The Matchup: Towson (1-5, 0-0 CAA) @ West Virginia (4-3, 0-0 Big 12)
When: Tuesday, Feb. 26 – 2 p.m.
Where: Monongalia County Ballpark – Granville, W.V.
Online Broadcast: None
Series: Series Tied 3-3-1
 
GRANVILLE, W.V. –  The Towson University baseball team will play its first mid-week game of the year, the final game before the home opener this coming weekend, by traveling west to play West Virginia on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. in Morgantown.
 
The game at the Monongalia County Ballpark is free to the public for all visitors, but there will not be a live broadcast of the game.
 
Towson, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, got its first win over the weekend but fell in two of three at Kennesaw State to enter Tuesday at 1-5 overall.  West Virginia, from the Big 12 Conference, also played this past weekend in Georgia, taking two of three from Georgia Southern to stand at 4-3 overall.
 
This is the first meeting between the two programs since 2010.  They played twice that year, with Towson winning in April 10-4 and WVU taking the game in May 8-4.  This is the first time that Towson will play a current member of the Big 12; West Virginia was a member of the Big East Conference the last time they met.
 
Towson is Traveling
The Tigers will be traveling quite a bit in 2019 with games scheduled in 10 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, Virginia and West Virginia.
 
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.
 
Tom Flacco Joins the Baseball Team
Tom Flacco, the 2018 CAA Offensive Player of the Year for the Towson 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.
 
Time Zones Covered
Towson's roster covers all four time zones in the contiguous United States.
 
From the Pacific Time Zone comes three players from California: infielders Colin Conroy and Brad Powers plus catcher Jack Rotteveel.  John Cranston, from Scottsdale, Arizona, represents the Mountain Time Zone while Louisiana natives Travis Dowden and Nick Canevari represent the Central Time Zone.
 
Scouting West Virginia
West Virginia, picked to finish sixth in the Big 12, spent its first two weekends in the state of Georgia, and will play its second home game of the season against Towson, hosting Canisius last week.
 
As a team, WVU is batting .198.  Inside the infield, two players share the top average at .296: senior Ivan Gonzalez has two doubles and a home run while Tyler Doanes has scored four runs.  Also in the infield, junior Marques Inman has hit two home runs, hitting .217 with seven walks and five runs.
 
The first mid-week game was started by left-hander Nick Snyder, who has an 0-1 record with a 4.91 ERA and six strikeouts.  In the bullpen, junior righty Sam Kessler has appeared in three games with a 1.35 ERA in 6.2 innings and seven strikeouts, while freshman southpaw Beau Lowery has thrown 5.2 innings in four games with seven strikeouts.
 
About Monongalia County Ballpark
One of the newest fields in college baseball, the Monongalia County Ballpark was completed in 2015 and is also the home of the West Virginia Black Bears, a minor league baseball team.  The stadium is 2.7 miles away from campus.