TOWSON, Md. - At the start of the baseball season, Coach Mike Gottlieb knew he had one of the youngest teams he had ever coached. Frankly, he didn't know what to expect

What he found out that he had was a scappy team that was very resilient. He had a team that played very good defense and used timely hitting and decent pitching to post a 27-31 record and finish fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 15-15 record.

Towson's second straight 15-15 CAA record enabled the Tigers to reach the CAA Tournament for the first time since 2008.

At the CAA Tournament, the Tigers displayed their resilience. After dropping an 8-7, 12-inning loss to Delaware on Wednesday night, they came right back the next morning to pound George Mason. Later that night, Towson dropped a 14-9 contest to Virginia Commonwealth.

Offensively, the Tigers had a team batting average of .267, tenth in the CAA. Their 5.79 E.R.A. was also tenth among the 11 teams in the CAA.

Where the Tigers excelled was defensively.

Towson compiled a .971 fielding percentage through 58 games. That mark set a school record and ranked  third in the CAA. The Tigers had only 64 errors and tied the school record with 60 double plays. They were second in the CAA in double plays.

What was surprising about the Tigers' defensive prowess was the fact that Towson started the season with an almost-new infield. Second baseman Pat Fitzgerald, a sophomore, was the Tigers' lone returning starter as graduation claimed shortstop Nick Natoli, third baseman Chris Wychock and first baseman Austin Harclerode. Natoli earned the CAA Defensive Player of the Year award twice.

In 2012, freshman Brendan Butler stepped up and took over at first base. A second team All-CAA selection who batted .308 with 34 runs batted in, Butler saw action at first base, third base and the outfield. He had a .988 fielding percentage with only five errors in 429 chances.

Fitzgerald, who missed the first two weeks of the season with a back issue, came back to post an impressive .978 fielding percentage. He made only one error in the last 24 games.

Sophomore Hunter Bennett stepped in at shortstop and did a terrific job. He had a .960 fielding mark with only eight errors in 224 chances. Bennett took part in 31 double plays.

Junior Zach Fisher had a terrific first season with the Tigers. In his first season playing for Towson after transferring from Maryland, Fisher led the team with a .333 batting average. Defensively, Fisher had an amazing .965 fielding percentage. 

In the CAA Tournament, the Tigers played defense at a very high level. In three games, Towson had a .992 fielding percentage. The Tigers also turned eight double plays while junior catcher Andrew Parker threw out the only base runner who tried to steal. Parker also had a terrific season defensively with a .993 fielding percentage.

Senior centerfielder Ben Winter (right) had a .991 fielding percentage in his final college season. In his four years as a starter in the outfield, he made only one error and had a .993 fielding percentage in his career. In four years, he made only three errors in 415 fielding chances.