THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas University baseball team is set to go all in this weekend, travelling to southwest Florida to face the Ave Maria Gyrenes in a must-win, three-game The Sun Conference series.
 
The Night Hawks (17-25, 6-12 TSC) are still in the hunt for a TSC tournament berth, despite a tough series sweep by RV Warner last time out.  Three teams have already clinched spots in the annual postseason tournament, with that number potentially increasing to as many as five by the end of the weekend. 
 
Thomas can finish no higher than fifth in the standings, but a win for both Warner and Keiser this weekend will leave just one spot open for the conference tournament.  With TU holding the tiebreaker over USC-Beaufort, the Hunter Green & White must be within three games of the Sand Sharks in order to keep its postseason hopes alive.  USCB currently has 10 conference wins.
 
TU heads into the weekend with a team .284 batting average and 41 Total Stolen Bases.
 
Redshirt Junior Brad Toxen comes off a .350 hitting performance in last week's series against Warner, highlighted by six RBIs and a triple.   Redshirt Junior Dillon Rutland (2-1) holds a season 2.53 ERA, allowing no earned runs in seven hits with three strikeouts against the Royals.
 
Freshman Jayson Zmejkoski will look to make an impact this weekend from the batter's box, building off a.307 hitting average and a stolen base from last weekend's series.
 
Since March 26, Ave Maria (14-28, 4-14 TSC) has dropped six of its last nine contests.  The Gyrenes come off a USCB series in which the Gyrenes were outscored 28-8.  The team will have a game against Webber International on Wednesday before its series against the Night Hawks.
 
The Gyrenes are led by Kolby Blanchard at the plate, hitting .348 and tallying 11 doubles and 179 stolen bases on the season.  RBI leader Ethan Bergkamp (30) holds a slugging percentage of .448 and leads the team with five home runs.
 
While the overall ERA for Ave Maria is 8.46, one pitcher has given Gyrenes' opponents trouble from the mound.  Ethan Wood (2-4) holds a 4.20 ERA, allowing 19 earned runs in 34 hits with 36 strikeouts in just under 41 innings pitches.  Against Wood, opposing batters have hit .225 on the season.
 
Thomas leads the overall series against Ave Maria 20-7, winning six of the last seven meetings.
 
First pitch at Bowie's Ballpark is set for Friday at Noon.  Fans can follow the series' live action by accessing 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.