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McCarthy, who helped guide the Huskies to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) regular season title in 2012-13, joins Skerry’s staff as an assistant coach.

“We’re excited to get someone of Jimmy’s caliber who will improve our already strong staff,” said Skerry. “He has a very intelligent basketball mind and has worked for some outstanding head coaches in Bill Coen (Northeastern),Tom Murphy (Hamilton), Dave Paulsen (Williams) and James Jones (Yale). He’s a proven recruiter who will not only help us in the Northeast, but will also benefit our program with his ability to evaluate and recruit on a national level.

“We’re excited to bring Jimmy, his wife Katie and their family here to Towson,” he added. “We are looking forward to Jimmy contributing great things for us as we continue our quest for a CAA Championship.”

McCarthy joined the Northeastern staff as assistant coach in 2006 and distinguished himself as a dedicated recruiter and on-court coach. One of his primary duties at Towson will be off- and on-campus recruiting. He will also be heavily involved with scouting report preparations for Towson’s opponents as well as video breakdowns of games and practices for current Tiger players.

During the final year of McCarthy’s tenure at Northeastern, the Huskies enjoyed one of the best seasons in program history. NU collected 20 wins, equaling its best win total in eight years, and returned to the postseason for the third time in five years with a NIT berth in 2013.

At Northeastern, McCarthy worked closely with the team’s perimeter players and helped two-time All-CAA first-team selection Chaisson Allen, as well as Matt Janning, who left Northeastern as one of its all-time greats, including back-to-back All-CAA first-team awards. Under McCarthy’s watch, NU guard Joel Smith earned All-CAA first-team honors in 2012-13.

In his tenure off the court, McCarthy served as a liaison for Student-Athlete Academic Support Services, scheduled non-conference games and worked on NCAA compliance.

Before joining the NU staff, McCarthy spent three years as an assistant coach at Yale, where he was active in recruiting, scouting and game preparation. He was also responsible for the development of the team’s perimeter players, two of whom were named All-Ivy.

Before Yale, McCarthy spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Williams College, helping lead the team to the 2002-03 NCAA Div. III national title. During those two years, the Williams staff produced an All-America player, a Final Four Most Outstanding Player and three all- conference performers, while posting a combined record of 53-7. The team won consecutive NESCAC championships and was the first NESCAC and New England school to win a Div. III national title.

Professionally, McCarthy is the CAA representative for the NABC’s Assistant Coaches Committee. For the past four years, he has participated in the prestigious Villa 7 Consortium for assistant coaches across the nation.

A 2001 graduate of Hamilton College, McCarthy played for Northeastern assistant coach Tom Murphy and was an All-UCAA selection in 2000. Murphy is one of the all-time winningest NCAA Division III coaches. McCarthy earned the school’s Ned Doyle Award for leadership, athletic success and academic achievement.

McCarthy and his wife, Katie, reside in Lutherville with their two-year old son, Nathan, and 10-month old daughter, Hannah.

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Tigers Show Significant Progress In NCAA Report

TOWSON, Md. – According to the Division I Academic Progress Report released by the NCAA on Tuesday, every one of Towson University’s 20 intercollegiate athletic programs received a score that is significantly above the NCAA’s “cut score.”

All but one of Towson University’s 20 intercollegiate sports has a multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) score of at least 930. The Tiger women’s soccer and cross country programs each earned a perfect multi-year APR score of 1,000.

Most significantly, the Tiger men’s basketball program, which was the recipient of a post-season ban last year, has had the ban lifted and the Tigers will be eligible for post-season play again in 2014.

The Tiger field hockey team earned a 997 APR score while the women’s outdoor track team posted a mark of 992. The Colonial Athletic Association champion women’s swimming team earned a 991 while the indoor track squad had a 990 APR score.

In addition, the softball squad had a 987 APR while the Colonial Athletic Association champion women’s lacrosse team posted a 986 APR score. The Tiger men’s swimming team earned a 982 APR score and the CAA champion baseball team compiled a 978 score.

The NCAA holds Division I institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through the Academic Progress Rate, a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete, each term. The APR is calculated by allocating points for eligibility and retention — the two factors that are identified as the best indicators of graduation. Each player on a given roster earns a maximum of two points per term, one for being academically eligible and one for staying with the institution. A team’s APR is the total points of a team’s roster at a given time divided by the total points possible. Since the result is a decimal number, the Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) decided to multiply it by 1,000 for ease of reference. Thus, a raw APR score of .925 translates into the 925 that will become the standard terminology.

The Committee on Academic Performance oversees the Academic Performance Program, with sets policies and recommends legislative changes to the Board of Directors, which has the final say on rules changes in Division I.

Beginning with 2012-13 championships, teams must earn a minimum 900 four-year APR or a 930 average over the most recent two years to be eligible to participate. For 2014-15 championships, the cut off numbers increase as teams must earn a 930 four-year average APR or a 940 average over the most recent two years to participate. In 2015-16 and beyond, teams must earn a four-year APR of 930 to compete in championships.

“Our APR scores are a credit to our student-athletes,” said Tricia Brandenburg, the Interim Director of Athletics at Towson University. “It is also a credit to the cooperation our students receive when working with the faculty on the difficult task of balancing academic and athletics responsibilities. In addition, our coaches deserve credit for establishing a culture for academic achievement. Our strong academic services staff has provided outstanding support for student-athletes in need. It is truly a team effort.”

Towson University’s sport-by-sport APR scores:

                                                      Team APR                          

Baseball -                                                        978                  

Men’s Basketball -                                             871                  

Football -                                                          953                  

Men’s Golf -                                                      932                  

Men’s Lacrosse -                                               945                 

Men’s Soccer -                                                  957                  

Men’s Swimming -                                             982                 

Women’s Basketball -                                        953                  

Women’s Cross Country -                                   1000                

Field Hockey -                                                   997                  

Women’s Golf -                                                  944                 

Gymnastics -                                                     976                  

Women’s Lacrosse -                                           986                  

Women’s Soccer -                                              1000                

Softball -                                                          987                  

Women’s Swimming -                                         991                   

Women’s Tennis -                                              992                  

Women’s Indoor Track -                                     990                  

Women’s Outdoor Track -                                   992                  

Volleyball -                                                       973   

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Owls Overcome First-Inning Deficit To Advance In NCAA Regional

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A run-scoring double by senior leftfielder Cory Keller with two outs in the top of the ninth inning enabled No. 23 Florida Atlantic (41-21) to pull out a 6-5 victory over Towson University (30-30) in an elimination game at the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional at Boshamer Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Owls avenged a 7-2 loss to Towson in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. Florida Atlantic advanced to the championship round of the Chapel Hill Regional where the Owls were scheduled to face No. 1 North Carolina on Sunday evening.

With the score tied at 5-5 in the top of the ninth inning, junior leftfielder Geoff Jiminez led off by reaching base when he was hit by a pitch from junior righthander Nik Nowottnick, the first base runner allowed by the Tiger relief pitcher in his third inning of work. With senior first baseman Mark Nelson at bat, Jiminez stole second base to give the Owls the go-ahead run in scoring position. When Nelson was retired on a fly ball to centerfield, Jiminez tagged up and advanced to third base. With junior designated hitter Tyler Rocklein coming to the plate, the Tigers elected to play the infield in as they tried to cut off a run at the plate.

The strategy worked well when Rocklein hit a line drive at junior second baseman Pat Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald caught the ball initially but it fell out of his glove. With Jiminez remaining at third base, Fitzgerald retired Rocklein for the second out. With two outs and the go-ahead run at third base, the Tigers elected to issue an intentional walk to freshman second baseman Brendon Sanger, the Owls’ leading hitter. That put runners at the corners for Keller. He drove Nowottnick’s first pitch off the left field fence for a double, scoring Jiminez and putting runners on second and third. With the Owls leading by 6-5, junior catcher Levi Meyer made a strong bid for a home run. But sophomore leftfielder Peter Bowles went back to the fence, jumped up and caught the ball to end the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, senior righthander Hugh Adams retired Fitzgerald on a fly ball to centerfield. After junior designated hitter Kurt Wertz struck out, he issued a walk to Bowles. That brought junior rightfielder Dominic Fratantuono to the plate. On a 3-2 pitch, it looked like Fratantuono had drawn a walk but third base umpire John Bullock ruled that Fratantuono swung at the pitch, ending the game in controversial fashion.

“I had no problem with that call,” admitted Coach Mike Gottlieb. “He had a good angle and it was a fair call.

“Not to take anything away from Florida Atlantic, but somebody once told me that you don’t win one-run games as often as the other team loses them,” he added. “We made too many mistakes to win a one-run game in an NCAA regional tournament. The mistakes that we made on the base paths really hurt us. They took us out of several innings. Branch Rickey used to call them ‘mistakes of enthusiasm’ and that sounds right to me.”

Explaining his decision to walk Sanger intentionally, Gottlieb said, “We were playing the percentages. Sanger is a left-handed hitter who had a batting average about 100 points higher than Keller. By pitching to Keller, we had a righthanded pitcher facing a righthanded hitter. But, it didn’t work and Keller hit a shot. We took a chance and it didn’t work out.”

The game started out as if it would be an offensive slugfest as the Tigers took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Third baseman Zach Fisher and Fitzgerald started the inning with back-to-back singles. After Wertz struck out, Bowles singled to left, loading the bases. When senior righthander Jake Meiers of FAU walked Fratantuono with the bases loaded, Fisher scored the first run of the game. The Tigers extended their lead to 3-0 when sophomore first baseman Brendan Butler lined a two-run single to centerfield. However, Meiers escaped the jam when senior catcher Andrew Parker grounded into an inning-ending double play.

In the second inning, Keller gave the Owls an immediate lift when he led off the inning with a solo home run to left field, his third homer of the regional tournament. Sophomore righthander Paul Beers came back to retire the next two hitters before shortstop Mitch Morales singled. After Beers walked centerfielder Nathan Pittman, Jiminez singled to left, driving in a run to pull the Owls to within 3-2. Beers retired Nelson on a fly ball to left field, ending the inning.

The Tigers threatened to extend their lead in the third inning. Fitzgerald led off with a walk. With one out, Bowles reached base when he was hit by a pitch. But, Meiers came back to retire the next two hitters, ending the threat.

Towson wasted a great scoring chance in the fourth inning. With one out, senior centerfielder Brandon Gonnellasingled and junior shortstop Hunter Bennett also singled. Fisher hit a line drive to left center field where Jiminez made a nice running catch and fired the ball to second base to double up Gonnella, ending the inning.

With two outs in the fifth, Florida Atlantic rallied to take a 4-3 lead. Sanger singled to rightfield. After he stole second base, Keller doubled down the left field line to drive in Sanger with the tying run. Meyer followed with a ground ball to shortstop where Bennett made a throwing error to allow Keller to score the go-ahead run. Beers ended the inning by getting third baseman Ricky Santiago on a line drive to Gonnella in centerfield.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Tigers staged their own two-out rally. Bowles singled to left centerfield before Fratantuono followed with a single to put runners at the corners. Butler delivered a run-scoring single to centerfield but he tried to reach second base and was thrown out by Nelson, who cut off the throw

With the score tied at 4-4, Rocklein led off the seventh inning with a ground rule double. At that point, Nowottnick relieved Beers. After Rocklein reached third base on a wild pitch, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Sanger as the Owls took a 5-4 lead.

The Tigers came right back to tie the score again. Fitzgerald led off the seventh inning with an infield single. Wertz followed with a single to right centerfield as Fitzgerald reached third base. A sacrifice fly by Bowles enabled Fitzgerald to score the tying run to make it a 5-5 game. Wertz was thrown out trying to steal second base before Fratantuono popped up to end the inning.

Facing Adams, the Owls’ closer, in the eighth inning, the Tigers made a bid to take a lead with two outs. Gonnella singled to start the rally before Bennett reached base when he was hit by a pitch. However, Adams got Fisher to ground out to second base, ending the threat.

Although the Tigers outhit the Owls by a 14-11 margin, all of their hits were singles. Gonnella went three-for-four while Butler had two hits and three runs batted in. Fitzgerald had two hits and scored two runs while Bowles had two hits with two runs scored with one run batted in. Bennett also had a pair of hits for the Tigers, who won five of their last seven games.

Keller led FAU with three hits, including two doubles and his eighth homer of the season. The Owls have now won 13 of their last 14 games.

The Tigers, who won the Colonial Athletic Association championship to earn an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 1991, finished their season with a 30-30 record. Their third place regional finish was their best showing ever at a regional tournament.

TIGER TALES: The Tigers batted .340 as a team in the NCAA Regional … Bowles batted .400 with three RBI’s while Butler hit .333 with one home run and five RBI’s … Sophomore Richie Blosser led the Tigers in hitting during the regional with a .714 batting average … Fitzgerald hit .364 with four runs scored in the tournament.

Senior catcher Andrew Parker finished his career by playing in 197 game and started 179 of them … He had a .261 career batting average with 49 doubles, 23 home runs and 118 RBI’s.

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The Tar Heels, who have won seven games in a row, are now one victory away from winning the Chapel Hill Regional and advancing to the Super Regionals next weekend. Towson, which had its five-game winning streak snapped, will play Florida Atlantic in an elimination game at Boshamer Stadium on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.

The winner of the Towson-Florida Atlantic game will face the Tar Heels at 6:00 p.m. in what could be the regional championship game.

Junior lefthander Kent Emanuel was virtually unhittable through the first five innings as the Tar Heels built a 5-0 lead. Through the first five innings, Emanuel faced the minimum 15 batters. He allowed a single to sophomore centerfielder Richie Blosser in the third inning and a single to third baseman Zach Fisher in the fourth inning. But, he immediately picked both runners off base.

“Give credit to Kent Emanuel,” said Towson Coach Mike Gottlieb. “He gave us absolutely nothing for five innings. He was throwing three pitches for strikes and he made us look bad a number of times. He did a great job mixing his pitches and got the big outs when he needed them.

“One of the biggest outs he got was in the sixth inning when we had two runners on base and two outs with Kurt Wertz at the plate. He struck him out on an off-speed pitch that froze Kurt. It was a big out at the time because a base hit by Wertz makes it a much closer game.”

Senior first baseman Cody Stubbs gave the Tar Heels a 1-0 lead in the second inning when he blasted a solo home run over the rightfield fence. It was the only hit that junior righthander Brandon Gonnella allowed over the first three innings.

In the fourth inning, Gonnella ran into trouble. Freshman Landon Lassiter, the Tar Heels’ designated hitter, opened the inning by drawing a walk. After he reached second base on a wild pitch, Gonnella retired senior third baseman Colin Moran on a fly ball to rightfield. When freshman rightfielder Skye Bolt also drew a walk, North Carolina had two runners on base with one out.

Lassiter and Bolt moved into scoring position when Stubbs grounded out to second base. However, sophomore shortstop Michael Russell gave the Tar Heels a 3-0 lead when he drilled a two-run single into left field. After junior catcher Brian Holberton followed with a single, senior catcher Andrew Parker came up with another big play. While Gonnella was pitching to sophomore second baseman Mike Zolk, he picked Holberton off first base to end the rally.

In the fifth inning, the Tar Heels extended their lead to 4-0. Zolk led off the inning with a double to rightfield. After junior leftfielder Jordan Parks reached base on a bunt single, the Tar Heels had runners at the corners. Senior centerfielder Chaz Frank lifted a foul ball down the left field line where sophomore leftfielder Peter Bowles made a sliding catch. Zolk alertly tagged up on the play and scored just seconds ahead of Bowles’ throw to the plate. After Lassiter singled, Moran grounded into a double play to end the inning as the Tigers turned their 80th double play of the season.

With two outs in the sixth inning, Russell singled through the left side. When Holberton doubled down the right field line, Russell came around to score from first base. Zolk grounded out to first base.

Emanuel took a two-out shutout into the sixth inning. With one out, Blosser doubled to left centerfield. After junior shortstop Hunter Bennett struck out. Fisher drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Junior second baseman Pat Fitzgerald followed with a single to right field, driving in the first run of the game for the Tigers. But, Emanuel struck out junior designated hitter on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Tigers staged another rally against Emanuel. Bowles led off the seventh with a double to left center field. After junior rightfielder Dominic Fratantuono struck out, sophomore first baseman Brendan Butler lined a single to centerfield, scoring Bowles to make it a 5-2 lead. But, Emanuel got out of the jam by getting Parker to ground into double play to end the uprising.

With their lead trimmed to 5-2, the Tar Heels added two more runs in the eighth inning. Stubbs led off with a single, his second base hit of the game. Russell came through another clutch hit and doubled down the leftfield line, driving in Stubbs to give North Carolina a 6-2 advantage. Russell reached third base when Holberton grounded out to second base for the first out of the inning. With Russell on third base, the Tigers pulled their infield in to try and prevent another run from scoring. However, when Zolk hit a high chopper to Bennett at shortstop, Russell was able to score while Bennett threw Zolk out at first base.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Tigers continued to show the resilience they displayed all season. With one out, Bennett doubled to rightfield. After Fisher drew a walk, Fitzgerald was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Wertz. On a 2-0 pitch from Emanuel, Wertz singled to rightfield, driving in two runs to pull Towson to within 7-4. A sacrifice fly by Bowles enabled Fitzgerald to score and cut the lead to 7-5. When Fratantuono singled to centerfield, the Tigers had the tying runs on base.

At that point, Coach Mike Fox went to the bullpen and brought in his ace closer, Thornton. He pitched out of the jam by retiring Butler on a fly ball to centerfield.

In the ninth inning, the Tar Heels added a run off relief pitcher Nick Cioffi. With one out, Lassiter singled to rightfield. A single by Moran enabled Lassiter to reach third base. When Bolt hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, Lassiter scored to give the Tar Heels an 8-5 lead. Cioffi finally retired the side by getting Russell on a fly ball to centerfield.

In the bottom of the ninth, Thornton retired the Tigers in order to prevent any comeback.

“Obviously, for us, it was a case of too little, too late,” added Gottlieb. “This is not a game we should have won – but it is a game we could have won. If we could have gotten one or two hits in the right spot, we might still be playing.”

Emanuel, now 11-3 on the season, earned the win for the Tar Heels. He pitched 7.2 innings and allowed five runs on nine hits. He walked two and had eight strikeouts. Thornton picked up the final four outs of the game to record his eighth save.

UNC outhit the Tigers by a 13-10 margin. Russell led the Tar Heels with three hits, two runs scored and three runs batted in. Lassiter had a pair of hits and scored two runs while Stubbs went two-for-four with a home run and two runs scored. Holbertson also had two hits and drove in a run.

Gonnella suffered his fifth loss of the season for the Tigers. He pitched 7.2 innings and allowed seven runs on 11 hits with three walks and one strikeout. Two of his walks were very costly as they led to a pair of Carolina runs in the fourth inning when the Tar Heels took a 3-0 lead.

Blosser led the Tigers with three hits and scored a run. He is batting .714 in the Tigers’ two NCAA Tournament games. He was the only Tiger with more than one hit. Fisher had a single and drew the only two walks that Emanuel allowed.

TIGER TALES: Wertz’s two-run single lifted his seasonal RBI total to 65, the top mark on the team … When Fitzgerald singled in the sixth, it marked the 29^th consecutive that he reached base … Fitzgerald, who now has a .990 fielding percentage, played a solid defensive game with two putouts and five assists … He also started the double play in the fifth inning … Since the Tigers played the game on June 1, it was the first Towson University intercollegiate athletic event ever played in the month of June.

With the win, North Carolina beat Towson for the 13^th game in a row … The Tar Heels lead the all-time series, 26-2.

Sophomore righthander Paul Beers will try to keep the Tigers’ season alive on Sunday afternoon when the Tigers face Florida Atlantic at 1:00 p.m. … Florida Atlantic beat Canisius on Saturday afternoon to remain alive in the NCAA regional.

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The Towson-UNC game can be seen on ESPN3 http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id/950913/ncaa-baseball-regionals-presented-capital-one-site-1-game-4 and will also be broadcast on www.TowsonTigers.com with Spiro Morekas, Damon Lewis and Dan O’Connell calling the action.

The Tar Heels, who won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship last week, are seeking their 12th NCAA regional title this week. North Carolina has made five appearances in the College World Series since 2006. Veteran Coach Mike Fox led North Carolina to second place in the College World Series in 2006 and 2007 as well as a third place showing in 2009.

The Tar Heels seem to have a complete team. The Tar Heels lead NCAA Division I in scoring, averaging 8.2 runs per game. At the same time, UNC’s pitching staff has a 2.52 E.R.A., a mark that ranks the Tar Heels fourth in the nation.

Senior first baseman Cody Stubbs and junior third baseman Colin Moran are the Tar Heels’ top offensive players and they are both All-Americans. Stubbs was the MVP of the ACC Tournament last week and is batting .362 with 22 doubles, four triples, seven home runs and 72 runs batted in. Moran is hitting .357 with 13 homers and a school record 84 RBI’s.

Junior lefthander Kent Emanuel is expected to pitch for the Tar Heels. He has a 10-3 record with a 2.11 E.R.A. In 110.2 innings of work, he has 22 walks an 79 strikeouts. Emanuel has pitched five complete games, including two shutouts. He was named as the ACC Pitcher of the Year.

The Tar Heels, who are now 53-8 on the season, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Regional with a 6-3 victory over Canisius on Friday evening. North Carolina has won six games in a row.

When the Tigers face North Carolina on Saturday night, they will be playing against the number one-ranked team in the nation for the first time ever.

Towson is coming off a 7-2 victory over No. 23 Florida Atlantic in the first round of the NCAA regional on Friday afternoon. The Tigers are now 3-4 against nationally-ranked teams this season. Towson dropped three games to No. 30 Pittsburgh and a 7-1 decision to No. 5 Virginia. The Tigers won two of three games from North Carolina Wilmington inlate April when the Seahawks were ranked 21st in the nation.

Junior righthander Brandon Gonnella is expected to pitch for the Tigers on Saturday evening. The Tigers’ regular centerfielder, Gonnella has a 4-4 record and a 5.22 E.R.A. with two saves. In 69 innings of work, he has issued only 23 walks and has 56 strikeouts. Gonnella did not play in the NCAA opener on Friday.

After their 11-hit performance against FAU, the Tigers are batting .387 with 54 runs scored in five post-season games.

Junior rightfielder Dominic Fratantuono is swinging a hot bat in the post-season. He has a .556 batting average and a .682 on-base percentage. In the last five games, Fratantuono has scored seven runs and has eight runs batted in.

One of the heroes of the Tigers’ win over Florida Atlantic, senior catcher Andrew Parker is batting .471 in the post-season with three homers and nine RBI’s. Against Florida Atlantic, he blasted a monstrous three-run homer in the sixth inning.

The Tigers will be playing North Carolina for the 28th time. Towson has a 2-25 record against the Tar Heels, positing wins over UNC in 2000 and 2001. The teams played an annual two-game series in Chapel Hill from 1997 to 2007 as part of Towson’s spring trip. North Carolina has won the last 12 meetings.

The winner of the Towson-North Carolina game advances to Game 6 of the regionals on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. The loser of the Towson-UNC game plays the winner of the Florida Atlantic-Canisius which is being played at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.

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Third-Seeded Tigers Snap FAU’s 11-Game Winning Streak

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Senior righthander Mike Volpe earned his tenth victory of the season and senior catcher Andrew Parker blasted a monstrous three-run homer as Towson University (30-28) continued its magical post-season with a 7-2 victory over No. 23 Florida Atlantic (39-21) in the first round of the NCAA Regional Tournament at Boshamer Stadium on Friday afternoon.

Volpe, who pitched the Tigers into the NCAA Tournament last Saturday with a 5-2 win over William & Mary in the Colonial Athletic Association championship game, pitched seven very strong innings as the Tigers ended Florida Atlantic’s 11-game winning streak.

Volpe, who has a 3-0 record in the post-season, scattered four hits and allowed one unearned run with two walks and four strikeouts as he improved his record to 10-3 on the season. After issuing a leadoff walk to senior centerfielder Nathan Pittman in the eighth inning, he turned the game over to the bullpen. Junior righthander Nik Nowottnick finished the game with a flourish, striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Parker, who went one-for-four in the game, helped the Tigers offensively and defensively. He highlighted the Tigers’ five-run sixth inning with a three-run homer to left. He also threw out a runner trying to steal and ended a Florida Atlantic rally by picking off Mark Nelson with the bases loaded in the eighth inning.

“It is so great to be back in this environment,” said Towson Coach Mike Gottlieb, who guided the Tigers to their first regional appearance since 1991. “It is quite rewarding and I am so thrilled that these guys have the opportunity to experience this.”

The win over Florida Atlantic marked the first time in three NCAA regional tournaments that the Tigers won their opening game. Towson will play their second NCAA regional contest on Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. against the winner of the first round game between host North Carolina and fourth-seeded Canisius.

“When you can get a pitching performance like we received from Mike (Volpe), you have a great chance to win,” added Gottlieb. “Obviously, the sixth inning was the turning point in the game. Up until that point, we had been struggling with the bats. But, we turned it around in the sixth inning and gave ourselves a nice lead.”

The Tigers’ first NCAA regional game in 22 years started off as a pitcher’s duel between Volpe and righthander Jeremy Strawn. Strawn shut out the Tigers on two hits through the first three innings before the Owls threatened in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Pittman drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch to start the rally. Junior leftfielderGeoff Jiminez reached base on an infield single to shortstop to give the Owls two runners on base with one out. After a prolonged at-bat, Nelson was retired on a fly ball to right as Pittman advanced to third base. With Jiminez on first base and Pittman on third, the Owls tried a trick play by having Jiminez break for second base. However, Volpe wasn’t fooled and allowed Jiminez to steal second base while Pittman remained on third. Then, Volpe won a six-pitch battle with junior designated hitter Tyler Rocklein by getting him to fly out to rightfield where junior Dominic Fratantuono made the catch.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Tigers scored the first run of the game, thanks to junior designated hitter Kurt Wertz. Wertz led off the inning with a single to centerfield on a 3-2 pitch. Wertz stole second base while Strawn was striking out sophomore leftfielder Peter Bowles. With a runner on second base and one out, Fratantuono reached base when he was hit by a pitch. Wertz advanced to third base when sophomore first baseman Brendan Butler flew out to centerfield. With Wertz on third and Fratantuono on first base, the Tigers tried a delayed double steal. Junior catcher Levi Meyer threw down to second base but sophomore shortstop Mitch Morales cut off the throw and was ready to throw the ball home. But, Wertz had already scored to give Towson a 1-0 lead. Strawn pitched out of the jam by striking out Parker.

Once the Tigers gave Volpe a lead, he got tougher. He retired the Owls in order in the fourth and fifth innings as the Tigers took their 1-0 lead into the top of the sixth inning.

Junior second baseman Pat Fitzgerald led off the sixth inning with a single to centerfield, extending his on-base streak to 28 games in a row. When Wertz lined a double to right centerfield, Fitzgerald reached third base to give the Tigers runners on second and third with no outs. Bowles followed with a single to right centerfield, Fitzgerald scored while Wertz held up at third base.

Fratantuono upped the Tigers’ lead to 3-0 when he doubled to left centerfield as Wertz scored his second run of the game. After the double by Fratantuono, Strawn was relieved by junior righthander Kevin Alexander.

Alexander got Butler to hit a weak ground ball to first base where Nelson threw home to retire Bowles, trying to score from third base.

On a 2-2 pitch, Parker launched a long home run well over the left field fence, his 11^th homer of the season and the 23^rd of his college career. His three-run homer broke the game open and gave Towson a 6-0 lead.

Staked to a 6-0 lead, Volpe retired the Owls in the sixth inning without incident. In the seventh inning, he allowed a one-out single to Meyer, Florida Atlantic’s first hit since the third inning. But Volpe retired the next two hitters to preserve the shutout.

With one out in the eighth inning, Butler gave the Tigers a 7-0 advantage with a solo home run to left centerfield. It was his fifth homer of the season,

In the bottom of the eighth, the Owls came to life. After Volpe walked Pittman to lead off the inning, he was relieved by junior lefthander Kyle Paul. Paul got Jiminez to hit a ground ball to shortstop. In his haste to turn a double play, junior shortstop Hunter Bennett committed a rare error as Florida Atlantic had two runners on base with no outs. When Nelson was hit by a pitch, Florida Atlantic had the bases loaded with no outs.

While Paul was pitching to Rocklein, Parker made one of the biggest plays of the game. With Butler playing behind Nelson, the runner at first base, Parker threw down to first base when Butler snuck in behind the runner and he picked him off for the first out of the inning.

The pickoff play proved to be even more important when Rocklein singled to left field, scoring Pittman with the Owls’ first run of the game. Freshman second baseman Brendon Sanger followed by hitting a ground ball between first and second base. Fitzgerald ranged to his right and threw to Bennett at second base for the force play while Jiminez scored an unearned run. Senior rightfielder Corey Keller came through with a double down the left field line as Sanger reached third base.

After the double by Keller, Nowottnick came out of the bullpen to relieve Paul. He pitched out of the jam by getting Meyer to ground out to shortstop.

In the bottom of the ninth, Nowottnick nailed down the 7-2 win by striking out the side.

“Getting the big lead in the sixth inning helped me a lot,” said Volpe. “I concentrated on keeping the ball down and I was able to throw my curve ball for strikes. I knew it was a big game but I just tried to treat it like any other game and not get too excited. When we got the lead, I just tried to pitch to contact and get through the innings.”

Volpe, who became only the third pitcher in Towson baseball history, to win at least 10 games in a season, pitched seven innings and allowed one unearned run on four hits. He walked two batters and had four strikeouts. Volpe allowed only one hit after the third inning and retired 14 of the last 17 batters he faced.

The CAA champion Tigers outhit the Sun Belt Conference champion Owls by an 11-6 margin as all nine Tigers in the starting lineup had at least one base hit. Sophomore centerfielder Richie Blosser and Wertz each had two hits. Wertz was two-for-five with two runs scored while Parker had three RBI’s.

With the win, the Tigers reached the 30-win level for the seventh time in school history. The Tigers have now won five games in a row and seven of their last eight games.

TIGER TALES:  The Tigers faced Florida Atlantic with regular centerfielder Brandon Gonnella … Gonnella was sidelined with an injury but Coach Gottlieb hopes he will be available for the Tigers’ game against either North Carolina or Canisius … When Volpe was charged with an unearned run in the eighth inning against Florida Atlantic, it was the first run he allowed in 11 innings … While improving his record to 10-3, Volpe became the first Tiger pitcher to throw more than 100 innings in a season … He has started a school record 16 games and has thrown a school record 102.2 innings this season.

With the victory, the Tigers improved to 3-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament games … By beating 23^rd-ranked Owls, Towson is now 3-5 against nationally-ranked teams this season … Towson went 0-3 against No. 30 Pittsburgh before dropping a 7-1 decision to No. 5 Virginia … The Tigers won two of three games against No. 21 North Carolina Wilmington before beating the No. 23 Owls.

The post Towson tops Florida Atlantic in NCAA Baseball Tournament opener appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

The Tigers held their workout in very warm temperatures immediately after Florida Atlantic started the day with its practice session.

“We had a little fun out there working out in such a great facility,” said Coach Mike Gottlieb, who also led the Tigers to the 1988 and 1991 NCAA Tournaments.

“It’s such a great thing for our kids to get a taste of playing college baseball in the post-season,” explained Gottlieb, who spoke to the media after practice. “With everything we’ve had to go through, this is a great way to top off the season.”

Although the Tigers come into the NCAA Regional with a four-game winning streak and six victories in their last seven outings, Gottlieb doesn’t feel his team comes into the regional with a lot of momentum.

“We are playing very well,” he added. “However, I learned a long time ago that momentum is only as good as the next day’s starting pitcher. We are going with Mike Volpe and he is pitching with six days’ rest. That will be a change for him since he pitched on two days’ rest on Saturday when he beat William & Mary.”

The Chapel Hill regional features four conference champions who earned their conference’s automatic qualifier. Host North Carolina won the Atlantic Coast Conference title while Florida Atlantic was the Sun Belt Conference champion. While Towson won the CAA championship, Canisius won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title.

Like the Tigers, Florida Atlantic won its conference tournament as a lower seed. Both teams were seeded fourth in their conference tournaments and won the title by going 4-0. While the Tigers enter the NCAA regional with a four-game winning streak, the Owls have won 11 games in a row.

The Owls are ranked 23rd in the nation this week.

The most notable difference between Towson and FAU seems to be the pitching staffs. While the Tigers have a 5.13 team E.R.A., the Owls own a 3.60 E.R.A. Offensively, the Tigers have a .294 team batting average with 406 runs scored while FAU is batting .289 with 333 runs scored.

The Tigers also seem to have an edge in the power numbers with a .455 slugging percentage while FAU has a .416 mark. Towson has 127 doubles, 21 triples and 52 home runs while FAU has hit 103 doubles with 18 triples and 38 homers.

Both teams are outstanding defensive teams. Towson has a .973 fielding percentage with an NCAA-leading 79 double plays while FAU has a .971 fielding mark and has 42 double plays.

TIGER TALES: While Towson is making its third-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, Florida Atlantic is making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance since becoming a Division I program in 1994 … In 2002, the Owls reached the NCAA Super Regional after beating Alabama for the NCAA regional title … Florida Atlantic lost to Georgia Tech in the NCAA Super Regional.

Towson and Florida Atlantic did not play any common opponents this season … The Tigers didn’t play any Sun Belt Conference teams and the Owls didn’t play any CAA teams.

Towson will be the visiting team in Friday’s opener and will wear its black uniform tops, the preference of Volpe … Florida Atlantic will wear its home white uniforms.

The winner of the Towson-FAU game will face the winner of the North Carolina-Canisius game on Saturday while the Towson-FAU loser will play the North Carolina-Canisius loser.

The Towson-FAU game will be broadcast on ESPN3 with Jones Angell and John Manuel calling the action … The game will also be aired on www.TowsonTigers.com with Spiro Morekas and Dan O’Connell describing the action.

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