THOMASVILLE, Ga. – Behind the 10 RBI, two grand slam, and 5-for-8 performance by Thomas University’s catcher Kaleb Holbrook, the Night Hawks swept today’s doubleheader series opener against Florida Memorial University. Thomas picked up game one with an 8-1 win and responded with a 12-8 victory in game two.
The Hunter Green and White powered out to the 1-0 advantage in the opening inning of the contest when right fielder Casey Mannion crushed a solo shot over the right field fence. Two innings later, the Night Hawks would go up 2-1 when center fielder Jalbert Melo squeezed a sacrifice bunt down the first base line, scoring second baseman Austin Corbitt from third.
Starter Tate Lambert opened the game with three scoreless innings of work before the Lions drove in their lone run of the first game. Casey Johnston, who led previously reached on an infield single, came around to score when Christopher Spicer grounded into a fielder’s choice, cutting TU’s advantage to 2-1.
Thomas would regain their two run, 3-1, lead in the bottom of the fourth when Corbitt walked with the bases loaded. In the bottom of the fifth, Holbrook would pick up his first RBI of the day lining a single to right to increase Thomas’ gap to 4-1. The Night Hawks would score another run in the inning on a double by designated hitter Josh Bruijn. TU would go on to score three more runs in the bottom of the eight for the 8-1 lead before reliever Monte Reese come on to close out the game for the win.
Lambert (7-4) picked up the win while Florida Memorial’s Julian Moore suffered the loss.
Game two witnessed a combined 30 hits and 20 runs by both squads. FMU jumped out to the early 3-0 lead in the opening frame of the game. Thomas responded in the bottom half of the first with an offensive surge to take the 4-3. Holbrook stepped in with the bases loaded and crushed the first pitch he saw down the right field line, off the foul pole for his first grand slam homerun of the afternoon. In the bottom of the second, Holbrook would walk with the bases loaded to pick up his sixth RBI of the day.
In the bottom of the fourth, Thomas increased its lead to 7-3 before the Lions cut the advantage to 7-5, scoring two runs over the next two innings. Faced with the same scenario as in the first inning, Holbrook once again stepped into the box with bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh. On his first pitch to the TU catcher, FMU’s reliever Cameron Calero threw a hanging curve right that Holbrook unloaded on to lift his second grand slam of the day over the right field fence. This blast gave Holbrook his ninth RBI of the game and tenth for the day while increasing Thomas’ lead to 11-5.
Florida Memorial would mount a rally over the final two innings of the contest, but came up short leading to the 12-8 victory in favor of the Night Hawks. TU’s starter Neal Hunter (2-4) received the win while __ suffered the loss.
Thomas improves to 21-23-1, 12-13 TSC, on the year while Florida Memorial drops to 7-38, 2-20 TSC.
The Night Hawks conclude their home portion of the regular when they wrap up their three game weekend series against Florida Memorial University on Saturday, April 25. Thomas will hold Senior Day festivities, which begin at 11:45 a.m., prior to the game's first pitch at noon. Head coach
Mike Lee will recognize 12 seniors this year. They include:
Bo Beauchamp,
Josh Bruijn,
Corey Conway,
Austin Corbitt,
Jeremy Crosby,
Jake Desuyo,
Justin Hicks,
Kaleb Holbrook,
Damon Jackson,
Ben Overman,
Brandon Singer, and
Brent Slaughter.
Thomas University athletics and the baseball team invite everyone to come out and celebrate each of these student-athletes and their accomplishments.
For up-to-date information on this game 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
@NightHawkBaseba.