Ave Maria Picks Up Win VS St. Xavier

Daytona Beach, Fla.— The Ave Maria baseball team picked up their eleventh win of the season on Tuesday afternoon. The Gyrenes, now 11-15 on the season, defeated the visiting Cougars by a score of 8-6.

GAME RECAP
AMU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead off a two RBI triple off the bat of Andy Hernandez (Miami, Fla.), scoring Nick Saccachetta (Naples, Fla.) and Aaron Pigna (Miami, Fla).

St. Xavier struck back and took the lead with a four run, third inning. The highlight of the rally was a two RBI off the bat of Casey Papp (Joliet, Ill). The Cougars added on in the fourth with a sac fly from Drey Devereaux (Hobart, Ind).

The Gyrenes would have an answer in the fifth inning when Ryan Keegan (Estero, Fla.) and Aaron Pigna each tacked on an RBI to make the score 5-4.

With the score 6-4 heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Ave Maria offense once again came alive when Tucker Starkey sent a triple into right center, scoring two runs and trying the game a six. Fellow senior, Kellen Creech (Jacksonville, Fla) added another RBI in the seventh, giving AMU the lead. In the eight, Jack Yvars (Bow, NH) sent an RBI single down the right field line to pad the Gyrene lead to 8-6 where it would stay for a final score.

Justin Bureau (Orange, Calif.) earned the win for Ave Maria in relief of starter Andrew Steele (Northport, Fla.), who went 5.1 innings while striking out four. Bureau, who in now 2-1 on the season, pitched 3.2 innings of shutout relief and struck out five.
 
UP NEXT: The Gyrenes return home tomorrow afternoon to take on Purdue University North Central. First pitch of the double header is set for 11 a.m. You can follow all the action live at avemariagyrenes.com or by following @gyrenes on twitter.

By Sean Buchanan | sean.buchanan@avemaria.edu