Colonial Athletic Association

Towson achieved its preseason objective of qualifying for the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament. But the Tigers didn't do it with the kind of flourish they might have been hoping for. Towson (7-7 overall and 2-4 in the CAA) is in the midst of a four-game losing streak - capped by Saturday's 6-3 loss to conference foe St. Joseph's, a program that had yet to beat a league opponent. That all changed Saturday as the Hawks shut out the Tigers in the second and third quarters.

College baseball Butler's single in 9th sends Towson to win Sophomore Brendan Butler singled in the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as host Towson (25-27, 14-12 Colonial Athletic Association) edged Northeastern, 7-6, in the second game of their three-game weekend series Friday afternoon. The Huskies (27-24, 11-15), who were trying to clinch a berth in the CAA tournament, had overcome a 6-4 deficit in the ninth inning to tie the game. More Division I: Mount St. Mary's (10-35, 5-24 Northeast Conference)

RICHMOND, Va. -- The University of Richmond (16-8, 8-3), down a point at halftime, shot 77 percent from the field in a 62-point second half to beat Navy (6-18, 2-10), 91-72, in a Colonial Athletic Association game last night.

In just a few hours, No. 13 Johns Hopkins will take the field at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y., for its regular-season finale against Army. But the Blue Jays' bid for an appearance in its 42nd consecutive NCAA tournament  suffered a blow via the Colonial Athletic Association tournament. Towson upset No. 9 Penn State, 11-10, in Friday's conference tournament final at University Park, Pa. The win secured the Tigers' first CAA tournament championship since 2007, which was also the last time they appeared in the NCAA tournament.

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Freshman Lester Lyons scored 20 to lead East Carolina (10-10, 3-6) to a 75-66 Colonial Athletic Association victory over Navy (6-15, 2-7) last night.

Jamie Samuel of Lutherville was a member of the James Madison University men's tennis team that won the Colonial Athletic Association championship April 19-20. The sophomore graduate of St. Paul's played in the No. 6 position for the Dukes for most of the season and had a 12-10 overall singles record.

No. 4 Johns Hopkins (5-1) at Villanova (3-3) Site: Villanova Stadium, Villanova. Pa. Time: 7 p.m. Outlook: Johns Hopkins has a second straight midweek breather. The Blue Jays haven't overwhelmed anybody after upsetting Princeton and Syracuse in the first three weeks of the season. Villanova lost Colonial Athletic Association games to Drexel (double overtime) and Hofstra before defeating Sacred Heart on Saturday.

AMHERST, Mass. -- Towson's special teams were anything but special in yesterday's Colonial Athletic Association opener at the University of Massachusetts. But that wasn't the only reason the Tigers suffered a 36-13 loss. Delaware @Towson Saturday, 7 p.m., 1570 AM

Loyola College has become an associate member of the Colonial Athletic Association in field hockey and women's lacrosse for the 1991-92 season, Loyola sports information director Steve Jones said yesterday.The action became official Monday.Virginia Commonwealth and Radford also became associate members and will participate in the field hockey championship.The Greyhounds were a member of the South Atlantic Conference, which sponsored championships for field hockey and women's lacrosse. The five-team conference also included Old Dominion, William and Mary, James Madison and Richmond.

After nearly four years as Towson University's athletic director, Mike Hermann resigned from his position this week. Hermann, whose resignation was made official Tuesday and was first reported in the Towerlight newspaper Thursday, said that although the resignation was not planned, "it was in the best interest of the program, given the overall situation at hand." He said he is proud of the progress made in Towson athletics during his tenure. "I feel great about the things that have happened in the last four years," Hermann said.

As the 2013 NCAA men's basketball tournament continues, a couple prominent voices have proposed changing how the field of 68 is composed. Former Maryland coach Gary Williams and ESPN analyst Jay Bilas have suggested eliminating automatic qualifiers and simply selecting the top 68 teams for the tournament. That got me thinking: could the same case be made for college lacrosse? Currently, half of the 16-team field in the tournament will be filled with programs that win their respective conference tournaments and the accompanying automatic bids.

ESPN analyst Mark Dixon provided play by play for No. 13 Princeton's 14-9 victory over No. 14 Cornell last Saturday and will offer analysis of the America East tournament final this Saturday. The former Johns Hopkins midfielder, who can be followed on Twitter via his account @Dixonlacrosse, opined on which team should be the top seed in the NCAA tournament, whether Johns Hopkins and Lehigh should get a seed and a first-round game at home, and what Cornell, Villanova and Syracuse have to do to stamp their tickets to the NCAA tournament.

Towson achieved its preseason objective of qualifying for the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament. But the Tigers didn't do it with the kind of flourish they might have been hoping for. Towson (7-7 overall and 2-4 in the CAA) is in the midst of a four-game losing streak - capped by Saturday's 6-3 loss to conference foe St. Joseph's, a program that had yet to beat a league opponent. That all changed Saturday as the Hawks shut out the Tigers in the second and third quarters.

Towson's recent struggles haven't derailed the team's chance of qualifying for the Colonial Athletic Association tournament. Despite three consecutive losses to league rivals Massachusetts, Penn State and Drexel, the Tigers (7-6 overall and 2-3 in the CAA) can clinch the fourth and final berth in the conference tournament by defeating Saint Joseph's (4-9, 0-5) this Saturday. Coach Shawn Nadelen sounded slightly chagrined at the team's enviable situation. “I guess it's a fortunate situation for us to be in,” he said Monday morning.

After missing the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament last spring, Towson is currently tied for fourth place with Hofstra. (The top four teams in the conference standings advance to the tournament.) The Tigers (7-5 overall and 2-2 in the league) can improve their standing by defeating Drexel (5-7, 3-2) this Saturday. Coach Shawn Nadelen wouldn't go so far as to call Saturday's game a must-win scenario, but he said it's imperative that the team snap a two-game losing skid. “It's just a must-win in regards to ourselves trying to realize what we're capable of and trying to play Towson lacrosse for 60 minutes,” he said Wednesday.

James Madison (9-5) @ No. 17 Towson (11-3) Sunday, 1 p.m. Outlook: The winner of this regular-season finale earns first place in the Colonial Athletic Association as well as the top seed and home-field advantage in the conference tournament. The Tigers and Dukes each enter today 5-0 in the conference and on a five-game winning streak. Each also has one of the nation's top scoring defenses, with Towson allowing just 8.4 goals per game - eighth-best in Division I - and James Madison 9.5 (18th)

Game to watch George Mason at Wichita State, tomorrow, 8 p.m., ESPN2 -- This is one of the featured games in ESPN's BracketBusters series, aka the Missouri Valley Conference Invitational. Besides this one, Northern Iowa stays home to face Bucknell and Southern Illinois gets a visit from Louisiana Tech. Wichita State sits atop the MVC. George Mason, which leads the Colonial Athletic Association, will need fierce play from Jai Lewis, its senior center from Aberdeen. Seeding report Projection -- Who's going to which regional for the NCAA tournament: Washington -- Villanova, Memphis, Florida, Ohio State.

The NCAADivision I women's lacrosse tournament bracket could expand from 16 to 24 teams possibly as early as 2013, a move that would eliminate most play-in games. D'Ann Keller, associate director of championships and alliances for the NCAA, said the expansion has been approved by the Division I championship and sports management cabinet. However, it still has several stages to pass through, including the budget committee, before it becomes certain. With 91 teams this spring and several more expected in the next few years, there could soon be 13 or 14 conferences with automatic qualifiers up from the current 11. An NCAA bylaw stipulates 50 percent of the bracket must be filled with at-large bids, Keller said, so more AQs would necessitate an additional play-in game, bringing the total to four, unless the bracket is expanded to 24. This season, only five conference winners -- the Atlantic Coast (Maryland)

Each year, Division I women's lacrosse shuffles its automatic qualifiers and play-in games based on final RPIs, and this year those changes could most affect Towsonand Navy locally. The winner of Towson's conference, the Colonial Athletic Association, has always received an automatic bid into the 16-team NCAA tournament field. This season, however, the winner must go through a play-in game against the Northeast Conference winner to earn a spot in the 16-team field. Navy's Patriot League would still be in a play-in game, which the Midshipmen hosted and won the past two years, but the winner would now have to travel as far as the West Coast.