THOMASVILLE, Ga. – Eager to shake off their 23-25-1 record of 2015, the Thomas University baseball team will enter the 2016 season on Saturday afternoon on the road against Middle Georgia State in Cochran, Ga.
 
The Night Hawks, who were tabbed to finished fifth in the Sun Conference preseason coaches' poll, look to make a turnaround under head coach Mike Lee's new squad.  Lee, who is entering into his twentieth season as the TU skipper, and staff made several key signings in the offseason that should have an immediate effect on the program's upcoming season.
 
Thomas' returns its sophomore ace Tate Lambert for a second season with the Night Hawks.  The left-hander went 7-4 in 2015 and posted a 3.44 ERA en route to winning the Sun Conference's Gold Glove as a pitcher.  The hurler will be joined by redshirt-senior Neal Hunter (2-5, 5.30 ERA, 73 innings pitched) from last year's squad and newcomer Jordan Martin.  Martin is a towering right-hander who comes to Thomas via the University of West Florida.  The trio will help guide Thomas in the opening series as Hunter will be the opening day starter while Lambert and Martin will take the mound in game two and three, respectively.
 
Coach Lee will look for immediate contributions from Jalbert Melo and transfers Tanner Eslbernd (Lake-Sumter CC), Yovanny Peguero (Point University), and Tanner Long (Lake-Sumter CC).  The 2016 squad will be without NAIA National Player of the Week and First-Team All-TSC Selection Kaleb Holbrook and TSC Gold Glove winner Jake Desuyo. 
 
As part of the transition year, the Hunter Green and White will also see shifts defensively.  Seniors JR Cruess and Jeremy Crosby will be making the shift from the outfield as Cruess will be Thomas' full-time catcher and Crosby will make regular starts at first base.
 
Under their third year head coach Paul Knight, the Middle Georgia Knights are looking to improve on its 17-32, 7-23 SSAC, record from 2015.  Last season, the Knights were led by Clint Wynn at the plate and Tay Jerger on the mound.  Wynn had a team high .324 batting average where he connected with 61 hits that drove in a squad high 34 runs.  Jerger went 3-6 on the mound for Middle Georgia, accumulating a 4.11 ERA while striking out 50 batters.
 
Thomas and Middle Georgia split the season series going 2-2.  Thomas won the first two games of their season opening, three game series in Thomasville while MGSU picked up the rubber game and single game set in the middle of March.
 
First pitch between the Night Hawks and Middle Georgia is slated for 1:00 p.m. from Stuckey Field.  Game two of Saturday's doubleheader will follow game one with the final game of the series scheduled for Sun., Jan. 31 at 1:00 p.m.
 
Game Day Coverage:
Game 1 Live Stats
Game 2 Live Stats
Game 3 Live Stats
 
For up-to-date information on Night Hawk Baseball 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.