TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University baseball team faced UMBC on Tuesday afternoon in the final non-conference contest of the 2026 season.
UMBC (25-22) opened the game with one run in the first, then fell behind 3-1 following
Keldrin Rodriguez's homer in Towson's (21-30) half of the inning. The Tigers pushed their lead to three in the second inning before spotting the Retrievers five runs in the fourth, which put the Retrievers ahead 6-4.
K. Rodriguez came to the plate down 8-5 with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth and hit a home run to right field, his second of the day, to secure a 9-8 walk-off victory at Brooks Robinson Field at John B. Schuerholz Park.
Towson senior
Josh Janove accomplished a feat not seen often as he played all nine positions in a nine-inning Division I baseball game. After starting the game at catcher, Janove moved around the infield inning by inning before making his way to the outfield grass. He played in left, center and right in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings before taking the mound in the ninth. After retiring his first batter faced, he allowed two runners to reach base and was relieved of his duties. He is the first Division I baseball player to play nine positions since Texas' Jake McKenzie did on April 18, 2018, in the Longhorns' 20-5 win over UTRGV.
Key Stats:
- Towson pitcher Jacob Whiteman (3-2) earned the win, tossing 0.2 shutout frames. Whiteman surrendered one walk and struck out two batters faced.
- UMBC pitcher Owen Shaprow (1-1) took the loss, allowing one earned run on one hit without recording an out.
How it Happened:
- After a leadoff single from Dylan Melton to start the game, a dropped liner to short two batters later allowed Melton to score, putting the Retrievers ahead 1-0.
- Ben Nugent led off the home half with an infield single and moved to second after Brady Nathison's walk. Later in the frame, Keldrin Rodriguez hit a towering three-run home run to right field, putting the Tigers up by two.
- In the bottom of the second, Nathison hit an RBI triple to center field before being thrown out at home to end the inning.
- UMBC's Jesiah Carpenter reached on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, driving in a run for the Retrievers. Joe Lomangino followed with an RBI single to center field. Nico Ong hit a three-run homer to center to put the Retrievers ahead 6-4.
- Brooks Henderson extended UMBC's lead to three in the fifth on a sacrifice fly.
- Nathison hit a solo homer to left field in the bottom of the seventh, getting the Tigers back within two runs.
- Ehi Okojie hit an RBI single through the left side with runners on first and second, putting UMBC up 8-5.
- AJ Kolb led off the bottom of the ninth with a single up the middle. The next two batters were retired, before Nathison's walk and Max D'Alessandro's single through the left side loaded the bases. Following a pitching change, K. Rodriguez hit a grand slam, his second homer of the day, to give the Tigers a 9-8 win in walk-off fashion.
Inside the Numbers:
- K. Rodriguez finished the day batting 3-for-5 with two home runs, seven RBIs and two runs scored. It marks the first multi-homer game and the most runs batted in by a Tiger this season.
- Janove is the first Division I baseball player to play nine positions in a game since Texas' Jake McKenzie did so on April 18, 2018, in the Longhorns' 20-5 win over UTRGV.
On Deck:
The Tigers host the Northeastern Huskies at Brooks Robinson Field at John B. Schuerholz Park in the final series of the season starting Thursday at 3 p.m. Friday's and Saturday's games are set for 3 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
-TowsonTigers.com-
