WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Thomas University entered SUN Conference play ready to go toe-to-toe with one of the nation's best teams, but #8 Keiser showed the Night Hawks that the team still has work to do to get to the top, falling to the Seahawks in both contests Thursday at Silvester Field.
 
Game One (#8 KU 12, TU 0 – 8 inn.)
For the second straight year, TU (7-4, 0-2 SUN) was blanked by Keiser (9-5, 2-0 SUN) in the series' opening game.  The Night Hawks accumulated just five hits while leaving a total of seven runners on base.  Freshman Left-Hander Riley Fisher (2-1) experienced a barrage of high-powered hitting firsthand, only limiting KU to four earned runs in seven hits with seven strikeouts in six innings pitched.
 
Fisher appeared to have kept KU at bay in the bottom of the first, nabbing two outs in the first three at-bats, but could not stop Fifth-year Tim Bouchard from blasting a two-run homer over the left wall to give the Seahawks an early 2-0 lead.  The next three innings all had similar results to one another, with Thomas going 1-2-3 and Keiser adding one run in their bottom half to give the Seahawks a 5-0 advantage at the end of four innings.
 
Thomas' fifth inning was nearly identical to the top of the first, with the Night Hawks tallying two hits before leaving a pair of runners on base.
 
Freshman Right-Hander Nevan Figueroa came in for Fisher in the seventh inning, but lasted only four batters as the Tallahassee, Fla. native gave up two, additional runs that extended the Seahawks' lead 7-0.  Sophomore Dylan Robertson replaced Figueroa on the mound to finish out the top-half of the inning.
 
The contest ended in the eighth inning, as Keiser finished off Thomas with another two-run homer and a three-run home run to put the game in mercy rule with a 12-0 win.
 
Game Two (#8 KU 12, TU 8)
The Green & White appeared to have the momentum early on in the contest, with a lead as large as seven runs, but Keiser battled back with an 11-run turnaround to steal the second game from Thomas.  The Night Hawks improved its performance at the plate, batting .343 as a whole, led by Freshman Matthew Delay Jr.'s 3-for-5 game that included four RBIs.  Sophomore Turner Maddox (2-for-4) recorded a base hit while also tallying a double.
 
Freshman Right-Hander Anthony Menendez once again got the starting nod on the mound, pitching four innings highlighted by four earned runs in just five hits and also recording seven strikeouts.
 
After a leadoff double got Keiser rolling in the bottom of the second, TU responded with back-to-back putouts before Menendez threw back-to-back hit-by-pitches to load the bases.  The Seahawks would be denied the opportunity to put up the first runs, as Menendez delivered a critical strikeout that left both teams deadlocked (0-0) heading into the third.
 
The top of the third showed the best hitting performance of the day for Thomas.  After Maddox and Freshman Khadin Bastian got on base, Delay fired off a three-homer to left center to give TU a 3-0 lead.  After Redshirt Junior Anthony Dorak flied out on the next at-bat, the Green & White began another string of hits to load the bases before a walk from Freshman Michael Sowers extended the Night Hawks' lead (4-0).  Redshirt Junior Chandler Skelly delivered a 3RBI double on the next at-bat, but an attempt to go for third on the same hitting sequence backfired, allowing the Seahawks to end the top half of the inning.
 
After KU responded with yet another home run (7-1) in the bottom of the third, Thomas matched the score with Delay's fourth RBI of the day.
 
The momentum shifted rapidly for Keiser in the bottom of the fifth, as the Seahawks tallied six runs in four hits, highlighted by a pair of 2RBIs from Nate Brodsky and Cyrus Grimes.  Following a 1-2-3 from TU, KU completed the comeback in the bottom of the sixth following two leadoff hits that tied the contest at eight runs apiece.  The Seahawks took its first lead of the game (9-8) off TU's lone error before adding two more runs to take an 11-8 lead heading into the seventh inning.
 
Keiser would go on to add one more run in the eighth to solidify a 12-8 Game Two win.
 
TU by the Numbers
7:        Largest lead of the day
11:      Consecutive games with a recorded double
14:      Innings pitched by the Baby Hawks
17:      Hits on the day
18:      Total participating players
19:      Strikeouts from the pitching unit
 
The Night Hawks will return to the diamond Saturday to attempt to take the third and final game of the series against the Seahawks Saturday.  First pitch at Silvester Field 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.