THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas University baseball team won its home opener Friday night at Varnedoe Stadium, defeating the University of Fort Lauderdale, 6-2.
 
Three Night Hawks connected on five extra base hits for Thomas. Matthew Delay, Jr. and Khadin Bastian each tagged a triple and a double while Jean Pool Checo hit a two-run double and an RBI single for TU.
 
Pitchers Alex Friesen and Logan Knight combined to strike out 10 Eagles.  Friesen sat down six in his 7.0 innings of action, and Knight recorded four Ks in 2.0 innings.  Both pitchers allowed one earned run from four hits.
 
After two scoreless innings, TU got on the board first with Checo's two-run double. Fort Lauderdale plated one in the fourth, then Thomas added three runs from three hits and two Eagles errors in the fifth. With one out,  Delay tripled, then scored on a single from Checo. Checo advanced to second on a wild pitch then moved on to third as Cam Williams reached base on a fielding error. Jose Class Jr. grounded out to plate Checo, then Williams scored on an RBI-single from Bradley Fleenor.
 
In the eighth, Bastian hit a one-out triple, then scored as Kason Buie connected on a base hit to give TU the 6-1 lead.
 
Three straight base hits from Fort Lauderdale plated one run in the top of the ninth, but Knight was able to strike out two and force a pop up to strand three runners and give Thomas the 6-2 victory.
 
TU, which improves to 5-11 on the season, will host UFL in a double header Saturday. First pitch will be at noon at Varnedoe Stadium.