LAWERENCEVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas Night Hawks held their own but could not avoid the sweep against the No. 9 Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies on Friday evening.
Georgia Gwinnett 5 Thomas 0
Thomas hit well, but could not bring runs home as they fell to No. 9 Georgia Gwinnett in Game 1
Despite a pair of triples from Ansley Eason and Annalise Buncy, the Night Hawks were unable to capitalize, stranding four runners and going hitless with runners in scoring position. Georgia Gwinnett scored in three separate innings and used a dominant pitching performance from Kailynn James to seal the win.
Sierra Ussery took the loss, allowing three runs over four innings while scattering six hits. Darian Pippin pitched the final two frames, giving up two runs on six hits while striking out one.
Eason and Buncy each went 1-for-3 with a triple, while Ava Nunez and Pippin added singles to round out the four-hit effort for Thomas. The Night Hawks also played clean defense with no errors and turned in solid efforts from Eason and Nunez up the middle.
James struck out 10 and walked none in the complete-game shutout for the Grizzlies.
Georgia Gwinnett 2 Thomas 1
Despite a strong start from Baileigh Herrera and a clutch RBI double by Alexis Adams, Thomas University came up just short in extra innings, dropping a decision to No. 9 Georgia Gwinnett in game two.
The Night Hawks tied the game in the fourth after Nunez singled and scored on Adams' RBI double to left-center. Herrera kept Thomas in the game with a gritty complete-game effort, allowing just one earned run on seven hits while striking out three across 7.1 innings.
Georgia Gwinnett plated the winning run in the bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly after a leadoff single and an error put runners in scoring position. The Night Hawks committed three errors, including two in the late innings, which proved costly.
Offensively, Adams led the way with a 2-for-3 night, while Lauren Hicks added a pinch-hit single. Thomas totaled five hits but struck out 17 times and left five runners on base.
The series was the final non-conference tilt for the Night Hawks as next week they take on Point University on Friday, April 25th at 1:00PM.
