Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Thomas University (8-16) split a doubleheader on the first day of the 2016 Warner Invitational. Game one in the morning against #12 Bellevue ended with TU on the short end of a 2-0 score, but in the nightcap the Night Hawks shut out St. Ambrose 7-0.

In the opener, starter Neal Hunter threw 5 scoreless innings to keep the game tied headed to the sixth inning. The Night Hawks squandered a golden oppportunity in the 5th inning when pinch hitter Colin Kirkland walked to open the frame, and JR Cruess followed with his second hit of the day to put runners at the corners with no outs. A line out by Jalbert Melo, a popup by Tanner Long, and a ground out by Gant Highsmith kept the game scoreless when In the 6th, reliever Jared Corbitt would enter the game. The first Bellevue (13-3) batter reached on a Highsmith error. Corbitt would walk the next batter, and a passed ball by Cruess would put the runners in scoring position. A sacrifice fly and a double would chase Corbitt from the game, and Tyler Leach would enter and stop the scoring at 2-0. Cruess finished with 2 hits in the game. Corbitt would take the loss, giving up both runs, 1 unearned, on 2 hits and 1 walk.

TU traveled south from Warner University to Avon Park for the second game of the day against St. Ambrose (4-6). TU would open the scoring in the bottom of the first when Cruess reached on an error. Melo would sacrifice him to second, and he would score on a base hit by Matthew Brady. Jeremy Crosby doubled Brady to third, and a passed ball scored Brady and sent Crosby to third. He would score with two outs as Blake Summers reached on an error for a 3-0 lead after one inning.

Jordan Martin would take over from there, tossing the complete game shutout. The junior righthander would strike 14 in the seven inning game, walking 2 and giving up 4 hits. He allowed only 1 Bees runner to reach second base.

TU would add 1 run in the 5th inning, using an RBI triple from Melo that scored Dillon True, who reached on an error. In the sixth inning, Brady would crush a 3-run homer to provide the final 7-0 margin. Brady would finish the game 3-4 with 4 RBI.

The Night Hawks take the field again on Friday for day two of the tournament, beginning with Siena Heights at 9:15am at Warner, followed by the second game of the day at Frostproof High School, where they take on St. Francis at 3pm. 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.