This weekend will be Towson’s last non-conference series of the season, and their farthest trip south, as they travel to Charleston, SC for three games against the Bulldogs of The Citadel. The Citadel (full name: The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina) is one of six senior military colleges in the United States, so I would expect their baseball team to play with strict discipline and crisp uniforms. They are certainly using their strategic know-how by having this series consist of a game Friday afternoon and then a doubleheader on Saturday, therefore avoiding a Sunday game and a certain Towson victory.
The Bulldogs are 12-20 on the season and riding (being ridden by?) an eight game losing streak, so they might need all the help they can get. All joking aside, Towson can’t afford to overlook any opponent if they want to build on their three game winning streak. The Citadel boasts some good starting pitching and more than a few good hitters. No one exemplifies that more than senior right-handed pitcher/infielder Jonathan Sabo, who is one of their best on the mound and at the plate and related to former Rookie of the Year Chris Sabo (Mark Grace totally should have won that year, by the way, but whatever). Their best hitter is probably senior shortstop William Kinney, who is putting up .319/.397/.521 with five home runs. The only other regular hitting over .300 is sophomore Bryce Leasure, a switch hitting catcher.
I usually try to make some mild fun of Towson’s opponents in these previews, but I have too much respect for the military and, frankly, there’s nothing funny about these guys.
Is that supposed to be a joke?!
Towson will start Bo Plagge on the mound in the first game, followed by David Marriggi and Michael Adams. Plagge and Marriggi will both be trying to bounce back from tough starts, while Adams recent dominance has been well-documented around these parts. On offense, Richard Miller is coming off of a two home run game and several Tigers batters are working on multi-game hitting streaks. These should be some good games.
The Watch List
Richie Palacios, SS – .356↓/.479↓/.619↓, 118 AB, 34 R, 6 HR, 13 2B, 26 RBI, 15-15 SB. Palacios has red down arrows next to each component of his slash line despite going 3-9 with two walks and two doubles against Bucknell and Coppin State. When that happens you know you’re having a special season. About the only thing he hasn’t done this year is hit a triple, which is almost inconceivable.
Dirk Masters, 2B – .266↓/.389↓/.278↓, 79 AB, 11 R, 7 RBI, 3-3 SB. Masters has scored a run in four straight games.
David Marriggi, P – 1-4, 4.76 ERA↓, 45.1 IP, 25 BB, 43 K. Last time out Marriggi had what could be considered a bad start for only the second time all season. The first time it happened, he responded with three consecutive strong performances that saw him pitch into the seventh inning.
Michael Adams, P – 3-2, 3.78 ERA↑, 50.0 IP, 20 BB, 57 K. Big Dirty Mike has been all of those things for Towson the last month and a half. Well, I guess he’s been Mike for the last year and a half, but two out of three ain’t bad. Another big, dirty performance will further put Adams’ name on the map.
More Info
Pitching match-ups, series history, and more can be found here. All three games should be streaming online.
