HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Towson University baseball team will play its second of three straight road weekends with a trip to North Carolina as the Tigers play at High Point from February 21-23.  Game times are set for 3 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. (Updated due to weather)
 
Two of the games, Friday and Sunday, will be broadcast online on ESPN+.  All games will be played at Coy O. Williard Stadium at High Point.
 
Towson opened the year at Old Dominion, falling in its three contests to the Monarchs to enter at 0-3.  High Point swept Lafayette over the weekend then had two mid-week contests, beating N.C. Central and losing to UNC, standing at 4-1 overall.
 
These programs meet for the first time since 2010 and just the second time since 2002.  With all games being played in North Carolina, High Point leads the all-time series 12-9, having won five of the last six.  In a series that began in 1980, Towson won six of the first eight meetings.
 
This is the first of three regular season weekends that Towson will play in the state of North Carolina, the others being at UNCW in April and Elon in May.  The 2020 CAA Tournament also is in Wilmington, being hosted by UNCW.
 
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.
 
LAST TIME: TOWSON SWEPT BY ODU
Towson opened the 2020 season at Old Dominion, falling all three games to the Monarchs.  The Tigers challenged in the first game, falling 9-5, then were shut out in the next two 5-0 and 11-0.
Top Towson batter:
--Burke Camper: .333, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1-1 SB
Top Towson pitcher:
--Nick Ramanjulu: 0-1, 3.86 ERA, 4.2 IP, 5 K
 
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 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 HIGH POINT:
High Point was predicted to finish second in the Big South preseason coaches poll.  The Panthers have finished .500 or better overall every year since 2013.
 
Two Panthers earned all-league honors last season.  In the infield, junior Travis Holt was a Second Team All-Big South honoree and has started 2020 hitting .478 with three doubles and five RBI.  Fellow Second Teamer Harrison Smith is the Friday starter, being 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA and seven strikeouts.
 
LAST TIME VS. HPU: MARCH 5-7, 2010
Towson had a near-miraculous comeback in the ninth inning of game two with six runs, but got swept at High Point 13-0, 15-13 and 15-4 in North Carolina.
 
For Towson, right fielder Kevin Collins hit safely in all games, going .600 with a home runs and five RBI.  Leadoff hitter and shortstop Nick Natoli also hit safely in all three games, hitting .462 with three runs and three RBI.
 
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 the passing of 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 –