THOMASVILLE, Ga. – Earlier in the day, the Thomas University softball team shutout Truett-McConnell in their 4-0 victory.  Just two hours later, the Lady Night Hawks continued their momentum into their afternoon matchup against College of Coastal Georgia to 10-run rule the Mariners from Brunswick, Ga., in the bottom of the fifth inning.  The Lady Night Hawks (3-1) plated six runs in that frame to defeat CCGA 10-2 at home on a chilly Friday afternoon.
 
Thomas' starting pitcher, junior Ashley Chapman, started the game off by setting down the Mariners in 1-2-3 order in the top of the first.  In the bottom frame, the Lady Night Hawks pounced on CCGA to take the 1-0.  On a 1-2 count, Michael Cooper lined a double to left-center that narrowly missed going out of the park by three inches.  Cooper, who launched a three-run homer in the morning's victory over TMC, plated Aileen Fiallo from first.  Previously, Fiallo reached base on a one-out single down the left field line.
 
After another shutout inning by Chapman, the Lady Night Hawks plated two runs in the bottom of the second.  First, catcher Kelsey Connolly reached when she was hit by pitch.  Next, right fielder Danielle Lower would beat out an infield bunt to put runners on first and second.  Left fielder Brittany Daniels would then move Connolly and Lower up 60 feet with a sacrifice bunt.  Two batters later, designated player Alex VanWagner doubled to the left-center gap to score Connolly and Lower to put the Lady Night Hawks up 3-0.
 
Thomas would go on to score another run in the bottom of the third (4-0) when Cooper hit her second homerun of the day over the left field fence. Coastal Georgia would respond in the top of the fourth and fifth, scoring one run in each inning to cut TU's lead in half, 4-2.
 
With the narrowed gap in sight, the Lady Night Hawks' offense rebounded to plate six runs in the bottom of the fifth to run rule the Mariners.  Coastal Georgia aided in the process with an error-filled inning on defense.  Rachel Hoeft would start the final inning off by reaching on a bobbled ball by CCGA's Andrea Chapman. Chandler Seay, who came on as a pinch runner, would move to first when Connolly was hit by a pitch. Coastal Georgia's starting pitcher, Stacey Ward, would then skip a pitch to the backstop to advance both runners. Four pitches later, the Mariners would pick up their second error of the inning when Ward bobbled a ground ball hit by Danielle Lower.  Two runs would cross the plate to extend the Lady Night Hawks' lead to 6-2. 
 
With no outs in the inning, Daniels singled to short, moving Lower to third.  Kayla Johnson, who was named TU's female student-athlete of the week on Monday, stepped in to deliver the final nail in the coffin for the Lady Night Hawks.  On the first pitch she saw, Johnson crushed a 215 foot, three-run boom over the left field fence ending Ward's day.  Coastal Georgia's Cali Bartholomew would move from center field to pitcher to relieve Ward.  The inning's dramatics for the Mariners continued on Bartholomew's first pitch in relief when she overthrew the catcher sending the ball to the backstop.  This moved both Lady Night Hawk base runners into scoring position.  Two pitches later, the game would end in a 10 run rule when Bartholomew bobbled a chopper hit back to the mound by Carmen Nadal.  The right-hander's mistake allowed VanWagner to score from third ending the game in a 10-2 victory in Thomas' favor.
 
"Today was a great start to the weekend series," stated head coach Bill Wilson.  "We showed the true meaning of team.  Everyone played and executed together.  I'm so proud of our team for not just caring for the wins, but also for each other.  The players are truly buying into what I tell them.  We will be as successful as they are willing to be unselfish-not just as a team, but as a family."
 
Thomas improves to 3-1 on the year while Coastal Georgia drops to 1-4.  Chapman picked up her first win of the year while Ward was credited with the loss.  Thomas' Alexa Fair captured her first save of the year in the victory.

The Lady Night Hawks return to action on Saturday, Feb. 14 when they host Truett-McConnell at 1 p.m. and Coastal Georgia at 3 p.m. in single game sets. 
 
For up-to-date information on these games and other TU Athletics, visit www.TUNightHawks.com.  Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, and feature stories of your TU softball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksSoftb.