Hawks end season with loss to Thomas More in South Regional

By Wesley Lyle

Sports Information Director

MOUNT BERRY, Ga. – The Huntingdon baseball team's second NCAA postseason appearance ended with a 4-2 loss to Thomas More on Thursday on the second day of the Division III South Regional.

The fifth-seeded Hawks (27-19) carried a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning before sixth-seeded Thomas More (31-11) scored three unearned runs in the top of the ninth. Huntingdon couldn't answer in the bottom of the ninth.

Thomas More will play the loser of Birmingham-Southern and Shenandoah on Friday in an elimination game.

Landon Sessions and Anthony Spivey drove in the Hawks' two runs on Thursday. Trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning, Sessions had an RBI double to score Cheston Wesson. Huntingdon took the lead in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Spivey that scored Patrick Kucera.

Spivey and Mason Throneberry were both 2-for-4 and were the only Hawks with multiple hits.

Kucera (3-1) took the loss in two innings of relief. He struck out two, walked two and gave up two hits and three unearned runs. Zack Watson started the game and went seven innings, striking out four, walking three, allowing four hits and one earned run.

The loss marked the end of an impressive run for the Hawks this season. After starting the season with a 10-10 record, Huntingdon won 17 of its next 24 games entering the South Regional.

In the process, the Hawks captured their first USA South Athletic Conference championship and advanced to the South Regional for the second time. The Hawks made their first appearance in 2013.

The 27 wins this season are tied for the fifth most by a Huntingdon team during the NCAA era and are six short of the program's NCAA-era record of 33. Huntingdon's senior class closes its four-year run with a record of 104-62.