HARDEEVILLE, S.C. – The third winning streak (10 games) of the season came to a halt this afternoon when No. 8 Thomas University was swept by No. 22 USC-Beaufort in doubleheader action.  The Sand Sharks took game one 3-1 and then shut out the Lady Night Hawks in their 8-0 run-rule victory in game two.
 
USC-Beaufort jumped out to the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third with two key hits.  With two outs in the inning, Sammi Shaffren doubled to the left-center field gap.  She would come around to score when first baseman Maddie Byrd singled to right field to plate the first Sand Shark run of the game.
 
The Lady Night Hawks responded in the top of the fourth to tie the game at 1-1.  Right fielder Alex VanWagner led the inning off with a bunt single.  Thomas put runners on first and second when Chandler Seay reached on a fielder's choice.  With two outs in the inning, first baseman Carmen Nadal smashed a double to left, plating VanWagner.
 
The Sand Sharks went into rally mode in the bottom of the fifth to plate the go-ahead run.  With two outs, Shaffren laced an infield single.  Byrd came up clutch again and picked up her second RBI of the game when she connected with a rise ball that shot straight to the right-center gap.  The twenty-second ranked Sand Sharks drove in an insurance run in bottom of the sixth to take the 3-1 advantage.  Center fielder Shelby Zipperer started the inning with a single through the left side.  With one out in the inning, second baseman Marissa Becker doubled to the left-center gap to score Zipperer for the third Sand Shark run of the game.  This hit ended the day for TU's starting pitcher Katie Lopes.
 
Lopes (9-3) received the loss while USCB's Kristy Cook picked up the win.  Lopes worked 5.1 innings of play, striking out four of the 27 batters she faced while surrendering three earned runs on eight hits.
 
Errors doomed the Lady Night Hawks in game two.  After three scoreless innings, the Sand Sharks' offense capitalized on four fielding errors by Thomas to score seven runs in the fourth.  Zipperer reached hitting a grounder that forced a wild throw by TU's shortstop Lindsey Young.  Zipperer moved to second on the throw and then up to third on a passed by catcher Michael Cooper.  During the next at bat, Zipperer would come around to score the first run of the game when Sam Boland lined a single up the middle.  The next batter would reach on TU's second error of the inning putting runners at second and third after a wild pitch by Thomas' starting pitcher, Ashley Sikes.
 
Whitley Martin ended Sikes' day with an RBI-single to left, scoring the second run of the inning.  Right-hander Ashley Chapman came on in relief for the Lady Night Hawks.  Immediately, the Sand Sharks welcomed Chapman with a single to third, scoring the third run of the inning, giving USCB the 3-0 lead.  After Shaffren walked to load the bases, Byrd smashed a grand slam over the center field fence.  The blast put the Sand Sharks ahead 7-0.  The next inning, the Sand Sharks ended the game in a run-rule plating the eighth and final run of the game.  Sikes (13-5) suffered the loss while USCB's Ashlie Layman picked up the win.

Thomas drops to 28-9, 6-2 TSC, on the year while USC-Beaufort improves to 22-8, 8-0 TSC.

The Lady Night Hawks return to action on Sun., April 12, when they host Sun Conference rival Webber International in a two game set.  First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. from Armory Field 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.