THOMASVILLE, Ga. — The Thomas University softball team won game three of its series Saturday afternoon, 5-2, as the Night Hawks improved their SUN Conference seeding with the series win against the University of South Carolina-Beaufort.
The Night Hawks (24-19, 11-13 SUN) opened the game in the first, as Makana Pember started the contest off by reaching first on an error, before a sacrifice bunt bunt from Averie Sheppard advanced the senior to second.
In the next at bat, an Adreanna Killingsworth double brought Pember home to open the scoring, 1-0.
After that, USCB (19-25, 10-14 SUN) responded with a run of their own in the top of the second, leveling the game back up at one apiece heading to the third.
Next up, the bottom of the third provided two more runs for the Night Hawks, as a pair of singles from Hunter Williams and Makana Pember put runners on first and third with no outs.
A Holly Campbell walk then loaded the bases before an Adreanna Killingsworth sacrifice fly brought Williams in for the score, 2-1.
With two outs and runners on first and second, a Dara Moore single then advanced Pember in from second, again extending TU's lead, 3-1.
With a hitless inning in the fourth, the Night Hawks tallied an additional two runs in the contest in the fifth, as a pair of hits from Holly Campbell and Adreanna Killingsworth began the inning with runners on first and second. Dara Moore then stepped up to the plate with one RBI already registered to her in the contest, sneaking a ball into the outfield for a triple, adding another pair of RBIs, and extending TU's lead to 5-1.
With the contest now in the top of the sixth the Night Hawks conceded one final run, 5-2, but Larran Carter's pitching performance was all but finalized as the Sand Sharks fell short, and TU won the the series.
Carter's 7.0 innings pitched improved the senior to 16-8 on the year, as the Thomasville native allowed seven hits and two runs in the win.
Next up, the Night Hawks will have a break until next weekend (Apr. 29-30th) before the team hosts Florida Memorial for Thomas' final SUN series of the regular season.
For up-to-date information on Thomas University Softball and other TU Athletics, visit www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, and feature stories of your TU Softball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksSoftb.
