The Matchup:          Towson (15-18) at Maryland (17-19)
When:                        Tuesday, April 14 at 6 p.m.
Where:                       Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium | College Park, Md.
Live Stats:                TowsonTigers.com
Stream:                     Big Ten+
 
TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University baseball team continues its ten-game road stand against Maryland on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in College Park.
 
The game will stream live on Big Ten+. Live stats can be found at TowsonTigers.com.
 
SCOUTING THE TERPS
Maryland enters Tuesday night at 17-19 overall and 4-11 in Big Ten play. The Terrapins earned a 2-1 series win over Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) foe, UNCW, in the opening series of the season. The only other common opponent of the Tigers that the Terps faced was UMBC, who they beat 11-0 in seven innings on April 7.
 
Three players were named to the B1G Players to Watch List: Ty Kaunas, David Mendez and Lance Williams. Utility player Brayden Martin leads the team with a .352 average, ten extra base hits, 23 RBIs and 37 runs scored.
 
LAST TIME OUT
In Sunday's series finale, Towson and Monmouth combined for five home runs in the first four innings as the Hawks jumped out to a 6-5 lead. The Tigers tied the game in the seventh inning before Monmouth added four runs on three hits in the eighth. Down to their last out in the ninth, the Tigers scored two runs but left the tying run at second base as the final out was retired in the Hawks' 10-8 win.
 
WEEKLY HONORS
Brian Heckelman earned CAA Co-Player of the Week honors on April 6 after batting .500 (5-for-10) with a double, three home runs, five RBIs and five runs scored in the Tigers' series win over Hofstra at John B. Schuerholz Park.
 
The senior catcher was 3-for-5 with a double and a two-run shot in Thursday's 9-6 win and belted a game-tying solo shot in the 8th on Friday. He smacked a 2-run homer in the first on Saturday as the Tigers won 8-6 to take the series.
 
CAA PRESEASON HONORS
The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) released its 2026 preseason All-CAA baseball team on Feb. 4. Two Tigers, catcher Brian Heckelman and outfielder Max D'Alessandro, garnered preseason team selections.
 
In 2025, Heckelman paced the Black & Gold offense in batting average (.365), on-base percentage (.442), slugging percentage (.588), RBIs (42), extra-base hits (20) and total bases (100). The backstop caught runners stealing at a 22.8% (18-79) clip. His 2025 numbers earned the New York native a 2025 All-CAA first team selection, Towson's first since Brady Policelli was named first team all-conference shortstop in 2016.
 
D'Alessandro slashed .312/.398/.529 with 34 RBIs and 35 runs scored in his junior campaign with the Tigers. He paced the team with nine home runs, adding eight doubles and a triple. The New Jersey native was a perfect 5-5 on the base paths and earned an All-CAA honorable mention nod by the season's end.
 
THE NEWCOMERS
The Tigers welcome 18 newcomers to this season's squad, 15 transfers and three true freshmen.
 
Highlighting the transfer group is infielder Nigel Sebastianelli, who earned an NJCAA Div. III Baseball ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove award, at SUNY Niagara last season. Sebastianelli recorded a .937 fielding percentage and committed only eight errors in 127 chances across 47 games in 2025. He batted .468 with two home runs, 15 doubles, six triples, 53 RBIs and 73 runs scored. Sebastianelli also garnered NJCAA Div. III first team and second-team All-Western New York Athletic Conference selections.
 
Jack Hughes, an NJCAA Div. II second-team All-American at Lackawanna College last season, is another focal piece of the transfer class. Hughes finished the 2025 season slashing .433/.567/.773 with 10 home runs, 19 doubles, one triple, 54 RBIs and 56 runs scored in 46 games for the Falcons. Hughes was a first-team All-Region XIX selection and the Region XIX Player of the Year.
 
Other notable transfers include infielder Frank Adamski Jr. and outfielder Keldrin Rodriguez from Harford, pitcher Joey Tuttoilmondo from High Point and pitcher Aden Knowles from NC State.
 
RECORD SCRATCHED
In Towson's opening series of the season against Norfolk State, the Tigers scored 15 runs in the fifth inning of game two of Saturday's doubleheader. That marks a new program record for runs in an inning.
 
The previous record was 14 runs scored in the first inning against Richmond on April 5, 2005. Towson's 28 runs in the game fell two short of matching the all-time record set in the same game.
 
LEAGUE'S ORDER OF FINISH
With the Coastal Athletic Association's (CAA) adoption of divisional formatting in baseball for the 2026 season, Towson is in the North Division with Hofstra, Monmouth, Northeastern and Stony Brook.
 
The South Division is comprised of Campbell, Charleston, Elon, North Carolina A&T, UNCW and William & Mary.
 
In the league's predicted order of finish, the Tigers finished tied for second, with one first-place vote, in the North Division. Northeastern received four first-place votes and 16 total points. Towson, Hofstra and Stony Brook each finished with nine points. Monmouth was picked to finish fifth with seven points.
 
In the South Division, UNCW finished atop the standings with three first-place votes. Charleston (2) and Campbell (1) each earned first-place votes in second and third, respectively. Elon, William & Mary and North Carolina A&T rounded out the southern group.
 
CELEBRATING 25 YEARS AT JOHN B. SCHUERHOLZ PARK
The 2026 season marks the 25^th anniversary of the opening of John B. Schuerholz Park on April 29, 2001.
 
Schuerholz Park is named in honor of Mr. Schuerholz and his father. Honored as Towson's Alumnus of the Year in 1986, he was the general manager of the Kansas City Royals from 1981 to 1991 and led the Royals to the world championship in 1985. He joined the Braves organization in 1991 and led the Braves to the 1995 World Series title. In 16 years as the Braves' general manager, Atlanta won a record 14-straight divisional titles as well as six National League pennants and one World Series.
 
He was honored as the Major League's Executive of the Year in 1985, an award he also earned with the Braves in 1991. Schuerholz is the first baseball executive to be the general manager of world championship teams in both the American League and the National League.
 
2025 RECAP
Towson finished its 2025 season at 21-35 overall and 11-16 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play, two games out of a spot in the CAA Championship. Four Tigers received all-league honors: catcher Brian Heckelman (first team), pitcher Nate Nabholz (second team), outfielder Max D'Alessandro (honorable mention) and infielder Nich Francuzenko (All-Rookie).