The Series: Towson Tigers (6-5) vs. Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (2-7)
Where: Tiger Softball Stadium – Towson, Md.
When: Wednesday, March 8 – Double headers starting at 1:00 p.m.
Broadcast: Live stream on FloSports, live stats at TowsonTigers.com.

TOWSON, Md. – Towson softball will continue their home stand against Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers are coming off a 2-1 weekend that saw Towson defeat both Bryant (4-3) and Bucknell (4-2) before falling in the weekend finale to Coppin State 4-3 in extra innings.

Briana Ramirez and Mackenzie Lake lead the Tiger offense with both batting over .400. Ramirez is hitting .417 with 15 hits and four stolen bases. Lake is hitting .412 with 14 hits, three doubles, two triples and eight RBIs. In the circle, Maddie Gardner leads the Tigers with a. 1.54 ERA in six appearances and five starts. The transfer has struck out 27 batters while issuing just nine walks. Towson leads the CAA with a combined 1.68 ERA.

Towson and Maryland Eastern Shore have met five times before Wednesday with the Tigers leading the all-time series 5-0.

SCOUTING THE HAWKS:
Maryland Eastern Shore comes to Towson at 2-7 on the year having lost their last three games. The Hawks went 1-4 down at the Cavalier Clash in Virginia this past weekend with their lone win coming 9-4 against Howard. UMES has yet to play at home this year and is 0-3 on the road and 2-4 in neutral site games. Jaycee Holt leads the Hawks at the plate with a .407 batting average with a team-best 11 hits. Ameenah Ballenger leads the team with eight RBIs.

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 hit the road to open CAA play against UNCW on Saturday and Sunday, March 11-12. The Tigers and Seahawks will play two games on Saturday with the series finale on Sunday, both days starting at 1 p.m. on FloSports.