The Series: Towson (3-7, 0-0 CAA) vs. Lafayette (3-7, 0-0 Patriot League)
Friday, Mar. 6th: 2 p.m.
Saturday, Mar. 7th: 11 a.m. (doubleheader)
Sunday, Mar. 8th: 1 p.m.
Where: John B. Schuerholz Park - Towson, Md.
Online Broadcast (Sunday only): Towson Sports Network
Series: Towson leads 17-8
TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University baseball team continues its homestand with the first home weekend of 2020, taking on Lafayette in a four-game series at Schuerholz Park from March 6-8.
Towson had its home opener on Wednesday, crushing in-county rival UMBC 21-4 to stand at 3-7 overall. Lafayette last played in a weekend series at Davidson, falling in its final two to enter at 3-7 overall.
Though these teams have met 25 times before, it is the first games between the two since 2001. Towson leads the all-time series 17-8, including winning the last seven games, the last being a doubleheader victory at home 12-3 and 10-6 on March 10, 2001.
Admittance for all games at Schuerholz Park is free. This is the first of three four-game series for Towson. The Sunday game will be broadcast online by the Towson Sports Network.
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 DOMINATES UMBC
Towson had one of its best offensive showings in team history in the home opener on Wednesday, crushing in-county rival UMBC 21-4, including an 11-run fourth inning.
Key stat:
--First game scoring 21 runs since Apr. 27, 2011
Top Towson batter:
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Brad Powers: 3-for-5, 3-run HR, 2B, 4 R, 6 RBI
Towson starting pitcher:
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Kody Reeser: 2 IP, no baserunners, 2 K (IP limit)
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.
TOWSON SCORES 21 RUNS VS. UMBC ON MARCH 4TH
Towson opened at home in a big way on March 4th, putting up 21 runs in a 17-run victory over UMBC. It was the most amount of runs scored for Towson in a game since Apr. 26, 2011, a 26-7 victory over UMES.
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 LAFAYETTE:
Lafayette, predicted to finish fourth in the Patriot League this year, is under the tenure of 21st year head coach Joe Kinney. Towson assistant coach
Tanner Biagini previously spent three years as an assistant at Lafayette.
The Leopards put two players on the Patriot League Preseason All-League Team: sophomore shortstop Justin Johnson is currently hitting .162 but has eight walks and seven runs, while senior outfielder Trey Durrah is hitting .200 with two home runs and four RBI. Friday starter JP Woodward is 2-1 with a 5.65 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 14.1 innings.
LAST TIME VS. LAFAYETTE:
In Towson's third and fourth games of 2001, the Tigers swept Lafayette at home 12-3 and 10-6 each in seven innings, the first two victories of a six-game winning streak.
Towson combined for 22 hits in the games, batting in a totla of 12 innings. Ryan Avila had a big doubleheader for the Tigers, hitting 5-for-8 and scoring six runs, driving in two more, while Mike Costello hit home runs in each game of the twinbill.
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 –
