(UPDATED SCHEDULE ALERT)
The Game: Towson (2-7, 0-0 CAA) vs. UMBC (1-7, 0-0 America East)
Where: John B. Schuerholz Park – Towson, Md.
When: Wednesday, March 4, 2 p.m.
Online Broadcast: Towson Sports Network
Series: Towson leads 40-36-1
 
TOWSON, Md. – After three consecutive home weekends, the Towson University baseball team will have its first home game of 2020 on Wednesday, March 4, hosting local rival UMBC at Schuerholz Park at 2 p.m.  Nine of Towson's next 10 games will be at home.
 
All games at John B. Schuerholz Park are free to attend.  In addition, the game will be broadcast live on the Towson Sports Network.
 
Each team is coming back from the state of Florida for the mid-week battle.  Towson fell in three games to No. 7 Miami, the first a 2-1 joust and the final a 9-3 victory for the Hurricanes, to stand at 2-7 overall.  UMBC won its first game of the season in the opener at Stetson, but fell in the next two to stand at 1-7 overall.
 
Last season, these two teams met twice in mid-week affairs, with Towson taking each game 7-2 in Catonsville on Apr. 16th and 8-7 on Apr. 23rd at Schuerholz.  Towson leads the all-time series 40-36-1.
 
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 AT #7 MIAMI
Towson challenged the #7 team in the country, having the tying run on second in game one, but got swept in the three-game series at Miami.
Key stat:
--Camper RBI double in game 1 put tying run on 2nd
Top Towson batter:
--Colin Conroy: .400, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB
Top Towson starting pitcher:
--Josh Seils: 0-1, 2.84 ERA, 6.1 IP, 4 K
 
YOU ARE NEW....
Towson rebolstered the ranks in the offseason with 17 newcomers, including six true freshmen, one DI and 10 JUCO transfers.  These 17 just 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.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 UMBC:
UMBC is under new head coach Liam Bowen, previously an assistant coach with the team.  The Retrievers have yet to play a home game but will open in Catonsville this weekend.
 
Senior Colin Casey earned Second Team All-America East honors last season, currently hitting .276 with two doubles and six RBI.  Sophomore Blaze O'Saben was a member of the AE All-Rookie Team in 2019, hitting .278 with four RBI and three runs in 2020.
 
LAST TIME VS. UMBC: TOWSON SWEEPS IN MID-WEEK
Towson won each of its games vs. its Catonsville-based rival last year, winning 7-2 on the road and in comeback fashion at home 8-7.  It is the second year in the last three seasons where Towson swept UMBC.
 
Dallas Repine took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, picking up the victory in Catonsville with eight scoreless and seven strikeouts.  In Towson, the Tigers came back in the eighth, securing an 8-7 victory after a Dirk Masters RBI single to score Tom Flacco.
 
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 –