THOMASVILLE- The Thomas Night Hawks faced off against the #17 William Carey Crusaders on a Friday afternoon series at Armory Field, with the Night Hawks ultimately coming out victorious.

The first game was a defensive battle early as both teams struggled to get anyone on base. That changed for the Night Hawks in the bottom of the second as Sierra Ussery lead off the inning with a single through the left side. Darian Pippin dropped a sacrifice bunt to advance Ussery to second, where Lauren Hicks came in to pinch run for Ussery.

After a strikeout, Kristin Steller came to the plate and sent one out of the park for a two-run homer to give the Night Hawks the lead. Ava Nunez hit a single into the second baseman, but a fielding error advanced her to second. Next up came Ansley Eason, and the sure-handed switch hitter hit a double into left to score Nunez. Before the end of the inning

With a three-run cushion, Ussery settled in the circle and held the Crusaders at bay in the next inning. However, in the top of the fourth, William Carey began to put a rally together as Julia Shaw doubled into left to advance Lillie Robertson to third with no outs. The Night Hawks kept their composure and caught Robertson in a rundown for the out and keeping the Crusaders off the board. Unfortunately, Meagan Caro singled up the middle to score a run put them on the board.

Thomas responded in the bottom half of the inning as Stellar drew a walk and then advanced to second on Nunez’s sacrifice bunt. Eason hit a single to left to bring Steller to third, Grace Hodges snuck one through the infield to score Steller before a strikeout retired the side.

After holding the Crusaders in the top half of the fifth, the home half started off with a bang as Annalise Buncy hit a leadoff homer to begin the inning, however this was the only run to come across in the inning for the Night Hawks.

In the final half inning, William Carey began to rally as Laila Clark doubled to left to start off the seventh. After a Madison Gray single advanced Clark to third, Harper Dupre hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring Clark home, following another single from the Crusaders, Ussery forced a fly out to Hodges to end the game, 5-2, and give the Night Hawks their first win over the Crusaders since 2007.

Game two saw both teams at a stalemate as neither side could get on the board for four innings. Thomas managed to find their stride in the bottom of the fifth as Macie Spohn hit a double down the line in left field to leadoff the inning. Maggie Stubbs came in as a courtesy runner for Spohn and the bases quickly became loaded as Nunez drew a walk and Eason hit another one through the left side, after back-to-back fielder’s choice plays where the Crusaders protected home plate, Ussery cracked a bases-clearing double to give the Night Hawks a three-run lead.

William Carey responded in the next inning as they got two on with no outs. Baileigh Herrera, the starter who had been pitching an excellent game to this point, was replaced by Pippin in the inning to close out the game. Following a fielding error by Eason, the Crusaders scored a run, but Pippin regrouped and retired the next three batters to get out of the inning. In the final inning, the Night Hawks sat down another three batters in a row to end the game, 3-1 and sweep the series.

The sweep marks the first time since 2005 that the Night Hawks have swept the Crusaders, and the wins place them in second place in the conference standings.