TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University softball team open its 2021 season hosting Saint Joseph's, Rhode Island and Coppin State March 5-7 in the Tiger Softball Stadium.
The Tigers will host Saint Joseph on Friday, March 5 with first pitch happening at 1 p.m. All games are doubleheaders.
Pre-Season Poll
The Tigers was selected to finish third in the northern division in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) standings in the preseason poll. In the North division, Delaware collected four first-place votes for a total of 22 points, while Drexel received three first-place votes and 18 points, while the Tigers earned the final first-place vote and 16 points. Hofstra came in last in the North while JMU was first in the south division.
Newcomers
The Tigers welcome five freshman to the team this year.
Ally Hickman,
Naila Neely,
Madyson Peters,
Mackenzie Lake and
Maia Wilkins all joined the black and gold during the National Signing Day period.
Madeline Harris and
Rylee Penrod also joined the squad during the off season.
Returners
Towson welcomes back 17 returners including
Madison Wilson and
Lindsey Toneygay whose senior's season got cut short due to Covid-19. Wilson earned second team All-CAA honors in 2019 and drove in a team-high 11 runs in 15 games in 2020.
Lauren Ringhiser got off to a hot start a year ago, batting .378 in 14 games.
Last Time Out
Last season ended abruptly due to COVID-19 but the Tigers had won their last four of five games and finished the season with an 8-7 record. Wilson had a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to help the Towson University softball defeat Stony Brook 3-2 to conclude the DeMarini Tiger Clash on March 6, 2020.
Scouting Towson Tigers
Last season Wilson finished with a .298 batting average, with 8 runs on 14 hits and three doubles. In the pitching circle,
Mady Wood went 1-0 last season and
Melissa Abrahamian had one appearance.
Scouting Saint Joseph's Hawks
The Hawks return 15 letterwinners from a season ago, and were picked to finish sixth in the Atlantic-10 preseason poll.
Last time the Tigers faced the Hawks was on February 17, 2018 in Greenville, North Carolina and the Tigers came out on top 7-2. The all-time record between the two teams is 1-1.
Scouting Rhode Island Rams
The Rams opened their season at Elon on February 12-13, falling 17-1. Erica Robles reached on an infield single scoring Sami Villareal in the third.
The series between the Tigers and Rams is 1-1.
Scouting Coppin State Eagles
The Eagles placed four players on the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) preseason softball team. Brissa Alvardo will lead the Eagles in the pitcher's circle. Alvardo batted a .378 in her career with seven doubles and nine RBIs.
Towson leads the all-time series 15-1. Last time against the Eagles, Towson won 15-0 on March 19, 2019.
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.
- Towson was on track to have its 8th consecutive year of over 10,000 hours of community service in 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all activity. Towson finished with 7,527 hours last year, good for third in the NCAA Teamworks Helper Helper competition.
- 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 also won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.
Up Next
The Tigers will host Howard on Wednesday, March 10 for a doubleheader contest with the first game beginning at 2 p.m. inside the Tiger Softball Stadium.
