The Series: Towson (0-0, 0-0 CAA) at Old Dominion (0-0, 0-0 C-USA)
Game 1: Friday, Feb. 14^th, 3 p.m.
Game 2: Saturday, Feb. 15^th, 2 p.m.
Game 3: Sunday, Feb. 16^th, 1 p.m.
Where: Bud Metheny Baseball Complex – Norfolk, Va.
Online Broadcast: conferenceusa.com (Subscription required)
Series: Old Dominion leads 23-20
 
TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University baseball team is ready to begin the 2020 season against a former conference foe, playing a three-game weekend series at Old Dominion from February 14-16 in Norfolk, Virginia.  Game times are set for 3 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday at the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex.
 
This is the opening weekend for college baseball in 2020.  Towson is coming off a 2019 season where the Tigers went 14-39 overall and 7-17 in the Colonial Athletic Association.  In 2019, Old Dominion finished 35-21 overall and 16-14 in Conference USA.
 
This is the first meeting between the two programs since 2013, the final year of ODU's membership in the CAA.  ODU has a narrow 23-20 all-time lead in the series, with Towson leading 13-9 since April 17, 2005.
 
As a program, Towson has started the season away from home each year since 2004.  Towson is beginning the campaign in the state of Virginia for the first time since 2006; the Tigers opened at the University of Virginia that year.
 
FIELDS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-CAA
Javon Fields earned a place on the 2020 Preseason All-CAA Baseball Team, the first Towson representative since Richie Palacios in 2017.
 
Fields was Towson's starting centerfielder in 2019, leading the team in batting average, hits, runs, triples and stolen bases, plus earned 17 multi-hit performances.
 
TOWSON APPROACHING 900TH WIN
Since the first year of Towson baseball, the Tigers have amassed 888 victories, coming close to its 900th win.
 
The program has three league titles in 1988, 1991 and 2013, all coming with appearances in the NCAA regionals.
 
YOU ARE NEW....
Towson rebolstered the ranks in the offseason with 17 newcomers, including six true freshmen, 10 JUCO transfers and one DI transfer.  These 17 join 18 returners, including 16 letterwinners, to round out the roster.
 
REPPING THE HOME STATE
13 who suit up for the Black & Gold hail from the Old Line State of Maryland.  Most live in the Piedmont Plateau areas with others from southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore. 
 
SUMMER, SUMMER, SUMMERTIME
Several Tigers made their mark in wooden bat leagues across the country this past summer.
 
Brad Powers was one of the top players in the Prospect League, hitting .344 with nine home runs, 16 doubles and 47 RBI to earn First Team All-Star honors with the Danville Dans.  Kody Reeser also pitched for the Dans, going 1-0 with 11 strikeouts in 14 innings, helping Danville win the East Division regular season title.
 
Two other Tigers earned All-Star status: Matt Watters was a Team Maryland All-Star for the Gaithersburg Giants in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, throwing in 14 games with a 3.31 ERA, 2-1 record, a pair of saves and 14 strikeouts.  Cam Clark was an All-Star for the Maryland Monarches in the Maryland Collegiate Baseball League, going 5-0 with a 0.63 ERA in 28.2 innings, striking out 34.
 
I WANNA GO TO HAWAII!
For the first time in program history, the Tigers will be playing in the Aloha State as Towson will play a four-game series at Hawaii during Spring Break.  The four-game set will be played from March 18-21 at Les Murakami Stadium in Honolulu.
 
GOING SOUTH, WEST AND NORTH
Towson will have its traveling shoes on this season as the Tigers are scheduled to play games in seven different states this year: Maryland, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
 
The Tigers may be visiting the Tar Heel State several weekends, with road series scheduled at High Point (2/21-23), UNCW (4/10-12) and Elon (5/8-10).  In addition, the 2020 CAA Tournament (5/20-23) will be hosted by UNCW.
 
Towson also has a special neutral site game planned on April 29th, playing against Penn State in historic Municipal Stadium in Hagerstown, Maryland, the home of the Hagerstown Suns, low-A affiliate of the reigning MLB champion Washington Nationals.
 
TIGERS IN THE PROS
Towson has two players in the minor league ranks.  Richie Palacios, a third round pick by the Cleveland Indians in 2018, is listed as the #23 rated-prospect in the system, missing 2019 due to shoulder surgery.  Brady Policelli, a 13th round draft pick by the Detroit Tigers in 2016, was a spring training invite after earning FSL All-Star honors in 2019, hitting .249 with 40 extra base hits and 54 RBI with the high-A Lakeland Flying Tigers.  Gavin Weyman pitched in the independent United Shore Professional Baseball League, throwing in four games for the BB Beavers in 2019, going 3-1 with a 4.34 ERA and nine strikeouts.
 
SCOUTING OLD DOMINION:
Old Dominion is predicted to finish fourth in the preseason Conference USA coaches poll.  Old Dominion moved into C-USA following the 2013 season, having won the CAA Tournament in 1996, the program's last league title.
 
2019 NCBWA Freshman All-America Andy Garriola was last year's C-USA Freshman of the Year, hitting .328 with 10 home runs, 19 doubles and 62 RBI.  ODU's top relief pitcher, Hunter Gregory, is a member of the C-USA Preseason All-Conference Team, going 7-3 with two saves in 28 games, striking out 85 in 60 innings.
 
LAST TIME VS. ODU: MARCH 22-23, 2013
In ODU's final series vs. Towson as a CAA member, the Monarchs won the rubber match 13-4 to take the series 2-1 at home.  ODU won game one 4-3 with Towson winning the middle game 9-1.
 
For Towson, Kurt Wentz hit safely in all three games, hitting .385 with a double, three runs and six RBI.  Brandon Gonnella won game two, throwing seven innings with one run and eight strikeouts.
 
COVERING THE COASTS
Towson's roster has all but one player from the contiguous USA coast lines, including three players from California, Brad Powers, Colin Conroy and Nick Janowicz, and one from Washington state, Jacob Terao.
 
Only one Towson player, Matt Watters from Ohio, is not native to the East or West Coast.
 
MEDIA ADVISORY
Towson University baseball head coach Matt Tyner will be on temporary leave from the program due to a medical issue with his wife.  Miles Miller will serve as the interim head coach while Tyner is on leave.
 
TIGERS IN THE COMMUNITY
The Towson University athletics department deems community service as one of its highest priorities to give back to the Greater Baltimore area.  For the 7th consecutive year, the department exceeded 10,000 hours of community service to the Greater Baltimore region, finishing with 11,162 hours of community service in the 2018-19 academic season.
 
Towson ranked #1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the Helper Helper NCAA Team Works Competition.
 
Towson had a 97% participation rate, attended 118 community service opportunities and volunteered with 19 organizations.
 
Towson won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.
- TowsonTigers.com –