THOMASVILLE, GA  |  The Night Hawks opened up their home stand, facing the Tigers of Edward Waters University, in the back half of a home-and-home.  Thomas defeated the NCAA Division II opponent, 13-5, just one week prior, in Jacksonville.  Thomas, however, was not able to duplicate its success, falling 7-5, in the Rose City, on Tuesday.

The Night Hawks were the first team on the scoreboard, scoring three runs in the 2nd inning.  Matthew Williams would reach 1st base, via an error, with one out.  Riley Borgert would follow with a double to left field, advancing Williams to 3rd base.  Gabe Tafelski would collect the RBI and drive home Williams, and the error by the left fielder would allow Borgert to also score.  Tafelski would ultimately score when Kason Buie drew a bases-loaded walk, setting the score at 3-0, in favor of Thomas.

Edward Waters would finally place a run on the scoreboard, when a lead off single would lead to a run scoring, with two outs, setting the score at 3-1, in favor of the Night Hawks.

The score would remain the same, until the bottom of the 5th inning.  A Matthew Williams lead off walk would lead to a run when Kason Buie drew a bases-loaded walk, with two outs, increasing the Thomas lead to 4-1.

The wheels would begin to fall off of the Night Hawks train in the 6th inning.  After a lead off walk and a stolen base, Jacob Pino appeared to be pitching himself out of the jam, by striking out the next EWU batter, but a passed ball on the strike out allowed the batter to reach 1st base and the runner on 2nd base to advance to 3rd base.  Pino retired the next two batters, for what should have been the third out, but due to the passed ball, he still needed one more out to complete the inning.  Two consecutive singles would score two runs for the Tigers, cutting the Thomas lead to 4-3.

Edward Waters would tie the game in the 7th inning.  A lead off single placed a runner on 1st base.  A botched pick-off attempt, with the Night Hawks making two errors on the play, allowed the runner to advance to 3rd base.  A ground out to 2nd base would allow the Tigers to tie the contest at 4-4.

Thomas would retake the lead in the bottom of the 7th inning.  Turner Maddox would draw a one-out walk.  Maddox would gain 2nd base, via a wild pitch and score on a Max Pickert single, allowing the Night Hawks to regain the lead, 5-4.

Edward Waters would take the lead in the 8th inning.  A lead off single would be followed by a stolen base, with one out.  The following batter would draw a walk and the runner on 2nd base would steal 3rd base, on ball four, setting up a 1st and 3rd situation.  The runner at 1st base would steal 2nd base, and Thomas would commit a throwing error, on the play, allowing the runner on 3rd to score and the runner, who started at 1st base, to reach 3rd base.  A sacrifice fly would score the second run of the inning for the Tigers.  Edward Waters owned a 6-5 lead, entering the bottom of the 8th inning.

Thomas would go down 1-2-3, in their half of the 8th inning.  A lead off walk, and another error on a failed pick-off attempt, would move the runner over to 2nd base.  After another walk, Thomas would commit its 5th error of the day on a ground ball, up the middle, with runners on 1st base and 2nd base.  The Night Hawks would get the force out at 2nd base on the double play attempt, but the throw would get past 1st base, allowing the runner who started on 2nd base to score. 

Thomas would face a 7-5 deficit, entering their last at bat.  The Night Hawks would make an attempt at a comeback.  With two outs in the 9th inning, Thomas would attempt to start a rally.  Buie would walk and advance to 2nd base on a wild pitch.  Mike Sowers and JT Whatley would each draw a base on balls, to load the bases.  A drive to right field was caught by the Tigers to close out the game.

In the game, the two teams combined to use ten pitchers (five each) and comitted a combined eight errors.  Kason Buie would reach base five times in the game by drawing three walks along with his two hits.  Riley Borgert would collect two hits on the day.  Turner Maddox would also draw three walks.  

Thomas will remain at home, this weekend, to face Blue Mountain, in a pivotal SSAC contest.  The three-game series begins on Friday with a doubleheader, starting at 1pm.  The series concludes on Saturday at 1pm.  For updated game times, live stats, and broadcast information, follow Thomas Baseball at https://tunighthawks.com/sports/baseball.  For complete coverage of Night Hawks Athletics, please visit www.tunighthawks.com to stay updated with the latest news, scores, game previews and recaps.  Follow the Night Hawks on social media at @TU_Night_Hawks (Twitter), @tunighthawks (Instagram), and @thomasuniversityathletics (Facebook).