THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas University baseball team took another step in the right direction Friday evening, snapping USC-Beaufort's six-game win streak with 5-4 and 9-7 victories at Varnedoe Stadium.
 
Game One Recap (TU 5, USCB 4)
The Night Hawks (17-18, 6-8 TSC) were limited to eight hits in the contest, but made every one count.  Five of the eight hits resulted in RBIs, and of those five hits, two resulted in doubles.  Redshirt Senior Patrick Haley (2-5) found his first-ever win against the Sand Sharks, allowing one earned run in three hits while recording seven strikeouts in six innings.
 
TU struck first in the bottom of the second, as Freshman Tyler Keaton's single and stolen base set up set up Redshirt Freshman Jacob Paterson's sacrifice fly to bring home Redshirt Sophomore Bradley Fleenor for the 1-0 lead.  Moments later, Redshirt Junior Rodwell Munoz would extend the lead (2-0) with his19th RBI on the season.
 
After going 1-2-3 in the top of the third, the Hunter Green & White continued to build on its lead with a RBI from Keaton, bringing the lead to three runs.
 
After a RBI double from Freshman Turner Maddox gave the Night Hawks its largest lead of the game (4-0), USCB got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth with a solo home run blast to cut the deficit to three runs again.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, Redshirt Junior Brad Toxen recorded the Hunter Green & White's second RBI double for a 5-1 lead.
 
With the four-run lead, it appeared as if Thomas had the cushion room to start wrapping up the game, but USCB tacked on two more runs in the eighth to tighten the score line (5-3).
 
Redshirt Senior Jorge Meran entered in the ninth inning looking to close the door on a Sand Sharks comeback.  With two outs and a man on first, USCB's Clint Sellers hit a crucial RBI triple to keep the Sand Sharks' slim hopes alive and bring the score to one run (5-4).  On the next at-bat, however, the hit was a pop fly to left field, and Freshman Colby Tabb was there to make the putout and secure TU's fifth conference win and Meran's second save of the season.
 
Game Two Recap (TU 9, USCB 7)
TU outhit USCB 11-9, but tallied a total of six errors in the process.  Redshirt Junior Thomas Sorrentino (2-0) started the game, pitching four innings and only gave up one unearned run and one hit with four strikeouts.
A leadoff single from Maddox in the bottom of the second paved the way for a Night Hawks' scoring opportunity.  With runners on first and third, Munoz's hit turned into a fielder's choice, in which the Sand Sharks elected to go with the 6-4-3 double play, leaving a run to score to give Thomas a 1-0 lead.
 
The fourth inning provided TU's best inning at the plate, scoring four runs in four hits.  Fleenor's 2RBI double highlighted the hitting spree that brought the Night Hawks' lead to 5-1.
 
Redshirt Junior Caleb Rogers entered the game for Sorrentino in the fifth inning.  USCB saw several opportunities to score several runs thanks to a few walks given up, along with an infield error to load the bases, but a strikeout by Rogers ultimately got the Night Hawks out of a jam.
 
Rogers would face three batters in the sixth before being pulled for Redshirt Junior Dillon Rutland, leaving the Hahira, Ga. native with runners in scoring position.  A passed ball, coupled with an infield error brought two runs home for USC-Beaufort to bring the score to 5-3.  A walk and another error in the next two at-bats would load the bases once again, but that was as far as the Sand Sharks would go before a fielder's choice to home and a fly out would end the scoring chances for USCB.
 
The Hunter Green & White would take advantage of the bottom halves of the sixth and seventh innings, stretching its lead to 9-3 that was highlighted by back-to-back doubles from Freshman Luis Torres that brought in three more RBIs.
 
Again, the momentum appeared to be in Thomas' favor heading into the eighth inning before consecutive RBI singles by USCB brought the deficit to four runs (9-5).
 
TU would again look to a closer in the ninth inning to seal a win, this time bringing in Redshirt Senior Logan Hollyman to the mound.  The North Palm Beach, Fla. native's first at-bat resulted in a line out to third for the first out.  Two batters later, the Sand Sharks had runners on first and second.  The next at-bat resulted in TU's second made out of the inning, as the runners advanced to second and third.
 
With runners on the second third, Tavaris Terrell's hit to shortstop appeared to set up a game-ending routine 6-3 play, but a wild throw to first kept USC-Beaufort's comeback hopes in the running, scoring two more runs to bring the contest to 9-7.
 
Hollyman would quickly end any remaining hopes of a comeback in the following at-bat, striking out Wesley Ambrose to secure a save and the doubleheader sweep of the Sand Sharks.
 
TU by the Numbers:
1:        Doubles allowed on the day to a team averaging 2.23 doubles each game
6:        The Sun Conference wins
6:        Game Streak in which Turner Maddox has recorded a hit
7:        Different Pitchers used on the day
13:      Total RBIs on the day
14:      Total Runs on the day
17:      Season Wins
19:      Total Hits on the day
 
TU wraps up the series Saturday with a single game against the Sand Sharks.  First pitch at Varnedoe Stadium is set for 1 p.m.
 
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.