THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas University baseball team is set to take on its fifth, SUN Conference opponent this weekend, hosting Ave Maria University in a three-game series.
The Night Hawks (15-21, 0-12 SUN) hoped to have a midweek battle against Brewton-Parker before Mother Nature had other plans for both teams. Instead, TU will look to snap a six-game skid for the third time in 2022 against the Gyrenes (21-19-1, 4-11 SUN) after a disappointing sweep by the Lions added three more losses to the Night Hawks' slate last time out. Despite TU hitting .212 overall over the weekend, Redshirt Junior
Bradley Fleenor finished the series hitting .400 as Freshman
Matthew Delay Jr. averaged .333. On the mound, Freshman
Clay Oates saw his most action thus far in a season, pitching four and one-third innings and allowing one earned run off seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts in Game One against Florida Memorial.
Just as TU has seen its Baby Hawks take flight, AMU's leaders are also underclassmen. Freshman Jose Gonzalez leads the Gyrenes in batting average (.407) and RBIs (48). Sophomore David Leonardi holds a .386 batting average on the season and leads the Holy Queen's team with eight home runs.
Ave Maria holds one of the most lethal baserunning units in the nation, ranking third in NAIA with 124 total stolen bases.
On the mound, AMU uses Kolby Pemberton (1-3) and Kevin Figueredo (2-3) as primary pitchers, however it has been Cameron Horner (2-2) that seen the most time on the bump, pitching 52.1 innings. Horner enters the weekend with a 4.99 ERA, allowing 60 hits and 35 runs with 29 earned while throwing 48 strikeouts.
While the Green & White hold a commanding 16-5 overall series over the Ave Maria, the Night Hawks will look to avenge a series loss from last season, the first time in program history in which AMU took two or more games in a regular season series.
First pitch at Varnedoe Stadium is set for 1 p.m. Fans unable to attend the game can follow the action live 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.
