FT. MYERS, Fla. – The sixth-seeded Thomas University baseball team upset the top-seeded Seahawks of Northwood University 3-1 this afternoon in their opening game of the 2015 Sun Conference Championship tournament.
 
Left-hander Tate Lambert started the game for the Night Hawks, but did not return in the second after pitching a scoreless opening frame.  Senior right-hander Ben Overman came on in relief and went on to pitch six innings of scoreless relief.
 
The game went scoreless until the bottom of the seventh when the Seahawks took the 1-0 advantage.  Third baseman Luis Roman led the inning off walking on six pitches.  He would advance 90 feet with a sacrifice bunt by Joee Reyna and then onto third on a wild pitch by Overman.  With two outs in the inning, center fielder Casey Mullenix lifted an RBI-single to left to put the Seahawks ahead with the 1-0 advantage.
 
Thomas responded in the top of the eighth to tie the game at 1-1.  Third baseman Matthew Brady led off the inning with a single to left and was moved up 90 feet by pinch hitter JR Cruess' sacrifice bunt to the pitcher.  With two outs in the inning, shortstop Jake Desuyo singled to right to put Brady at third.  With runners on the corners, center fielder Jalbert Melo singled to deep short to score Brady, tying the game.
 
The Night Hawks continued the offensive rally in the top of the ninth.  Catcher Kaleb Holbrook, whose 4-for-4 performance at the plate tied the Sun Conference tournament record for hits in a single game, led off the inning with a single to right and then advanced to second on a fielding error by Northwood's right fielder.  Corey Conway came on as a courtesy runner for Holbrook and would score the second Night Hawk run of the game when left fielder Jeremy Crosby's sacrifice bunt was retrieved by the Seahawk catcher and then overthrown at first.  With the 2-1 lead in the Night Hawks' favor and no outs in the inning, Northwood went to the bullpen to end starter Cody Gray's day.  Gray struck out 11 of the 32 batters he faced allowing nine hits and three runs.
 
Still with no outs in the inning, Brandon Singer advanced Crosby to third with a sacrifice bunt.  On the next pitch, Brady lifted a single to left field to drive in an insurance run for the 3-1 advantage.
 
Reliever Monte Reese shut down the Seahawks in order in the bottom of the ninth to close out the game.
 
Thomas' Reese (5-6) picked up the win while Northwood's Cody Gray (8-3) suffered the loss.
 
The Night Hawks improve to 23-23-1 on the year while No. 4 Northwood drops to 39-11.  Thomas joins SCAD-Savannah (2012) and USC-Beaufort (2013) as the only two teams to ever upset a number one seed in the first round of the Sun Conference Tournament.
 
The Night Hawks return to action on Saturday, May 2, when they face the loser of third-seeded St. Thomas and fourth-seeded Southeastern in the winner's bracket.  First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m. at the City of Palms Park.
 
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.