The Matchup: Towson (0-3, 0-0 CAA) @ Kennesaw State (2-1, 0-0 Atlantic Sun)
When: Friday, Feb. 22 – 4 p.m. | Saturday, Feb. 23 – 2 p.m. | Sunday, Feb. 24 – 12 p.m.
Where: Stillwell Baseball Stadium – Kennesaw, Ga.
Online Broadcast: None
Series: Towson leads 2-1
 
KENNESAW, Ga. –  The Towson University baseball team returns to the South for its second weekend of the 2019 season, heading to Georgia to take on Kennesaw State for a three-game series from Feb. 22-24, with game times set for Friday at 4 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at noon.
 
Live stats will be available for all games at the Stillwell Baseball Stadium.
 
Towson, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, is coming off a road series at Davidson last weekend, going 0-3.  Kennesaw State, out of the Atlantic Sun Conference, hosted three different teams this past weekend, earning wins over West Virginia and UIC to come in at 2-1.
 
Towson returns to Kennesaw after playing a three-game set in March of 2016.  With all three games being competitive, Towson took two victories in the bookend contests.  Current Tigers Trey Martinez, Richard Miller and Jay Sanford all played in that series.  That weekend is also the last time Towson played in the state of Georgia.  Towson has another series scheduled against an Atlantic Sun opponent, at Florida Gulf Coast in late March.
 
Stramara Named to NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List
Senior Dean Stramara is one of 75 players nationally to be selected to the 2019 NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List.
 
In 2018, he had the best ERA for Towson at 3.94 in 21 appearances, striking out 48 batters in 59.1 innings.
 
Towson is Traveling
The Tigers will be traveling quite a bit in 2019 with games scheduled in nine different states, primarily up and down the East Coast. 
 
Along with the home state of Maryland, states Towson will have games in this year includes California, Florida, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia.
 
Coaching Staff Intact for 2019
Head coach Matt Tyner, in his second year, returns all assistant coaches for the 2019 season.
 
Miles Miller is back as the team's pitching coach in his second season, as is hitting coach Tanner Biagini and volunteer assistant Mickey Williard, the infield coach.  Eric Franc is back, in his ninth season with the program, as the director of player development.
 
Two former players, Skyler Morris and Charlie Watters, will serve as student assistants.  Three other students will serve in other roles: Isabelle Pardew is the director of baseball analytics, Emma Toth is the student manager and Jon Wancowicz is the bullpen catcher.
 
Pair of Three-Year Starters Are Back
Two position players returning in 2019 have been primary starters in each of their first three years.
 
Richard Miller has been the main third baseman for Towson for three seasons, entering 2019 with 136 games played and 116 started, starting at least 27 games each season.
 
Starting at 104 games mainly at catcher, Trey Martinez has made at least 29 starts in each of his first three years, playing in 119 games going into 2019.
 
In addition, senior Dean Stramara has appeared in 53 games as a pitcher, mainly out of the bullpen.
 
Tom Flacco Joins the Baseball Team
Tom Flacco, the 2018 CAA Offensive Player of the Year for the football team, will come to the diamond for the baseball team in 2019.
 
Flacco, a graduate of Rutgers University, was drafted in the 32nd round out of high school in 2014 by the Philadelphia Phillies, electing to attend Western Michigan to play football.
 
His brother, Michael, played in the minors from 2009-12 after being drafted in the 31st round by the Baltimore Orioles.
 
Maryland, My Maryland
Towson sports 12 players from the home state of Maryland, coming from all areas of the region.
 
In addition, two freshmen, Trent Gast-Woodard and Nick Brown, each are from the home city of Baltimore.  Gast-Woodard and Brown each attended Archbishop Curley.
 
Towson Approaching 900th Program Victory
Since the first year of Towson baseball in 1980, Towson has amassed 874 victories as a program, fast approaching 900.
 
The program has three league titles in 1988, 1991 and 2013 in its history, all coming with appearances in the NCAA regionals.
 
Scouting Kennesaw State
Kennesaw State, which joined the Division I ranks in the 2009-10 season, stands at 2-1 after wins over West Virginia and UIC.  Head coach Mike Sansing has 996 victories since taking over the program in 1991.
 
Senior second baseman Jaylen Smith hit safely in the first three games to bat .462 with two doubles and two stolen bases.  Starting in left field is junior Garrett Hodges, who is hitting .417 with four RBI and two steals, while junior centerfielder Alex Carballo has a .417 average with a home run and three walks.
 
Senior right-hander Brooks Buckler is expected to start on Friday, throwing five innings with one run and six strikeouts in his first game of 2019.  A pair of lefties will get the other starts on the mound: Ryan Kennedy wnet five innings with two runs and six strikeouts while Josh Coburn went 3.1 frames with three runs, one earned, and seven strikeouts.
 
About Stillwell Baseball Stadium
Built in 1984, Stillwell Baseball Stadium is the home of Kennesaw State, having a new press box installed in 2011.  Kennesaw Mountain is in the background in center field.
 
Towson – Community Service National Champion
Towson is the Division I national champion of the NCAA Team Works Helper Helper Competition for the Fall 2018 semester.
 
Towson completed the most community service hours among all schools in the competition, including 75 different Division I departments and approximately 300 total programs across the country.  Towson student-athletes and staff completed 5,583 hours of community service from September to November around the Greater Baltimore area.