THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas University baseball team travels to Miami Gardens, Fla. this weekend for a pivotal three-game The Sun Conference series against #12 St. Thomas University.
 
The Night Hawks (14-16, 3-6 TSC) are quickly reaching peak form now winning 10 of its last 11 games.  TU comes fresh off an upset over #19 Freed-Hardeman, featuring big days for Redshirt Sophomore Raines Plant and Redshirt Junior Brad Toxen, each recording three RBIs, with Plant finishing 4-for-5 at the plate.
 
The Night Hawks have seen gradual improvement in its hitting game, now boasting six players with batting averages of .300 or better.  TU now averages 5.73 RBIs a game (fifth-best in the conference) while connecting on over nine hits a contest.
 
Freshman Turner Maddox has the team's highest batting average (.403) as Freshman Jayson Zmejkoski continues to be the Night Hawks' RBI leader (21). 
 
After a bumpy start to the 2021 season, the pitching staff continues to improve its overall ERA, now averaging 6.91 (Seventh in The Sun Conference).  Redshirt Senior Patrick Haley (1-4) recently comes off an outing that featured two earned runs allowed in six hits with five strikeouts against Florida Memorial.  Redshirt Senior Jorge Meran may not have seen a chunk of pitching time, but the Bronx, N.Y. native has been clutch for the Hunter Green & White in his previous two appearances at the mound, picking up back-to-back Saves.
 
While #12 St. Thomas (19-11, 6-3 TSC) was shocked by Ave Maria Tuesday, dropping a pair to the Gyrenes, the good news for the Bobcats was that the doubleheader was only non-conference play.  Now, STU will look to rebound against a team that has a five-game win streak.
 
The Bobcats' specialty this season has been at the mound, ranking third in the nation with total strikeouts (293).  Ernesto Pino (5-0) and Gio Soto (2-1) have both recorded more than 40 season strikeouts in their respective appearances.  STU enters the weekend giving up a 4.81 as a staff.
 
The bats for St. Thomas will be tough to overcome, but the Night Hawks have averaged a 4.35 ERA in the previous four games.  STU not only bats .319 as a team (ranked 34th in NAIA), but also has two of the Top 10 hitters that have recorded doubles on the season in Jack Khawly (12) and Kobe Lopez (11) as well as a scoring offense averaging 7.567 runs a contest. 
 
Thomas will look to break STU's nine-game hold over the Night Hawks, as the Bobcats lead the overall series 17-8.
 
First pitch at Paul Demie Mainieri Field is set for Friday at 3 p.m.  Fans who wish to follow the action can click on the links below:
 
Live Stats                                             Live Video
 
For up-to-date information on this series 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.