TOWSON, Md. – Madison Wilson was a formidable force last weekend as the Towson University softball team won three of its four games at the Charleston Southern Tournament.
 
Wilson, who finished the weekend with a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) leading .667 batting average, was hotter than hot sauce.
 
The sophomore first baseman sparked a Towson offense that averaged 9.5 runs per game and compiled a .405 batting average. She was 10-for-15 for the weekend and had multiple hits in every game. Wilson had three hits each in both games against North Carolina A&T. Wilson was also active on the bases scoring six runs.
 
Wilson and the Tigers will look to keep the offensive pressure turned up when they compete in the Pirate Classic hosted by East Carolina University beginning Friday morning. The Tigers will play UMBC and ECU on Friday. They battle Saint Joseph's and UMBC on Saturday and finish the weekend on Sunday against ECU.
 
One irony of the weekend is Towson and UMBC – despite being separated by 19 miles – are playing each other twice some 334 miles away from the Beltway in a different state.
 
Wilson, who has a six-game hitting streak dating back to last season, was so hot that she had two hits during a six-run first inning against the Aggies last Saturday morning. That was just a prelude to a memorable offensive onslaught by Towson that ended with it scoring 19 runs for the seventh time since 1980 and first time in 13 years.
 
"It was awesome to be able to play to the best of our ability and see how our hard work at practice and preseason has paid off," Wilson said. "Last season, I wasn't as confident in my swing as I am this year. I worked a lot to improve and tweak my swing to make it the way it is now. I'm excited to say I'm finally happy with it."
 
Towson received contributions all over its potent lineup in Charleston. Daria Edwards, who also scored six runs, connected at a .545 clip. Brook Miko was everywhere scoring five runs, collecting five hits, and driving home six runs. Shelby Stracher literally had a blast last weekend in becoming the all-time home run leader in program history and adding eight RBIs to her career total.
 
Here's a look at Towson's opponents this weekend:
 
UMBC
This is the season opener for the Retrievers. They were picked to finish sixth in the America East Conference this season. This will be the first meeting between the Tigers and Retrievers since 2016, a 13-3 TU victory highlighted by an 11-run fourth inning. Leading UMBC's returnees is sophomore Maddie Daigneau, who led the Retrievers with a .375 batting average, .426 on-base percentage, 63 hits, five triples, and 14 stolen bases.  She earned a spot on the AE All-Rookie Team last year. UMBC finished 22-30 last season and qualified for the AE tournament.
 
East Carolina
Members of the American Athletic Conference, the Pirates won two out of five games last week at the Felsburg Invitational hosted by Florida International University. One of ECU's losses was a 4-0 setback to CAA member Hofstra. ECU defeated St. John's 4-0 and FIU 6-4. East Carolina hit .153 as a team in its opening tournament. Karlie Smith (.200 batting average) and Meredith Burroughs (.133) led ECU with one home run and three runs batted in each. Ashleigh Weingartz (.250), Smith, Ashleigh Inae and Taylor King paced ECU's offense with three hits each over the five games. Pitcher Erin Poepping leads the Pirates with 12 strikeouts.
 
Saint Joseph's
Saint Joseph's was picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10 this season according to the conference's preseason poll. The Hawks, who advanced to the A-10 semifinals last season, return eight starters and 13 letterwinners under the direction of first-year head coach Erin Brooks. Leading the Hawks returnees are junior pitcher Ashley Ventura and junior outfielder Amanda Kulp. They were selected to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Northeast Second Team and Third Team, respectively. Ventura had a 2.03 earned run average, won 15 games and had 134 strikeouts. Meanwhile, Kulp was selected to the A-10 All-Conference First Team, after leading the Hawks in batting average (.357), hits (56), total bases (62) and on-base percentage (.416).
 
Up Next
Towson will compete in the Charlotte 49er Classic next weekend. Towson will play Oakland and Charlotte on Friday, Feb. 23 and Saturday, Feb. 24. Games against Oakland on both days begin at 11 a.m. The Tigers play the 49ers at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.