THOMASVILLE, Ga. – On bright and sunny afternoon perfect for baseball, the Thomas University baseball team battled No. 3 Northwood University at home in a doubleheader.  While Thomas scrapped and fought hard down to the last out, the Night Hawks fell valiantly losing game one 7-4 and dropping the night cap 13-6.  In their victories over the Night Hawks, the Seahawks of Northwood clinched a share of the 2015 Sun Conference regular season championship.
 
In the opening game, the Seahawks jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first.  Thomas would tie the game in the bottom of the second plating three runs.  Catcher Kaleb Holbrook led off the inning walking on six pitches before being replaced by courtesy runner Brandon Singer.  On 1-2 count, left fielder Jeremy Crosby moved Singer to second with a single to right.  Still with no outs in the inning, designated hitter Josh Bruijn launched a double to deep center field to drive in the first two Night Hawk runs of the game.  Third baseman Matthew Brady kept Thomas' offense rolling dropping a perfectly placed sac bunt down the third base line to move Bruijn into scoring position.  With one out in the inning, first baseman Brent Slaughter drove in the tying run with a suicide squeeze bunt down the first base line to score Bruijn from third.
 
Northwood would reclaim the 6-3 lead over the next four frames while shutting out the Night Hawks during the third through seventh innings.  Thomas would cut Northwood's advantage to 6-4 in the bottom of the eighth before the Seahawks plated an insurance run in the top of the ninth to take the game in a 7-4 victory.  TU's Monte Reese received the loss while Northwood's Cody Gray was credited with the win.
 
Game two started out as a pitchers' duel between Northwood's    Alan Carey and TU's Neal Hunter.  Each team scored in the first inning to gridlock the game at 1-1.  In the bottom of the third, the Night Hawks took their first lead, 2-1, of the series.  Holbrook, once again, started things off with a single to right.  Singer came on as a courtesy runner for a second appearance in the game.  He would steal second base and then move to third when Crosby laced a liner to right.  With runners on the corners, Brady dropped his second sacrifice of the day down the third base line to squeeze Singer home for the 2-1 Night Hawk lead. 
 
The upset-minded Night Hawks extended their lead over Northwood in the bottom of the fifth when Bruijn smashed a solo homerun over the right field fence.  This blast was his eighth of the season.  After both sides faced a scoreless sixth, the Seahawks' offense exploded with six runs in the top of the seventh to regain the 7-3 advantage.  Down, but not out, Thomas rallied to score two runs in the bottom of the seventh.  The inning started with right fielder Casey Mannion being hit by a pitch on the top of his knee. Three batters later, the Night Hawks would load the bases when Bruijn was also hit by a pitch.  With one out in the inning, Northwood's reliever, Weston Wuthrich, threw a wild pitch to the backstop allowing the fourth Night Hawk run to cross the plate.  Three pitches later, JR Cruess hit a chopper to deep first driving in the fifth Night Hawk run of the game. 
 
The third-ranked Seahawks would go on to score six insurance runs in the top of the ninth to expand their lead to 13-5. Before the game concluded with a victory in favor of the Seahawks, Holbrook would hit his first homerun of the 2015 season over the right field fence.  His solo shot brought the final score to 13-6.  Hunter would receive the loss with Carey picking up the win.  Wuthrich would receiving his second save of the year.
 
Thomas drops to 18-23-1, 9-13 TSC, on the year while No. 3 Northwood improves to 37-7, 21-2 TSC.

The Night Hawks return to action on Sat., April 11, when they wrap up their third game series with Northwood.  First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. from Varnedoe Stadium.
 
To access a complete photo gallery of today's games, click here.
 
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 baseball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawkBaseba.