THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas University baseball team will host its final, home series of the 2022 season this weekend as the Night Hawks face the #16 Warner Royals in a SUN Conference, three-game series.
TU (18-26, 2-16 SUN) is still coming to grips with a heartbreaking setback in its Tuesday defeat, as a walkoff three-run homer from Brewton-Parker robbed the Green & White of a victory. The Night Hawks enter the weekend hitting .286 overall, highlighted by Freshman
Matthew Delay Jr.'s .374 average. The Altamonte Springs, Fla. native currently leads SUN with 20 doubles, which is currently tied for fifth in NAIA. The mark is also a TU best, as another double from Delay would set a new program record.
Freshman Left-Hander
Riley Fisher (3-8) picked up his first, SUN Conference win over the weekend after pitching six innings to allow four runs off six hits while striking out four. The four strikeouts bring the Brooksville, Fla. native's strikeout looking total to 20, a seventh-best mark in SUN. Freshman Right-Hander
Justin Montanez (2-2) enters the weekend coming off the previous week pitching six and one-third innings, giving up no earned runs off eight hits and fanning five.
#16 Warner (34-12, 10-8 SUN) has plateaued in the last two conference series, taking two from #19 Keiser before most recently taking the final game against #25 Webber International by a thin 8-7 margin. This however, has not stopped the Royals from staying consistent on both sides of the ball. At the plate, the Navy & Gold hold a .303 batting average. Trey Woosley (.354) leads the team in RBIs (50). Logan Flood is another force in the batter's box, leading the Royals in batting average (.367) and stolen bases (13).
While WU's batting may be above average, the Royals' pitching staff has been lethal. Primary Game One starter Noah Hersch (6-2) has cracked SUN's Top 10 in several pitching categories this season, ranking second in ERA (3.07), earned runs allowed (20) and opposing batting average (.184) while allowing the fewest hits (39) and doubles in SUN on the season with five. John Bean (6-4) and Ryley Rozar (7-2) have been as equally difficult for opposing batters. Bean enters the weekend with the conference's seventh-best ERA (3.87) and sixth-best strikeout mark (68). The senior additionally has pitched the second-most in the conference with 74.1 innings pitched. Rozar is right behind Hersch in fewest hits allowed (41), holding the fourth-best opposing batting average (.229). One Achilles' Heel the sophomore has is the tendency to hit batters, leading SUN with 14 hit-by-pitches. Thomas will also have to keep an eye on Liam Felix, Warner's top closer, who boasts a conference-best five saves on the season.
While the overall series has been close, the Royals lead the Night Hawks 20-18-1, coming off a second, series sweep of TU in 2021 for the second time in SUN play.
This weekend's series will be played at two different series. Friday's contest will be held at Dick Howser Stadium, home to the Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee, Fla., with the first pitch set for 4 p.m.
Saturday's doubleheader will be held at Thomas County Central High School, which will also be Senior day for Thomas. First pitch is slated for Noon, with more details on Senior Day to come.
Fans unable to attend the series in person can follow the 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.
