The Series: Towson Tigers (19-17, 9-6 CAA) at UMBC Retrievers (15-10, 7-1 AE)
Where: The Diamond at UMBC – Baltimore, Md.
When: Wednesday, April 12 – 6:00 p.m.
Broadcast: Live stream on AmericaEast.TV, Live stats at UMBCRetrievers.com

TOWSON, Md. – Towson softball will conclude their six-game road swing by making the short trek across I-695 to take on county-rival UMBC on Wednesday, April 12. The Tigers have won five of their last seven games including a series win against Hofstra this past weekend.

The Tigers are coming off a 2-1 series win against Hofstra this past weekend. Towson dropped game one 9-1 before rattling off a 12-5 win in game two and a hard fought 8-6 win in game three to take the series. Towson is currently sitting in fourth place in the CAA standings with three conference weekends to go.

Towson and UMBC have met 57 times prior to the midweek matchup with the Retrievers leading the all-time series 37-20. Last year, Towson fell 4-2 in late April at Tiger Softball Stadium. Prior to that, the Tigers had won the previous nine meetings.

SCOUTING THE RETRIEVERS:
UMBC comes into the midweek matchup at 15-10, 7-1 AE on the year having a conference series with UMass Lowell this past weekend. The Retrievers are 13-7 at home this season compared to just 2-2 on the road. Lyndsey Evix leads a quartet hitting over .300 at .345. Ashley Della Guardia leads the team with 16 RBIs, five home runs, five doubles and 22 hits. In the circle, Kya Matter leads the Retrievers with a 1.36 ERA in 17 appearances and 13 starts. She has thrown 92.2 innings with 96 strikeouts.

PETERS AMONG THE BEST:
Madyson Peters is having a breakout season for the Tigers in 2023. The junior from Arizona is currently tied for first in the nation in doubles with 16. Peters is also second nationally in double per game at 0.44 with the leader at 0.54.

Peters has been named CAA Player of the Week twice during the 2023 season.

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. Peters earned her second player of the week award on April 3 after leading the Tigers to another series sweep of Drexel.

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 to Tiger Softball Stadium for a three-game CAA series with North Carolina A&T on Saturday and Sunday, April 15-16. The Aggies and Tigers will play two on Saturday at noon with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.