Box Score
Thomas University (14-24, 2-11) pounded out 16 hits in a 9-4 victory over Sun Conference rival Ave Maria on Friday afternoon at Varnedoe Stadium. The 9 runs are the most the Night Hawks have scored since a 13-8 win over Brewton Parker on March 15, and ended a 7-game losing streak.

The first inning started slow for TU, but consecutive 2-out walks to Matthew Brady and Jeremy Crosby, followed by a wild pitch to move them to 2nd and 3rd, set up a 2-RBI single by Gavin Murphy. Reed Melcolm followed with his first homerun of the year, and the Night Hawks had a 4-0 lead after the first.

The second inning saw Jalbert Melo drive in Blake Summers with a single to make the lead 5-0 through two complete. The Gyrenes would answer with a 2-run homer in their half of the third, but TU would answer back with another run in the third, when Yovanny Peguero doubled home Murphy, and again in the 4th when Crosby used a 2-out single to drive home Melo for the 7-2 lead after 4 innings.

AMU would score another run in the 5th, but leave the bases loaded on a flyout to center. In the bottom of the sixth, Melo sent the first pitch of the inning deep over the left field fence to give the Night Hawks an 8-2 lead. Colin Kirkland would hit a sacrifice fly later in the inning to score Crosby as TU stretched the lead to 9-3 through 6 complete innings.

Nick Riley would come on in relief of starter Jordan Martin in the seventh, and his first pitch was deposited over the right field wall to make the score 9-4. Riley would need only 28 more pitches to get the final 9 outs to secure the victory. Martin (6 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) picked up the win, and Riley got the 3 inning save. Melcolm (4-5, HR, 2 RBI), and Melo (3-5, HR, 2 RBI) were the offensive stars for the Night Hawks. Crosby added 3 hits, and JR Cruess and Peguero had 2 each.

The two teams will conclude the series on Saturday, when they square off in a doubleheader beginning at 12pm. 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.