a member of the Sun Belt. Coastal Carolina was picked eighth overall. Coastal returns 10 players from last year's squad, including freshman of the year Taty Forbes. The Chants welcome in seven newcomers for the 2017 campaign. Forbes was selected to the Sun Belt Preseason All-Conference Team.
 
Up Next
Towson will compete in the USC-Upstate tournament next week. It will be played over two days in two different locations. The Tigers will play Georgetown and Colgate in Spartanburg (S.C.) and Campbell and Furman in Greenville.