CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel baseball team will close out the current homestand with a three-game series against the Tigers of Towson at Joe Riley Park this weekend. The series is slated to begin on Friday, April 13 at 3 p.m. The second game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 14, and the series will conclude with the finale on Sunday, April 15 at 1 p.m.

WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
The entire weekend is sponsored by Pepsi and each game will feature regular weekend promotions, including First Responder Friday, Service Saturday and Sunday Funday as well as in-game promotions that include Kickin' Chicken Baseball Bingo, the TD Bank Baseball Toss, the Ashley Furniture Best Seats in the Park and more!

Probable Weekend Pitching Matchups
Friday, April 13 – 3 p.m. – Live Stats – Live Video – Tickets
RHP Dylan Spence (2-3, 3.40 ERA, 53 IP) vs. RHP Bo Plagge (1-2, 10.80 ERA, 18.1 IP)

Saturday, April 14 – 2 p.m. – Live Stats – Live Video – Tickets
RHP Thomas Byelick (0-4, 4.94 ERA, 31 IP) vs. LHP David Marriggi (1-4, 4.76 ERA, 45.1 IP)

Sunday April 15 – 1 p.m. – Live Stats – Live Video – Tickets
RHP Jonathan Sabo (0-1, 3.27 ERA, 11 IP) vs. RHP Michael Adams (3-2, 3.78 ERA, 50 IP)


The Citadel and Towson have squared off on the baseball diamond four times prior to this weekend's three-game series. The Tigers hold a 3-1 record over the Bulldogs with all four previous games having been played in Charleston. The lone Bulldog win came back on Feb. 19, 2011 by a score of 15-1. The Tigers won the first meeting 9-7 on Feb. 26, 2006 and have claimed the last two games, including a 7-1 victory on Feb. 20, 2011 and a 6-5 win on Feb. 17, 2012.

Towson enters the weekend with a 9-22 record on the year, but the Tigers have won their last three games, including a 6-1 victory in the series finale at William & Mary on Sunday, April 8, a 10-3 win on Tuesday, April 10 at Bucknell and a 9-4 home win over Coppin State on Wednesday, April 11. Towson is 5-11 on the road and 2-3 in their last five road games. The Tigers won a three-game series over Hofstra earlier this season, but have dropped their other seven, including being swept by Marist, Ohio and Richmond. The Tigers are currently batting .239 as a unit with 65 extra-base knocks, 149 runs scored and 128 runs batted in. On the base paths, they have stolen 36 base on 42 attempts. Towson's pitching corps brings a 6.59 ERA into the weekend to go along with 234 strikeouts. Opposing batters have hit .290 against the Tigers and have drawn 195 walks while scoring 224 runs. The Tigers have committed 36 errors and have turned 28 double plays.

The Tigers have been led to this point of the season by Richie Palacios' .356 batting average off 42 hits. He boasts 13 doubles and six home runs on the campaign and brings a .619 slugging percentage and .479 on-base percentage into the series. Palacios is 15-of-15 on the year for stolen bases and also leads the team with 34 runs scored, 26 batted in and 27 walks drawn. Behind him, Dirk Masters, Colin Gimblet and Andrew Cassard are all batting close to .260 for the season. Masters, who brings a .266 average into the weekend has missed five games while Gimblet is second on the team in hits with 29 while batting .261.

The Tigers will send Bo Plagge to the bump first this weekend with David Marriggi pitching in the weekend's second game and Michael Adams rounding things out. Plagge is 1-2 on the season in 10 appearances, including three starts. He has pitched 18.1 innings and has struck out 16 batters compared to walking 17. Marriggi is 1-4 on the year in eight starts. He is second on the team with 43 strikeouts and 45.1 innings of work. Adams brings a 3-2 record and team-leading 3.78 ERA into the series. He boasts 57 strikeouts and has held batters to a .232 batting average.

UP NEXT
The Citadel will play the next four games on the road, including a midweek tilt at Charleston Southern and a three-game, Southern Conference series at Wofford. The Bulldogs and Buccaneers will face off for the second time this season on Tuesday, April 17 at 6 p.m.

For more information on The Citadel baseball team, please follow @CitadelBaseball and @CitadelSports on Twitter or visit CitadelSports.com.