AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Thomas University baseball team was off to a bumpy start before scoring three unanswered runs in the eighth and ninth innings, all the difference needed to defeat the Rochester Warriors 8-5 Tuesday night at Lake Myrtle Park Field 7.
The Night Hawks (11-9) recorded 15 hits in the contest, the team's second-highest mark of the season, while limiting RU (3-4) to just six. Redshirt Senior
Brad Toxen went 3-for-5 from the plate, recording four RBI while Freshman
Jose Class Jr. led all batters with a .750 performance. Freshman Right-Hander
Justin Montanez (1-1) allowed no runs and no hits with two strikeouts in two and two-third innings pitched.
After conceding the first run of the game, Thomas would tie the game 1-1 in the top of the second as Redshirt Junior
Anthony Dorak's leadoff single, coupled with hits from Toxen and Freshman
Jose Class Jr., rounded the bases for his sixth run of the season. The Clermont, Fla. native would return the favor in the third inning with a go-ahead RBI double just before Class posted his lone RBI of the game to give Thomas a 3-1 lead.
After the Green & White left the bases loaded in the top of the fifth, the Warriors responded in the bottom half with three runs from a Connor Romine single and 2RBI single from Phoenix Walker to retake a 4-3 lead.
In the seventh, Class set the scene with a critical double before Toxen blasted a shot out of the park for a two-run homer that put TU back in front 5-4. The lead would not last long, as RU cashed in off a sacrifice fly to knot up the score at five runs apiece, despite Montanez entering the game in the inning.
For the second, consecutive contest, balks from the opposing pitchers would play a key role in putting the Night Hawks in scoring position, as a balk from RU's Ian Nitterhouse advanced Sophomore
Turner Maddox to second before a Delay game-winning RBI double brought home the Thomaston, Ga. native to give Thomas the 6-5 advantage in the top of the eighth. Montanez's pitching came in clutch in the bottom half, forcing Rochester to go three up-three down.
With a one-run lead, Thomas would add insurance runs in the ninth, as a leadoff triple from Redshirt Freshman
Cameron Rosario set up Toxen's fourth RBI of the game, also a triple. The Bethlehem, Ga. native would score the contest's final run off a wild pitch by Walker before Montanez clinched his first NAIA win with a second, straight 1-2-3 on Rochester to preserve the Night Hawks' 8-5 win.
TU by the Numbers
2: Stolen bases
4: Earned runs allowed
7: Runs batted in
12: Strikeouts by pitching staff
15: Hits
40: TU Wins for Head Coach
Tom Fleenor
Thomas is back on the diamond Wednesday for a doubleheader day against Judson and Indiana University-South Bend. First game is set to begin at 1:15 p.m. as first pitch time for the second game is scheduled for 4:45 p.m.
For up-to-date information on this game 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.
