Tigers nipped by Huskies on Senior Day
By: Tyler Young, Staff Writer
The Tigers (15-31-2 overall, 8-13 CAA) fell to the Northeastern Huskies (21-24, 11-7) on Sunday’s Senior Day by a score of 16-6 in the final game at Schuerholz Park this season.
The defeat was the end of a five-game week in which Towson went 3-2 with the other loss coming against George Washington on Tuesday, before a win over Delaware State and two wins to start the weekend against Northeastern.
Junior right-hander Lee Lawler (4-5) took a loss for the first time since April 5. On Sunday, Lawler made it through four innings, allowing nine runs, six of which were earned, on eight hits, two walks and one strikeout. He left the game with the Tigers trailing 9-3.
“He told me that he didn’t have a good feel for his curveball,” Head Coach Mike Gottlieb said. “But to be fair we didn’t play well behind him that first inning. In the second and third innings he was Lee, but then he struggled again in the fourth.”
The bullpen used four pitchers to get through the final five innings of the afternoon. Junior right-hander Nick Cioffi threw two innings, giving up four earned runs on five hits. Sophomore right-hander Matt Allen tossed a scoreless seventh inning. Senior right-hander David Sapp allowed two runs in his inning of work. And senior right-hander Christian Duclos gave up just a solo home run in pitching the ninth inning.
Senior shortstop Peter Bowles led the Tigers offensive charge with three RBI, all of which came from his final collegiate home at-bat, a three-run home run to left field in the eighth inning.
“I’m happy for him,” Gottlieb said. “Peter has been a great part of our team and has been a part of a lot of the good things in this program over the last four years. I just wish we could have gotten 14 more runs for him yesterday.”
Freshman outfielder Mark Grunberg added to the score with a 2-for-5 day, two runs scored and one RBI, including his second home run of the season. Junior outfielder Richie Blosser led the team in hits on the day with his 3-for-4 performance, and one run scored. Sophomore A.J. Gallo also contributed with a 2-for-2 appearance off the bench.
The Tigers are scheduled to play just two games this week, both of which are non-conference. First they travel to the UMBC Retrievers before facing off with the Maryland Terrapins in a neutral-site game in Aberdeen ahead of a weekend off.
Towson currently sits in seventh-place in the nine-team Colonial Athletic Association. Only the top six teams qualify for the conference tournament. The team in sixth is the Delaware Blue Hens (18-20, 7-11), who play the fourth-place Elon Phoenix in a three-game weekend set on the road. It’s a series that Gottlieb will be closely monitoring.
“As a Towson guy, yeah I’ll be rooting for Elon.” Gottlieb said. “I can’t say I will be glued to the computer, but I will certainly be watching. We need a little help this weekend.”
An idle weekend for Towson could lead them to leapfrog Delaware in the standings should Elon get the home sweep. Either way, it will likely be up to Towson itself to clinch a spot in the tournament. The Tigers and the Blue Hens play each other in the final weekend series of the season starting May 14 at 3 p.m. in Newark, Delaware.
