The Matchup: Towson (12-31, 6-9 CAA) at James Madison (25-19, 6-9 CAA)
When: May 3^rd-5^th – 6/4/2 p.m.
Where: Veterans Memorial Park – Harrisonburg, Va.
Online Broadcast: None
Series: James Madison leads 55-41
 
TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University baseball team is back on the road after an eight-game homestand, heading down to Harrisonburg, Virginia to play James Madison for three contests this weekend: on Friday, May 3rd at 6 p.m., Saturday, May 4th at 4 p.m. and Sunday, May 5th at 2 p.m.
 
UPDATED: The games will have an online broadcast; Friday will be televised while Saturday and Sunday will be audio only.  Live stats will be available for all three contests.
 
Neither team played any games during the mid-week, coming off weekend series.  Towson won its last game but fell in two of three to William & Mary last weekend to enter at 12-31 overall and 6-9 in the CAA.  James Madison hosted Hofstra last weekend and won the first two contests of three to be at 25-19 overall and 6-9 in the league.  Each Towson and JMU are tied for fifth place in the conference with three league series left to play.
 
James Madison has won the last five games of the all-time series, including all three games in Maryland last year, while Towson had won the previous five.  In the all-time series, JMU leads 55-41 in a matchup first played in 1980.
 
Freshman Leading the Way
Javon Fields, a true freshman, has proven to be a top tier newcomer, currently leading Towson in several categories including hits (45), doubles (9), triples (4) and stolen bases (13).  He had a 14-game bases reached streak snapped on March 30.
 
Approaching Single Season Records
As the season winds down, some Tigers are getting close to adding their names to the Towson record book.
 
Noah Cabrera has been hit by a pitch 12 times, currently 10th in Towson single season history.  The record is 20 by Brandon Butler in 2012.
 
Each Javon Fields and Richard Miller have hit four triples, two away from getting ito the top-10 in program history.
 
When There is a Will, There is a Weyman
Gavin Weyman has been a rock as the Saturday starter, going 3-0 with four earned run in 21 innings (1.71 ERA) in victories over Elon, Hofstra and Delaware from April 12-26, striking out 16 batters in that time.
 
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.
 
John Schuerholz Headlines First Pitch Dinner
Kicking off the 2019 season, Towson held its second annual First Pitch Dinner on February 2nd, at the Valley Mansion.
 
John Schuerholz, a Towson alum and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, was the headline speaker for the event, MCed by Jay Rokeach, the PA announcer for the Miami Hurricanes baseball team.  Local media personality Keith Mills held a question and answer session with Richie Palacios and Brady Policelli, former Tigers currently in the minors.
 
Almost 300 people in total attended the dinner, including Towson President Dr. Kim Schatzel and Athletics Director Tim Leonard.
 
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 Predicted to Finish 9th in the CAA Preseason Poll
In the coaches preseason poll, Towson was predicted to finish ninth in the CAA in 2019.  Towson got 13 points.
 
Elon is predicted to finish first with 57 points and four first-place votes, followed by a tie for second between UNC Wilmington and Northeastern.
 
CAA Preseason Poll (first place votes, points)
1. Elon (4), 57
t2. UNC Wilmington (1), 54
t2. Northeastern (4), 54
4. Charleston, 47
5. Delaware, 34
6. James Madison, 32
7. William & Mary, 19
8. Hofstra, 14
9. Towson, 13
 
Tom Flacco Joins the Baseball Team
Tom Flacco, the 2018 CAA Offensive Player of the Year for the Towson football team, comes 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.
 
Scouting James Madison
JMU, picked to finish sixth in the CAA coaches preseason poll, has won two of three in its last pair of league series, each in the state of Virginia.
 
The team's top batter is one of the best freshmen in the CAA: infielder Trevon Dabney has team leads with a .321 batting average, six home runs, 35 runs and 23 walks.  Junior first baseman Brady Harju is hitting .287 with eight doubles, six home runs and 32 RBI.
 
Two right-handed pitchers have been mainstays in the rotation this season: sophomore Nick Stewart is 4-3 with a .240 ERA, striking out 48 in 56.1 innings while junior Kevin Kelly is 6-5 with a 3.56 ERA, earning 64 strikeouts in 65.2 innings.  Also throwing this weekend is sophomore righty Michael Bechtold, being 2-1 in nine appearances, throwing 23 innings with 21 strikeouts.
 
About Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park
The newest field used by a CAA team, Veterans Memorial Park was built in 2010 and honors those fallen veterans from Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.  The whole field is turf.
 
Towson Athletics – Helper Helper Community Service National Champion
The Towson University athletics department considers community service to be one of its highest priorities, and today, the NCAA has announced that 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.
 
"It is a great honor to be a national champion of community service," said Towson director of athletics Tim Leonard. "Community service is a part of our DNA here at Towson University, and our student-athletes represent this institution with pride here in the Greater Baltimore area.  This is a fantastic achievement for everyone in our department, including all student-athletes, coaches, administration and staff."
 
Towson student-athletes and staff completed 5,583 hours of community service from September to November around the Greater Baltimore area. 
 
- TowsonTigers.com –