The Games: Towson (4-16) @ Monmouth (4-12)
When:
Friday, March 22 @ Monmouth, 1 p.m. (DH)
Friday, March 22 @ Monmouth, 4 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, March 24 @ Monmouth, 1 p.m.
Where: ShoreTown Ballpark | Lakewood, N.J.
 
TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University baseball team opens Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play this weekend, facing the Monmouth Hawks in three games from March 22-24. The series has been moved from Monmouth's campus to ShoreTown Ballpark in Lakewood, N.J., home of the Jersey Shore BlueClaws.
 
Live stats for all three games will be available on TowsonTigers.com.
 
SCOUTING THE HAWKS
Monmouth enters the opening weekend of CAA play at 4-12 overall, with wins over Penn State, UMBC, George Mason and Saint Joseph's. The Hawks were projected to finish 12^th in the CAA preseason poll.
 
LAST TIME OUT: TOWSON FALLS TO GW IN MID-WEEK TILT
The Tigers hosted George Washington Wednesday afternoon after traveling back from Durham, N.C. Tuesday night, falling 7-4 to the Revolutionaries at John B. Schuerholz Park.
 
NABHOLZ NAMED 3/11 CAA PITCHER OF THE WEEK
After scattering five hits in his seven-inning scoreless start vs. Yale on March 10, RHP Nate Nabholz was named the CAA Pitcher of the Week. Nabholz matched a career-high with 8 Ks.
 
BISHOP & FREDERICK TABBED PRESEASON ALL-CAA HMs
Infielders Casey Bishop & Bryce Frederick each received Preseason All-CAA Honorable Mention designations, voted on by the league's head coaches.
 
Bishop was named to the 2023 CAA All-Rookie Team after finishing as the Tigers' lead man at the plate in 2023. He finished with 22 stolen bases on 23 attempts, the fifth-highest mark in the league.
 
Frederick was named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week on April 10, 2023 after hitting walk-off home runs in back-to-back games. Frederick batted .636 (7-for-11) with two doubles, three homers and nine RBI in victories over UMBC (15-13) and George Mason (10-8) in that stretch.
 
BACK IN BLACK
The Tigers returned 24 letterwinners from the 2023 season, with no outgoing transfers leaving from last year's squad. Towson had just one outgoing transfer in the preseason from an incoming addition.
 
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
The 2024 roster features 16 newcomers: eight freshmen and eight transfers. Incoming transfers include College of Charleston infielder Taye Robinson, Richmond pitcher Jake Michel and OF/1B Devan Barnett from VCU. Incoming freshmen include Alex Cromwell
from St. Paul's School in Baltimore and Ryder Jeske from the Pro5 Academy in Chapel Hill, N.C.
 
HOMEGROWN TALENT
The 2024 roster features 17 players that hail from Maryland, including ten returners and seven newcomers. Among the seven newcomers, five are transfers and two are freshmen. An additional five players are from Virginia, bringing the total to 22 players from the DMV area.
 
RUNS IN THE FAMILY
The Tigers have strong connections to professional sports, starting with OF Jeremy Wagner, the son of longtime MLB pitcher Billy Wagner. Another MLB connection comes from RHP Nate Nabholz, the nephew of former big league pitcher Chris Nabholz. Freshman pitcher Joey Zito is the nephew of Cy Young-winning pitcher Barry Zito. RHP Jordan Luton is the brother of Jake Luton, former NFL quarterback. Incoming freshman Brooks Lang is the son of longtime NHL hockey player Robert Lang. Transfer Ryan Williamson's grandfather, Jim Cunningham, played football for the Washington Redskins in the 1960s.
 
TIGERS IN THE PROS
In July, RHP Ethan Pecko was picked in the sixth round (194) of the MLB draft as the 19th Towson player in program history to be selected. Former Towson player, Richie Palacios, a third-round pick by Cleveland in 2018, made his Major League debut with the Guardians in 2022. He went 2-for-3 in his first game in the Show and finished the year batting .232 with seven runs, six doubles and 10 RBI. He did most of his damage as a pinch-hitter, where he hit .263 in 22 plate appearances with six RBI and three doubles. After starting the 2023 season in AAA with the Columbus Clippers, Palacios was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals where he batted .258 with 9 runs, six doubles, six home runs and 16 RBI in 32 Major League games. In January, Palacios was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays. Brady Policelli, a 13th-round draft pick by the Detroit Tigers in 2016, was a spring training invite in 2019, 2020 and 2021 having spent six years in the minors. Gavin Weyman has pitched in independent league ball the past four years, throwing for the High Point Rockers and the Charleston Dirty Birds in the Atlantic League in 2022.
 
CAA NEWCOMER
After two additions in 2023, the Campbell Camels have joined the CAA for the 2024 season. The Camels were predicted to finish third in the conference preseason poll. Three Camels received All- CAA honors in OF Lawson Harrill, C Grant Knipp and RHP Chance Daquila. The Camels enter the season as the defending Big South champions with five-consecutive regular season championships.
 
TOWSON PICKED ELEVENTH IN CAA PRESEASON POLL
Towson has been predicted to finish 11th in the CAA preseason coaches poll. The Northeastern Huskies finished first with eight first-place votes while UNCW finished in second with four.