LAKE WALES, Fla. – The Thomas University baseball team split their games on the opening day of the 2015 Warner Invitational.  The Night Hawks began the day with an 8-4 loss against No. 24 Mount Vernon Nazarene, and then rebounded to pick up their tenth win of the season defeating Holy Cross (Ind.) 6-3.
 
The Night Hawks jumped out to lead in the second inning on a suicide squeeze by second baseman Colin Kirkland.  Previously, catcher Kaleb Holbrook reached with a double to the right-center gap.  JR Cruess came on as a courtesy runner for the catcher and stole third. On the next pitch, Kirkland's bunt drove in the first run of the game.
 
Mount Vernon responded in the top of the third to take the 4-1 lead over the Night Hawks before Thomas tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the inning.  Both shortstop Jake Desuyo and designated hitter Jalbert Melo reached on walks to put runners on first and second with one out.  Right fielder Casey Mannion cut the Cougars' lead in half, 4-2, lifting an RBI single to center, scoring Desuyo.  Holbrook tied the game at 4-4 when he connected with his second hit of the day with a two-out, two-RBI single to center to score Melo and Mannion.
 
In the top of the sixth, the Cougars took the 5-4 lead on two singles and a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher's mound.                  Third baseman Jacob Chrysler led the inning off with a single to center and then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt to TU's starter, Tate Lambert.  On the next pitch, MVNU's catcher Sterling Harpst drove in the go ahead run with an RBI-single to center.  The Cougars would go on to score three more runs in the top of the seven en route to the 8-4 victory.  MVNU's Lucas Daughtery picked up the win while reliever Chad Jones suffered the loss.
 
In game two, the Night Hawks took a 2-0 lead in the opening inning against Holy Cross (Ind.).  Desuyo started the game off with a single to right and then advanced to third when Melo sliced a chopper to shallow center field.  Mannion plated the first run of the game lifting a sacrifice fly to deep center, scoring Desuyo for the 1-0 lead.  Melo would come around to score when HC's starter, Trey Bickel, threw a wild pitch and Brett Bowman mishandled a pitch forcing a passed ball.
 
The Saints cut TU's lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the first when Chris Woodruff crushed a hanging fastball over the left field fence.  Thomas regained its two run gap in the top of the second.  Second baseman Austin Corbitt reached on four straight balls.  Cruess moved Corbitt to second with a grounder to short.  Corbitt came around to score five pitches later when Desuyo hit a bloop single to shallow right field.
 
After two scoreless frames by both teams, Holy Cross would tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth.
 
The Night Hawks went on to score the go-ahead and two insurance runs in the top of the sixth en route to their 6-3 victory.  Damon Jackson led off the inning reaching on an error by Darwing Ereu.  He moved to third on a sacrifice by Brent Slaughter and then scored on a suicide squeeze by Corbitt.  Corbitt, who reached safely at first, would score on an RBI double by Cruess.  Three pitches later, Desuyo drove in the sixth and final run of the game with a double to left.  Neal Hunter (1-1) picked up the win while HC's Bickel suffered the loss.
 
"It feels good to get back in the win column today," stated head coach Mike Lee. "We made a few mental errors earlier in the day that hurt us, but our pitching staff got us back into the game and the bats finally started to connect."
 
Thomas moves to 10-12, 3-8 TSC, while Mount Vernon improves to 1-0 and Holy Cross drops to 9-6 on the year.
 
The Night Hawks return to action on Fri., March 13 when they continue their run in the 2015 Warner Invitational.  The Night Hawks will play two games on day two of the tournament with elimination games starting on Sat., March 14.  TU's first contest on Friday will be against St. Francis University (Ill.) at 11:00 a.m. while game to will be at 2:00 p.m. against Spring Arbor.
 
For up-to-date information on this game and other TU Athletics, visit www.TUNightHawks.com.  Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, and feature stories of your TU baseball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawkBaseba.