TOWSON, Md. – Junior third baseman Austin Nyman had four hits as Hofstra University (31-19, 18-9) came from behind to hand the Tigers (23-29, 12-15) an 11-6 Colonial Athletic Association loss in the third and deciding game of their three-game CAA weekend series at John B. Schuerholz Park on Sunday afternoon.

With the victory, Hofstra virtually secured second place in the CAA Tournament which is scheduled for May 23-26 in Harrisonburg, Va.  The Pride owns a two-game lead over third-place Delaware.

By losing to Hofstra in the series finale, the Tigers' CAA Playoff hopes were placed in further doubt. Towson enters the final weekend of the regular season tied for sixth place in the CAA with Georgia State (12-15, 22-30).  The top six teams make the CAA Tournament. While the Tigers are hosting James Madison on the final weekend of the regular season, Georgia State will be playing at Old Dominion. Towson needs to win one more game than Georgia State to earn a CAA Tournament berth.

In the series finale, the Tigers took a 6-4 lead into the sixth inning. However, Hofstra scored three runs in the sixth, two in the eighth and two in the ninth to pull away for the win.

Hofstra struck first in the series finale. Leading off, senior rightfielder Danny Poma hit the first pitch of the game for a single to left field. With one out, junior second baseman Matt Ford advanced him to second base when he grounded out to first base. Junior first baseman Jared Hammer gave Hofstra a 1-0 lead when he singled to right, scoring Poma. Sophomore leftfielder Kenny Jackson followed with a single to right, giving the Pride runners on first and second. However, sophomore rightfielder Dominic Fratantuono made a diving catch on a line drive by senior designated hitter Kevin Flynn, ending the inning.

In the bottom of the first inning, sophomore righthander Bryan Verbitsky of Hofstra struggled with his control and the Tigers took advantage. With one out, he walked junior third baseman Zach Fisher. With Fratantuono at bat, Fisher stole second base and went to third on a throwing error by sophomore catcher Matt Reistetter. After Fratantuono drew a walk, freshman leftfielder Brendan Butler smashed a drive off the top of the left centerfield fence that went for a two-run double, giving the Tigers a 2-1 lead. However, Verbitsky retired the next two hitters to get out of the inning.

In the top of the second, Hofstra came back to tie the score. Reistetter led off with a single and junior centerfielder Taylor Stuart hit into a force play. With Stuart running on the pitch, junior third baseman Austin Nyman hit a line drive to centerfield. Senior centerfielder Ben Winter came in and appeared to make a diving catch. However, Winter dropped the ball as he was getting up to throw and the umpires ruled no catch and the Pride had runners on first and third. When Poma was hit by a pitch, the bases were loaded. A sacrifice fly by junior shortstop Dalton Rouleau drove in Stuart with the tying run. But, when Hofstra tried to pull off a double steal, junior catcher Andrew Parker threw out Nyman at third base.

Senior righthander Tyler Austin, who earned a save in the series opener on Friday, came out of the bullpen to pitch for the Tigers in the third inning. Ford led off with a single up the middle. Hammer drew a walk to put two runners on base. When Jackson singled to right, Hofstra owned a 3-2 lead. Austin came back to strike out Flynn and Reistetter for two outs. But Hammer and Jackson pulled off a double steal, putting two runners in scoring position. When Austin uncorked a wild pitch, Hammer scored to give Hofstra a 4-2 advantage. Austin finally struck out Stuart to end the inning.

In the bottom of the third inning, the Tigers came back to tie the score. Sophomore designated hitter Brandon Gonnella led off with a single. Fisher followed with a single to left center, putting runners on first and third. A sacrifice fly by Fratantuono trimmed Towson's deficit to 4-3. When Butler was hit by a pitch, Towson had runners on first and second. When Verbitsky threw a wild pitch, both runners moved up a base. At that point, junior righthander Cody Normand relieved Verbitsky. After Normand struck out junior first baseman Kurtis Voytell, Parker hit a ground ball down the third base line that hit the base and went for an RBI single, tying the game at 4-4. Normand pitched out of the jam by getting sophomore second baseman Pat Fitzgerald to hit a ground ball back to the mound for the final out.

In the fourth inning, Towson grabbed a 6-4 lead as the Tigers rallied with two outs. Gonnella started the two-out rally with a single to left center. When Fisher doubled down the left field line, the Tigers had runners on second and third. Fratantuono came through with a ground ball up the middle that Ford flagged down as it went into centerfield. While Fratantuono beat the throw from Ford, Fisher alertly scored from second to put Towson ahead, 6-4. Butler grounded back to the mound, ending the inning.

After allowing two runs in the third, Austin shut down the Pride over the next two frames. During one stretch, he retired ten hitters in a row and he struck out eight of them. With one out in the sixth, Reistetter started a rally with a single to right. After Stuart walked, Nyman singled to right, cutting the lead to 6-5. Both runners moved into scoring position when Poma grounded out to second base. But Rouleau came through a single to left center, scoring two runs to give Hofstra a 7-6 advantage, a lead the Pride would never give up. Austin retired Ford on a fly ball to left to end the inning.

Meanwhile, sophomore righthander Brett Schreiber came in from the bullpen to shut down the Tigers. He came on in the sixth inning and shut out the Tigers the rest of the way, earning his third save of the season. Schreiber threw four shutout innings and allowed four hits. He had two strikeouts.

In the eighth inning, Reistetter, who hit .571 in the weekend series, led off with a single. After Austin retired Stuart on a foul pop up, Nyman singled to centerfield. At that point, sophomore righthander Chris Acker relieved Austin. Poma greeted Acker with a double down the left field line, giving Hofstra an 8-6 lead. After Rouleau was walked intentionally, Ford hit a sacrifice fly, upping the advantage to 9-6. Hammer ended the inning by grounding out.

Jackson led off the ninth inning with a single and Flynn drew a walk. Acker retired Reistetter and Stuart on pop ups. With two outs, Nyman laced an RBI double down the left field line, upping the lead to 10-6. When Rouleau reached on an error, Flynn scored for an 11-6 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, Butler and Voytell singled with two outs. But, Parker was retired on a fly ball to end the game.

Hofstra, which came into the series as the second-leading offensive team in the nation with a .340 team batting average, was led by Nyman, who was four-for-five with two RBI's. Reistetter went three-for-five and scored a pair of runs. Jackson also had three hits while Poma was two-for-four. The Pride batted .360 in the series. While Reistetter led the Pride by hitting .571, Jackson batted .462. The second-leading hitter in the nation, Poma batted .455 in the series to raise his seasonal batting average to .450. Nyman hit .417 while Rouleau batted .385 with four RBI's.

The Tigers, who had 12 hits in the loss, were led by Gonnella, Fisher, Butler and Voytell, who each had two hits.

Normand picked up the win in relief for Hofstra. He allowed two runs on four hits in 2.2 innings of work. Making his school record 28th appearance of the season, Austin suffered the loss for Towson. He pitched 5.1 innings and gave up seven runs on seven hits. He walked two and had nine strikeouts.

When Austin struck out Jackson in the seventh inning, it was the 200th strikeout of his career. He became the first pitcher in Towson history with 200 career strikeouts.

The Tigers return to action on Thursday when they host James Madison in the opening game of their three-game series.