Three is was a magic number for the Towson Tigers today as they walloped Coppin State 9-4 for their third straight victory and first official winning streak of the season. Despite my prediction of a wild game on the bases, the Tigers also won the track meet in one-sided fashion, stealing four bases in as many attempts, while throwing out one of two would-be Eagles thieves. So much for Nostradamus.
Every Towson batter got on base at least once and seven different Tigers scored runs in an offensive barrage that was punctuated with a huge day for Richard Miller. The other big stories were the return of Kody Reeser to the pitching staff and the continued excellence of several Towson hitters.
Highlights
Towson posted a highlight package, which I’ll embed here. Below I’ve listed the individual plays shown and what time they start in the video.
0:00 – Richie Palacios doubles in the third inning, scoring Mark Grunberg and Tristan Howerton.
0:18 – Richie Palacios steals third base in the third inning.
0:25 – Billy Lennox singles to left field, scoring Richie Palacios and finishing the scoring in the third.
0:35 – Richard Miller’s first home run, a bomb over the right field fence in the fifth inning. Excellent bat flip as well (if you don’t know, I like the bat flips).
0:50 – Richie Palacios doubles in the sixth inning, then motors around to score without a throw. I have no idea what Coppin State’s outfielder’s were doing, so I’m going to assume they started playing hacky sack with the ball.
Just a quick note: I wish they had video of Craig Alleyne’s single in the bottom of the fifth inning, because I was watching it on the live stream and, let me tell you, that dude looks fast.
Positive Pixels
- Might as well lead off with the man of the hour. Richard Miller, in his second game back from being beaned, went off today. His two home run day gives him five for the year, one behind team leader Richie Palacios, and he drove in five runs for the second time this year.
- Kody Reeser started the game and pitched a scoreless, four-out inning. After retiring the first two batters, Reeser struck out the third, but the pitch got away and the runner reached base. After a walk, the red-shirt freshman got out of the inning with no damage. Welcome back, young man, I have to imagine it felt good.
- That is seven straight games with a hit and twenty straight games on base for Colin Gimblet.
- Mark Grunberg also extended his hitting streak, reaching five games. He has also walked in each of those games. He did have the ignominious distinction of being the only Tiger to strike out today, which he did leading off the game against insanely soft-tossing Coppin State starter Quinn Gleed, who was throwing his “fastball” in the 58-60 mph range. Even Gavin Weyman throws harder than that.
But seriously, Grunberg has great bat-to-ball ability. After striking out five times in the first four games of the season, he has only K’d eight times in twenty-seven games since. - Billy Lennox racked up the stats again today, getting a hit in his fourth straight game and adding one walk, one run, and one RBI. Lennox also stole a base for the second straight day, his first two of the year.
- Congratulations to Jake Pecilunas, who picked up the win for his first collegiate victory. the freshman gave up three runs in the fourth inning, but bounced back to throw a scoreless fifth. He is now 1-1 on the season.
- Fellow freshman Josh Seils followed Pecilunas and threw three scoreless innings. He scattered three hits and a walk, while striking out two. It was Seils fifth straight appearance with a strikeout, six total in 8.1 innings over that span, as the tall right-hander finds his footing at the college level. Outside of a couple of early performances where he was tagged for five runs in each, it has been a pretty solid debut season for Seils.
- Matt Watters has also had a solid season in his first for Towson, throwing a scoreless frame for the second straight day. That is now six straight appearances allowing no runs; in fact, he has only allowed runs in one game all year.
The Watch List
Richie Palacios, SS – 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB. That’s six straight games with no strikeouts for Palacios, something he has only done eleven times all year (and never more than once in a game). One of his hits was a “little league homer”, as he hit a single and then showed off his plus speed as the Eagles played hot potato with the ball.
Dirk Masters, 2B – 0-1, 2 BB, 1 R. Masters scored on Miller’s first homer. In the field he actually bobbled one ball, but it was a tough play and he wasn’t charged an error. He made up for it with a couple of brilliant plays, which he seemingly does every game.
David Marriggi, P – DNP
Michael Adams, P – DNP
Up Next
The Tigers travel south to Charleston, South Carolina for three games this weekend against The Citadel. The first game is Friday at 3:00 p.m.
