THOMASVILLE, GA  |  On Friday afternoon, the Thomas University Night Hawks (19-15) welcomed the Blue Mountain Christian Toppers (21-9) for the opening game of a three-game conference series. The Night Hawks, having lost three of their last five games, were determined to regain their winning momentum. 

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In the top of the first inning, the Night Hawks offense would spark as four runs crossed the plate. The inning started with back to back singles from Turner Maddox and Max Pickert, followed by a JT Whatley hit by pitch to load the bases with only one out. Easton Willis would hit a line drive single to right field to score Maddox and Pickert. Mike Sowers would ground into a fielder's choice to give TU runners at first and second base with two outs. Following a wild pitch, both runners would move up ninety feet, Kason Buie would hit the first pitch he saw for a single through the left side to score Willis. A wild pitch would score Sowers from third base to extend the lead to 4 - 0 after the first inning.
 
The Toppers wasted no time shifting the momentum back in their favor, as BMC scored three runs in the top of the second inning and one run in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 4 - 4.
 
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Brayden Lawhon led off with a walk, and Gabe Tafelski came in as a pinch runner. Maddox followed with a single to center field, putting runners on first and second for TU. Riley Borgert then executed a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third with one out. Pickert hit a ground ball to second base, allowing Tafelski to score from third and giving the Night Hawks a 5 - 4 lead.
 
The Night Hawks continued to build on their momentum in the fifth inning. Sowers led off the inning with a home run to left field, increasing the lead to 6-4. After Buie was hit by a pitch, Lawhon hit a double into the left-center field gap, driving in Buie to extend the lead to 7-4. Once again, Tafelski came in as a pinch runner for Lawhon and scored on a single from Pickert, giving TU an 8-4 lead. 
 
Following a three run fifth inning, the Night Hawks looked to continue their positive batting on offense as TU would plate three more runs extending the lead to seven. The inning started with three back-to-back to back singles from Willis, Jeremy Santiago, and Elias Garcia. With the bases loaded and no outs, Cameron Tyson hit a RBI sacrifice fly to right field to bring in Willis and move Santiago over to third base with one out. Garcia would steal second base to cancel out the double play possibility, followed by a second RBI sacrifice fly from Lawhon to bring in Santiago. Maddox singled to score Garcia and extend the final score to 11 - 4
 
RHP AJ Wydra earned the win in game one as he pitched four innings, allowing six hits, four runs (three earned), two walks, and four strikeouts. Chase Marsh earned his second save of the year pitching three innings, allowing one hit, and struck out three.
 
The Night Hawks had a big offensive game as the team racked up 14 hits with ten RBI's while only striking out once.

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The action in game two picked up in the bottom of the second inning as the Night Hawks would get on the scoreboard first behind a two out RBI single from Cameron Tyson gave TU a 1 - 0 lead. In the top of the third inning, the Toppers would load the bases with only one out, but Pitcher Tanner Reed would strike out two batters in a row to strand three base runners and preserve the 1 - 0 lead. The Night Hawks would extend their lead in the bottom of the frame as Riley Borgert hit a deep home run to left field to bring the score to 2 - 0.
 
The Night Hawks momentum would continue in the bottom of the fourth inning as Kason Buie hit a line drive single to right center field to score Mike Sowers from second base to extend the lead to 3 - 0. BMC would turn the momentum in the top of the fifth inning as the Toppers would score two runs, cutting the Night Hawks lead to 3 - 2. 
 
Combined efforts out of the bullpen for the Nights Hawks helped shut down the Toppers in the final four innings to help secure a 3- 2 victory and clinch another conference series win.
 
RHP Jon Gavin Steptoe earned the win for the Night Hawks after pitching 1.2 innings while only allowing two hits, and one strike out.
 
Riley Borgert went 2-for-4 on the day with a single, and a solo home run. Kason Buie and Cameron Tyson both went 2-for-4 with two singles each and one RBI a piece.
 
The series concludes today at 12pm at Varnedoe Stadium.  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.