Gyrenes Take Down Florida Memorial In Late Innings
 
By Sean Buchanan | sean.buchanan@avemaria.edu
 
AVE MARIA, FLA.—Ave Maria baseball picked up a win this Wednesday against Florida Memorial University by a score of 4-3. The midweek victory makes it four in a row for the Gyrenes, bringing their overall record to 4-3.
 
GAME RECAP
Freshman pitcher Christian Dufresne (Rockledge, Fla.) gave the blue and green a quality outing in his first career start. The lefty went 4.1 innings, striking out five and allowing only three hits. Pitchers Justin Bureau (Orange, Ca.), Andrew Giddens (Bradenton, Fla.), Ray Messner (Naples, Fla.) and John Osborn (Little Rock, Ark.) all contributed on the hill, combining for 3.1 innings of relief with only one earned run.

Junior outfielder Max Nell (Punta Gorda, Fla.) opened the scoring for Ave Maria in the second inning by scorching an RBI single to right field, bringing runner Billy Pryor (Cape Coral, Fla.) around to score.

Both halves of the fourth inning saw action as Florida Memorial was able to bring two runs across the plate from a pair of Gyrene errors. Senior Bobby Oliver (Naples, Fla.) brought the score back to even in the bottom of the frame, knocking in Pryor with a fielder's choice ground ball.

Tucker Starkey (Mayville, Ky.) drove a ball over the right field fence for a solo home run his first of the season, in seventh inning to give Ave Maria the lead heading into the final two innings of the game.

In the top of the eighth, Lace Mansfield (Long Island, NY) sent an RBI double into the left-center gap to tie the game late. Again, the Gyrenes would have an answer for the Lions when freshman Andy Hernandez (Miami, Fla.) stepped to the plate in the bottom half of the inning and served an RBI single down the right field line.

Freshman pitcher Austin Comesanas (Miami, Fla.), who came on in relief in the eighth inning, shut the door on Florida Memorial in the ninth, striking out two on his way to his first win of the season and a 3-2 Gyrene victory.
 
UP NEXT: Ave Maria will travel to Northwood University this weekend for their first conference series of the season. The three game set begins Friday afternoon with a single game at 2:30 p.m. followed by a double header at 11 a.m. on Saturday.