Tigers To Face Most Challenging Slate In School History
TOWSON, Md. - Starting his 23rd season as the Tigers’ baseball coach, Mike Gottlieb has put together the toughest schedule in school history for the 2010 Tigers. The Tigers, 28-25 last season, will play a very ambitious 57-game schedule which features two teams that reached the College World Series in 2009.
The Tigers, who play their first 15 games on the road, will travel to Arizona State in late February for a four-game series against the Sun Devils, ranked fifth in the pre-season poll. Arizona State posted a 51-14 record last year and reached the College
Towson head coach Mike Gottlieb
World Series. In late March, the Tigers will visit #3 Virginia for a two-game series. The Cavaliers had a 49-15-1 record last season and won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. Virginia also reached the College World Series.
The Tigers open the season on the weekend of February 19-21 with an appearance at the Elon Classic. Towson faces Elon in the first round before playing North Carolina A&T and Ohio University in the second and third rounds.
After visiting Arizona State for a four-game series on Feb. 26-28, the Tigers travel to Maryland for a single game on March 3. From March 5-7, the Tigers travel to High Point University for a three-game series. On March 12-14, the Tigers will be on the road for the fourth straight weekend when they visit Tulane University.
On Wednesday, March 17, Towson opens its home schedule by hosting Mount St. Mary’s at Schuerholz Park.
The Tigers, who were 12-12 in the Colonial Athletic Association last season, open their 24-game CAA schedule with a three-game series at James Madison University on March 19-21.
A two-game home-and-home series with West Virginia and a three-game set at North Carolina State also highlight Towson’s non-conference schedule.
“I really like this schedule,” says Gottlieb, who has led the Tigers to back-to-back winning seasons. “Playing some of the teams that we play should help us prepare for the CAA. The only way to get better is to play the best teams.”
The Tigers return 21 letter winners from a team that narrowly missed qualifying for the CAA Tournament. Led by senior centerfielder Kevin Collins and junior second baseman Chris Wychock, the Tigers have four of their top six hitters returning from a squad that set a school record with a .321 team batting average.
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(Release)