THOMASVILLE, GA | The Night Hawks sweep the weekend series against the Talladega Tornadoes. Thomas concluded the series with a doubleheader against Talladega on Saturday. The Night Hawks explosive 8-run fifth inning propelled the Night Hawks to a 10-4 victory in game one, the Night Hawks bats continued to be hot in game two, with a 17-7 victory. The Night Hawks start is their best start since 2014, when Thomas won five of their first six games, to start the season.
Game One
The Night Hawks looked to keep their bats hot and extend their winning streak moving into game one of their doubleheader against the Tornadoes.
Talladega would score two runs in the top of the first inning to take an early lead in game one. It would not take long for the Night Hawks to strike back as J. Whatley would hit an RBI single to cut the lead in half. In the bottom of the second inning M. Pickert would tie the game at two with an RBI double. The Tornadoes would strike again in the top of the fourth inning as an RBI double would give Talladega a 4 - 2 lead.
The Night Hawks would continue their hot streak with the bats as eight runs came across the plate. JT Whatley would start the scoring for TU in the bottom of the fifth inning with a 2-RBI double, RBI singles by Sam Odiorne, Max Pickert, Hunter Kern, and Turner Maddox would all help TU secure a 10 - 4 lead going into the sixth inning. Senior Pitcher - Brad Peacock would enter the game in the top of the sixth inning and only allow one hit through two innings of work to help cap off the Night Hawks fourth victory in a row.
RHP AJ Wydra would secure the victory for the Night Hawks as he went 5.0 innings with eleven hits, four runs, and seven strikeouts. Junior Hunter Kern would go 3-for-4 at the plate with two singles and an RBI double.
Game Two
The Night Hawks aimed to finish off their first homestand of 2024 with a three game win and look to extend their season win streak to five!
Talladega would start the scoring in game three as the Tornadoes scored two runs in the top of the first. Thomas University would get a run back in the bottom of the first as JT Whatley hit an RBI single. The Tornadoes would strike again in the top of the second inning to extend their lead to 4 - 1.
The Night Hawks bats would come to life in the bottom of the third inning as five runs would cross the plate, the scoring started with JT Whatley as he stole home on a strikeout, Mike Sowers would tie the game at four after he blasted his second home run of the season over the left field wall, and Elias Garcia would score on an error to give the Night Hawks a 5 - 4 lead after the third.
The Tornadoes would take the lead right back by scoring two runs in the top of the fourth inning, the bat would continue to come alive for Thomas in the bottom of the fourth as seven runs were plated to take a 12 - 6 lead highlighted by three 2-RBI Singles from JT Whatley, Kason Buie, and Brayden Lawhon. Night Hawks bats would produce five more runs through the final three innings, while pitching would hold the Tornadoes to only one run in the final three innings to extend their win streak to five games.
RHP Jacob Pino would get the win for the Night Hawks after going 3.2 innings with six hits, six runs, and five strikeouts. Junior JT Whatley would go 3-for-4 on the day at Designated Hitter with three singles including the 2-RBI single in the bottom of the fourth. Senior Kason Buie would continue his hot streak with the bat as he went 2-for-4 with a 2-RBI single and double. Junior JT Whatley would go 2-for-4 at the plate with a RBI single and a 2-RBI double.
Up Next
Thomas travels to Jacksonville, FL to face Trinity Baptist, on Tuesday, in a non-conference doubleheader, beginning at 3 p.m. For up-to-date information on awards 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.
