Towson Baseball drops fourth-straight game in close contest against Coppin State

By: Sam Peterson, Senior Staff Writer

The Towson Baseball team (7-20) shut out Coppin State University… over the final seven innings of the game. Coppin State (8-16) scored four runs in the first two innings, and that was all they needed as they took down Towson 4-3 on Tuesday.

“It’s unfortunate but from the start, they came to play,” Head Coach Matt Tyner said. “We were a little on our heels.”

The Eagles scored two runs in the top of the first inning after center fielder Brett Curran led with a single to center field before being driven in by a home run from shortstop Josh Hankins. The Tigers responded in the bottom half, with center fielder James Moses scoring Towson’s first run of the game.

Right Fielder Liam McCallum started off the Coppin State scoring in the top of the second as they took a 4-1 lead. The Tiger offense was unable to respond and went into the third inning down three runs. 

Right hander Nate Nabholz began to heat up in the fourth inning, tossing his second scoreless inning and striking out two Coppin State batters with the third out coming from a fly out in right field. The Tigers failed to score for the third straight inning in the bottom of fourth with Pareja striking out two batters.

Towson brought in their third pitcher of the game in the top of the fifth, with right-hander Brett Seils tossing a third-straight scoreless frame for the Tigers. The struggles continued for the Tiger bats after left fielder Cole Stefano and shortstop Jordan Peyton both popped up balls to the Eagles infield. 

“We’re a much better hitting club than that,” Tyner said. “ I don’t care what lineup we put out there. Sometimes you’re thrown something that’s a little different than what you’re used to seeing and I think that had some effect on us today.” 

Coppin State relieved Pareja in the bottom of the sixth by bringing in junior left-hander Tim Ruffino. The Tiger bats found life, capitalizing on an Eagles error, allowing for catcher Josh Janove to score the Tigers second run of the day. 

Seils continued to keep Coppin State scoreless for the fifth-straight inning while the Tiger offense worked to cut its deficit. The Tigers scored their third run of the game after Peyton was driven home by a single from Harper Sy, putting Towson down 4-3. 

“This would have been a bullpen day for them anyways so they got the chance to go out there and throw a couple innings,” Tyner said. “Brett wanted to go one more so we let him go.”

In the top of the eighth inning, the Tigers brought in their fourth pitcher, right-hander Cam Clark. Clark continued the work of the previous two pitchers, keeping the Eagles scoreless and only allowing one hit through the final two innings. Towson’s comeback was short lived though, as they were unable to complete the comeback. Coppin State forced three straight outs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Tigers.

“This has been what we call the gauntlet.” Tyner said. “Those back-to-back-to-back weekends are challenging but if we play like we did against Charleston, I think we got a good shot.”

The Tigers will look ahead to a conference matchup against Elon University, with the first game of the three-game series starting on Friday, Mar. 31, at 3 p.m.

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