Towson Outlasts William & Mary in Storm-Delayed Victory, 13-11

By: Kylie Jones, Staff Writer 

After Friday’s thunderstorms elicited an overnight pause, the Tigers resumed play against William & Mary and secured a 13-11 victory in the second game of the series on Saturday afternoon. 

The Tigers took the narrow win 3-2 against the Tribe in Thursday night’s opener, setting the tone for a gritty weekend matchup. Looking to capitalize off the win’s momentum, junior right-handed pitcher Dutch DeProspero took the mound for Towson. 

William & Mary kicked things off early with outfielder Christian Rush homering to left field in the first inning to notch their first run of the game. Infielder Jamie Laskofski followed with a single of his own, then stole second, but Towson secured the third out after a ground out to third base. 

Towson exploded offensively, kicking off their at-bat with back-to-back doubles from Jordan Peyton and Nich Francuzenko to bring Peyton home. Catcher Brian Heckelman followed with a single to right field. Outfielder Brett Ahalt also added a single of his own, advancing to second on a throwing error that put Francuzenko across home plate for a 

A Max D’Alessandro single to right field brought in Ahalt and Heckelman, putting the Tigers on top 4-1 heading into the second inning.

DeProspero held the Tribe hitless in the second, earning himself two strikeouts. After two quick outs for the Tigers in the bottom of the inning, Francuzenko homered to right field to give Towson the 5-1 lead heading into the third. 

William & Mary’s Ben Parker responded with a third inning leadoff home run, followed by a single from Laskofski who was brought in off of a double from Derek Holmes cutting the Tigers lead down to 5-3.

The bottom of the third was all Towson. 

D’Alessandro got things going with a single through the left side followed by consecutive walks for AJ Kolb and Cole Stefano. With bases loaded, freshman Jack Weight replaced Zach Boyd on the mound for William & Mary. 

Towson took advantage of this switch, scoring four runs off of Weight. It started with Casey Bishop being hit by a pitch which brought in D’Alessandro. A wild pitch then brought Kolb home, advancing all of the runners one base. Peyton walked, and then on another wild pitch, Stefano and Bishop made their way across the plate. 

Weight’s outing was capped off with another walk, this time for Francuzenko. Now, with two runners on, the Tribe brought in left-handed pitcher Ryan Feczko to try and get them out of the inning. 

The pitching change didn’t stop the Tigers, as Heckelman added another single, bringing in Peyton for the fifth run of the inning. Ahalt then sealed the inning with a homer to bring in Heckelman and Francuzenko. A fly out would bring the eight-run-inning to a close, with Towson now leading 13-3. 

The Tribe didn’t falter, however, responding with an explosive inning of their own. DeProspero walked William & Mary’s first batter, then gave up a single to their second batter. He was pulled after allowing a three-run home run from the Tribes’ Owen Wilson. 

Junior right-handed pitcher Jacob Whiteman took the mound, quickly giving up a single followed by another William & Mary home run to close out their scoring in the fourth, closing the Towson lead back down to 13-8.

William & Mary’s Charlie Felmlee homered off of Whiteman in the seventh, bringing home Charlie Iriotakis as well after the outfielder reached base with a single. The game then came to a halt due to thunderstorms, resuming with the Tigers at the plate on a sunny Saturday.

Towson offered up two hits and a walk in the seventh, but couldn’t capitalize. In the top of the eighth, now with Kyle Emmons on the mound, William & Mary plated an unearned run, taking advantage of two throwing errors from the Tigers. 

Towson remained silent in the eighth, but were able to seal the 13-11 victory as the Tribe offered no response in the ninth. 

The Tigers now stand at 21-34, tying their best win total since 2021.