THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas University softball team's grit was tested but nevertheless found a way to earn two, hard-fought The Sun Conference wins with 7-6 and 2-1 victories over #27 Southeastern Friday afternoon at Armory Field.
 
Game One Recap (TU 7, #27 SEU 6)
It took a full, seven innings for the Lady Night Hawks (17-15, 8-10 TSC) to claim victory, as Freshman Kennedy Hardy proved to be the heroine of Game One with a game-winning RBI.  Junior Larran Carter (5-2) earned the win after entering the game to allow one hit and no earned runs with four strikeouts.
 
After SEU struck first with a 1-0 lead, the Lady Night Hawks responded in the bottom of the first, as a walk from Freshman Averie Sheppard paired with a double from Senior Holly Campbell put runners in scoring position with no outs.  Junior Corryne Diaz and Sophomore Addyson Mauldin followed with back-to-back sacrifice flies that brought home Sheppard and Campbell, respectively, to give TU its first lead of the day (2-1).
 
Starting pitcher Senior Rebecca Boesen made an appearance in the batter's box in the second, as the Bradenton, Fla. native's lone at-bat was a RBI double that pushed TU's lead to two runs.  After Sheppard's hit advanced Boesen to third, Campbell extended the lead further with a 2RBI double that gave the Hunter Green & White its largest lead of the day, 5-1.
 
The contest was far from over, however, as the Fire blazed back with a pair of runs in the third inning (5-3) and a game-tying two-run homer in the fifth.  A few at-bats later, after SEU made an additional hit to put the potential go-ahead run at first, Carter entered the contest.
 
Diaz took matters into her own hands in the bottom half of the inning, doubling down to left field before advancing to third off a wild pitch.  After SEU walked Mauldin, Diaz scored off a RBI single from Freshman Jaelynn Vialpando to retake a 6-5 lead for the Lady Night Hawks.
 
The Fire worked quickly to load the bases in the sixth with one out.  After Carter recorded a strikeout, the Thomasville, Ga. native walked the next batter, consequently bringing home the tying run 6-6.
 
After the Lady Night Hawks subdued the Fire in the top of the seventh, TU was set to extinguish its The Sun Conference rival.  Mauldin and Vialpando began the bottom half of the inning with base hits before Freshman Adreanna Killingsworth popped up to the catcher for the first out.  Sophomore Tianna Villagomez came in to run for Vialpando.  The Hunter Green & White gambled and won on the next at-bat, as the runners stole second and third on the same pitch that struck out Freshman Rebecca Dorsett for the second out. 
 
With Freshman Hailie Stewart walked on the next at-bat, the contest came down to Hardy, who delivered her eighth RBI of the season to bring home Villagomez for the walk-off run to give the Lady Night Hawks the 7-6 win.
 
Game Two Recap (TU 2, #27 SEU 1)
The contest featured another defensive test for Thomas, but the Lady Night Hawks passed with flying colors, escaping out of two innings with the bases loaded for the Fire.  Junior Shaela Brown picked up where she left off Wednesday, this time allowing one earned run in three hits with four strikeouts in three and two-third innings.
 
SEU once again began the game with an early 1-0 lead as Erica Stahl high-tailed it around the diamond, taking three bases off a double from Lauren Watters.
 
It did not take too long for Thomas to take advantage of SEU's mistakes in the bottom of the third inning, as a pair of errors that benefitted Sheppard, coupled with more stolen bases, led to runners on second and third with Diaz on deck.  The Gardnerville, Nev. native once again hit a sacrifice fly towards left, sending home the game-tying run 1-1.
 
Three at-bats later, with runners on first and third, Killingsworth made her way to the plate.  After finishing Game One 1-for-4, Killingsworth redeemed herself in the batter's box, hitting a perfect for 3-for-3 that featured what would be the game-winning RBI, bringing home Campbell for the 2-1 lead.
 
Southeastern had two grand opportunities to tie and possibly take the lead.  In the top of the fourth with two outs, SEU was fixing to tie the game after loading the bases off a Peyton Varela walk, but a fouled hit on the next at-bat was put out by Diaz.  In the next inning, Boesen came in for an injured Carter with two outs and runners on first and second. With Boesen's first at-bat resulting in a hit by pitch, the Fire once again loaded the bases, but hopes were doused when Kaley Sarasty flied out to right field the following hit.
 
The Hunter Green & White would go on to preserve the 2-1 contest, giving Boesen the Save and the Lady Night Hawks its first-ever doubleheader sweep over #27 Southeastern.   
 
TU by the Numbers
7:        Season Wins against ranked opponents
8:        One-run wins on the season
9:        Total Runs Scored on the day
11:      Total Stolen Bases on the day
17:      Total Season Wins
20:      Total Hits Made on the day
 
Thomas will return to the clay Thursday, travelling to southwest Florida to face a rejuvenated Gyrenes squad of Ave Maria.  First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
 
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 softball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksSoftb.