THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas University baseball team will have an opportunity to pick up several wins this weekend, as the Night Hawks will first travel to Auburndale, Fla. to make an appearance at the RussMatt Invitational to face Dordt College in doubleheader action Thursday and Saginaw Valley State in a single game Friday, followed by a home, non-conference three-game series against Florida National University Saturday and Sunday.
TU (4-14, 0-6 TSC) recently split its Sunday doubleheader at Talladega College, proving victorious after a come-from-behind 7-4 win in Game One, before falling 4-3 in Game Two. Junior Redshirt
Brad Toxen has produced a RBI in six of the Night Hawks' last eight contests, while registering at least a hit in eight of the last nine games. Despite the team results, Junior Redshirt
Rodwell Munoz comes off a productive weekend, recording multiple hits in three of the four previous matches.
Dordt College (7-8) has been in Florida since Saturday, but has dropped three of its latest four contests, including its latest 25-4 defeat by conference rival Southeastern University.
At the plate, the Defenders are led by Logan Cline, who leads the team in batting average (.469) along with RBIs (16) and Stolen Bases (11). Cline has not been caught stealing bases yet this season. As a whole, DC nearly averages eight runs scored a game and just over nine hits. The Defenders' base running has been as effective, averaging close to two stolen bases a contest.
On the mound, Gyeongju Kim leads a Dordt pitching staff that averages 7.86 ERA and allows just over 30% of hits by batters. Personally, Kim holds a 6.19 while averaging 13.5 strikeouts a game.
Saginaw Valley State (2-2) began its 2021 season just this month, taking decisive wins over Cleary and Trinity Baptist before dropping its recent two games to Southeastern and Dordt. While the Cardinals will play Wayne State before its bird battle with Thomas, the hitting game for SVSU has proved to be an issue for opposing outfielders. Thomas Loftus has been the batter to watch, hitting .538 in the early season, accumulating six RBIs and a .769 slugging percentage.
While 11 different pitchers have made appearances this season, Hayden Jatczak has seen the most innings (6.0) out of the bunch, only allowing four hits on the mound.
As for Florida National (4-9), the team will play Bryant & Stratton in doubleheader action before making the trip to Thomasville for the three-game series. The Conquistadors have primarily competed against foes in The Sun Conference, but have proven to be a challenge to all. In its latest series against Ave Maria, FNU's two losses to Gyrenes were decided by no more than two runs.
The Conquistadors' hitting unit has been underestimated in 2021, with four batters hitting .400 or better. Ezequiel Valdez-Florentino has been off to a great start on the season, as the Freshman currently hits .472 with 12 RBIs and eight stolen bases.
RussMatt Invitational has provided live stats for Thursday and Friday's games. Live Video will be available for purchase through LiveBarn at a discounted price (10% Off with code: Russ-Matt). Links are below:
Thursday vs. Dordt College @3 PM & 6 PM
Live Stats Live Video
Friday vs. Saginaw Valley State @11 AM
Live Stats Live Video
Saturday's non-conference series against Florida National can be accessed live with the following links:
TU vs. FNU
Live Stats Live Video
First pitch at Varnedoe Stadium against the Conquistadors is set for 1 p.m. Saturday, while Sunday's first pitch is slated for noon.
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 @NightHawksBaseba.
