MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. – The Thomas University baseball team was stumped by a Florida Memorial team that focused on finishing strong, falling to the Lions 4-0 in Game Three of the series Saturday afternoon at Harry T. Moore Baseball Field.
TU (15-21, 0-12 SUN) struggled to find a hitting rhythm, registering only five hits on the day compared to the nine from Florida Memorial (17-15, 7-8 SUN). Sophomore
Khadin Bastian led all Night Hawks with a 2-for-3 slate at the plate, highlighted by a double. Redshirt Senior
Dillon Rutland (0-1) pitched five innings and allowed three runs off six hits with four strikeouts.
Thomas began the first two innings going three-up three-down as Florida Memorial scored in the bottom of the first with a Rohandry Javier run to take a 1-0 lead. Bastian delivered a leadoff single in the top of the third before the Lions put out the next three TU batters.
Down 3-0 in the sixth inning, the Green & White got as far as runners on second and third before a
Kason Buie grounder retired the sides. Thomas switched pitchers in the bottom half, as Freshman Right-Hander
Justin Montanez came in for Rutland. Montanez finished the contest allowing one run off three hits with four strikeouts.
After FMU extended its lead in the eighth (4-0) on a sacrifice fly, the Night Hawks appeared to have another ninth-inning stand on deck after a leadoff single from Sophomore
Turner Maddox and a walk by Buie before the Lions brought out Samuel Briceno to save the Lions for a second time in the series. The Freshman would once again foil a TU comeback bid by striking out Sophomore
Luis Torres before a game-ending double play on the next at-bat solidified the series sweep and the 4-0 win for Florida Memorial.
TU by the Numbers
2: Doubles
4: Runs allowed
5: Hits
6: Strikeouts from pitching staff
Thomas will look to rebound in Mount Vernon, Ga. Tuesday as the Night Hawks square off against Brewton-Parker College for a single contest. First pitch is set for 3 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.
