The Series: Towson Tigers (12-11, 3-3 CAA) at UNCG Spartans (18-12, 0-0 SoCon)
Where: UNCG Softball Stadium – Greensboro, N.C.
When: Thursday, March 23 – 4:00 p.m.
Broadcast: Live stream on ESPN+, Live stats at UNCGSpartans.com

The Series: Towson Tigers (12-11, 3-3 CAA) at Elon Phoenix (11-16, 5-1 CAA)
Where: Hunt Softball Park – Elon, N.C.
When: Saturday-Sunday, March 25-26 – Saturday double header at 12 p.m., Sunday single game at 1 p.m.
Broadcast: Live stream on FloSports, Live stats at ElonPhoenix.com

TOWSON, Md. – Towson softball will hit the road to the Tar Heel State for games against UNCG and Elon this week. The Tigers and Spartans will play a single game on Thursday night before the Tigers travel to Elon for a three-game CAA set over the weekend. Towson is coming off a pair of losses against Villanova on Tuesday.

Towson rallied from a 5-0 deficit in the sixth to force extra innings after scoring four runs in the seventh. However, the Wildcats scored twice in the top of the eighth and held off the Tigers in the bottom half to take game one. In game two, Villanova used a strong pitching performance to keep the Tigers off the scoreboard in a 6-0 win for the Wildcats.

The Tigers and Spartans have met 17 times prior to Thursday with UNCG leading the all-time series 11-6. The Spartans won the most recent meeting last year 4-1 in Greensboro after Towson took the previous two games in 2020 and 2019. Towson and Elon have split their all-time series 12-12. The Phoenix took the season series last year 2-1 in Towson.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS:
UNCG comes into the midweek matchup at 18-12 and are currently riding a four-game win streak after defeating Army and Gardner-Webb each twice this past weekend. Three of the four games ended in a run rule. The Spartans are 12-6 so far at home this season. Jorde Chartrand leads the team at the plate with a .386 average with 27 hits. Maycin Brown has driven in 24 runs with a team-best eight home runs. In the circle, Salem Ward is boasting a 2.65 ERA while Rhyann Jones is 6-1 with a 2.96 ERA with 20 strikeouts.

SCOUTING THE PHOENIX:
Elon will be playing for the first time since a series win against Monmouth last weekend in New Jersey. The Phoenix are 11-16, 5-1 CAA on the year and are 8-7 in games played in Elon. Elon split the Saturday double header with the Hawks with a 6-2 win and a 6-4 loss before winning the series on Sunday with a 4-3 victory. Claudia Penny is the only player hitting over .300 at .390 with 30 hits, 11 doubles and a team-best 20 RBIs. Chloe Hatzopoulous has hit four home runs to lead the team. McKenna McCard leads the pitching staff with a 3.15 ERA in 11 appearances with 10 starts. McCard has struck out 26 batters to lead the Phoenix.

TIGERS HONORED:
Three different Tigers have earned CAA weekly awards so far in the 2023 season. Maddie Gardner was named pitcher of the week back on February 21 while Addie Ferguson was named rookie of the week the following week. Most recently, Madyson Peters was named player of the week on March 20 after leading Towson to their first CAA series sweep since 2019.

Towson is the only team so far this season to have at least one player win all three awards.

NEWCOMERS:
Towson will have 10 newcomers suit up in the Black and Gold for the 2023 season. Eight of the ten newcomers are freshman who will be making their collegiate debuts, joining a pair of DI transfers in Erin Brown (Thousand Oak, Calif./La Reina/St. John's) and Maddie Gardner (Sun Prairie, Wisc./Sun Prairie/South Florida).

Brown comes to Towson from St. John's University where she made 46 appearances in the circle with 25 starts throwing 173.2 innings. She amassed an 11-20 record with nine complete games, three shutouts and two saves. Her best season came during the Covid shortened 2020 campaign, going 5-6 with a 2.95 ERA in 61.2 innings.

Gardner made six appearances in two seasons for USF in the circle. She sported a 1-0 record in five appearances in 2021, picking up a victory against Florida Atlantic in 2.0 innings of relief.
Alyssa Myint, Nadia Martyniuk, Cheyenne Beayon, Isabella Canesi, Cara Bohner, Addie Ferguson, Kellie Zoerb and Grace Franczyk will also suit up for the Tigers in 2023.

NEW LOOK PITCHING STAFF:
Towson returns just two pitchers who saw action in the 2022 season in Paige Kostick and Sydni Byers. Kostick saw action in seven games with four starts, tossing 28.1 innings with 11 strikeouts. Byers appeared in five games out of the bullpen. Also returning for the Tigers will be Morgan Wagner who missed the 2022 season due to an injury.

Three newcomers will join the pitching staff in freshman Cheyenne Beayon and transfers Erin Brown and Maddie Gardner. Beayon comes to Towson from Mount De Sales with Brown and Gardner transferring from St. John's University and University of South Florida. Brown made 46 career appearances for the Red Storm with nine complete games. Gardner made six appearances in her two seasons with the Bulls.

OFFENSIVE DEPTH:
The Tigers return four of their top five hitters from 2022, including offensive leader Briana Ramirez. Ramirez led Towson with a .379 batting average and a .434 slugging percentage a year ago. Ramirez finished second in the CAA in batting and will enter 2023 as the top returning hitter from a year ago while also finishing third in hits with 55 in 2022.

Mackenzie Lake, Sydni Byers, and Madyson Peters also return to help a Towson offense that hit .252 from the plate in 2022. Lake finished the year with a .303 batting average, leading the team with seven doubles and five home runs. Byers hit .256 tying Lake with seven doubles and team-best 25 RBIs. Peters went .245 from the dish with 27 hits and six doubles.

NEXT GAME:
Towson will return home following their road trip to take on local rival Morgan State for a pair of games on Wednesday, March 29. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. on FloSports.