COCHRAN, Ga. – The twelfth ranked Thomas University softball team swept the Lady Knights of Middle Georgia State College this afternoon on the road to pick up their twenty-first and twenty-second wins of the season.  The Lady Night Hawks took game one 6-4 and finished the sweep in a 5-3 victory.
 
In the opening game, Thomas took the 1-0 lead in the top of second.  Kelsey Connolly started the inning off with a double to the right-center gap.  Sorrel Hale replaced Connolly as a pinch runner and advanced to third on a stolen base.  On the next pitch, shortstop Lindsey Young landed a bloop single to shallow left to score Hale for the 1-0 advantage. 
 
Middle Georgia took a brief 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth courtesy of two Lady Night Hawk errors.  Two innings later, Thomas regained the lead scoring five runs.  Connolly delivered again for the Lady Night Hawks hitting a grand slam over the left field fence to put Thomas ahead 6-2.  Connolly's blast was her seventh of the season.  Previously in the inning, first baseman Carmen Nadal scored the third TU run of the game with a single to right.
 
The host battled back with a two run rally in the bottom of the sixth to bring the game to within two, 6-4.   Middle Georgia's Blakelyn Bundick lifted a two-run blast over the left field fence.  In the bottom of the seventh, TU's starter, Ashley Chapman struck out the final two batters to end the game.  Chapman picked up the win while MGSC's Ashley Cavender was credited with the loss.
 
In the night cap, the Lady Knights started out with the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. TU's game two starter, Ashley Sikes, worked out of the first inning jam to put the Lady Night Hawks back at the plate in the top of the second.  Nadal led the inning off with a single to shallow right and then scored two batters later when Young launched a two-run blast over the center field fence on the first pitch she saw in game two.  The shot gave TU the 2-1 advantage.
 
The Hunter Green and White extended their lead to 3-1 in the top of the third when Nadal placed a single to the left-center gap, scoring Chandler Seay.  Seay previously reached on a drag bunt single.  In the bottom frame, Middle Georgia cut TU's lead to 3-2 capitalizing on a leadoff double by shortstop Kayla Bawkin.  Sumer Sloan drove in MGSC's second run of the game with a single to shallow center.
 
Two innings later, the Lady Night Hawks drove in two insurance runs to give them the 5-2 advantage in the fifth.  Seay led the inning off with a triple, but was tagged out on a fielder's choice.  Two pitches later, catcher Michael Cooper scored on a one-out RBI-double by Nadal.  Hale, who replaced Nadal as a pinch runner, would score the fifth and final run of the game for TU when Connolly sliced a double down the left field line.
 
Down, but not out, the Lady Knights cut Thomas' lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth.  While the rally for Middle Georgia was valiant in its intent, the comeback fell short being set down in order in the bottom of the seventh.  Sikes picked up her tenth win of the season while Alyssa Amerson suffered the loss.
 
Thomas improves to 22-7 on the year while Middle Georgia drops to 6-13.
 
The Lady Night Hawks return to action on Sat., March 18, when they travel to Miami Gardens, Fla., to face St. Thomas University in a two-game set.  First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. with game two beginning 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
 
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.