Gyrenes Ready For Four Game Road Trip

Ave Maria, Fla.—The Ave Maria University baseball team will be taking their longest road trip of the season this weekend; in games scheduled and in distance. The four game swing begins this afternoon as the 17-20 Gyrenes travel north to Winter Park for a matchup with Division II Rollins College.  Immediately following Thursday night's game with Rollins, AMU will get back on the road and continue their trip north to the Palmetto State for a weekend conference series with the University of South Carolina at Beaufort.

Rollins College Preview
The Gyrenes will be visiting Rollins College for the first ever meeting between the two baseball programs tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Alfond Stadium at Harper-Sheppard Field, the home for Tars baseball.

Rollins has played to a 14-15 record up to this point in the season, with a 2-7 record in the Sunshine State Conference. The Tars have played well at home this season as all fourteen of their wins have home on their own turf.

The Tars carry with them into Thursday night, a team batting average of .284 and are led by redshirt junior Skip Kovar (Maitland, Fla.) and his .317 clip. The Rollins pitchers have thrown to a 4.66 team earned run average and have been led by Matt Hendricks (Arlington Heights, Ill.) who has four wins on the year so far.

Ave Maria baseball friends, fans and family will be able to view a live video and audio feed of the game, provided by the Rollins College Sports Information Department, by clicking the following link: - http://www.rollinssports.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?SPID=11251&db_oem_id=19500 . You can also find the live stats on the baseball page of the Rollins College athletics website, rollinssports.com.

University of South Carolina- Beaufort Preview
After winning two of three from #23 Southeastern last weekend, Ave Maria looks to continue their push for The Sun Conference playoffs against the Sand Sharks of The University of South Carolina- Beaufort (USCB). AMU will be making the long drive up to South Carolina for the three game set that begins Friday at 3 p.m. on the campus of USCB. The series will continue on Saturday with a double header between the Sand Sharks and Gyrenes that is set for a 12p.m. first pitch.

USCB enters the weekend with a 22-13 mark and a 9-9 record in The Sun Conference. The Sand Sharks are looking to bounce back after suffering a sweep at the hands of Embry-Riddle last weekend. Beaufort sits just two spots above the Gyrenes in the conference standings, holding on to the fifth spot with Thomas University sitting between the two.

Senior shortstop and early Sun Conference player of the year prospect, Ashley Morris (Savanah, Ga.), has been having a very impressive year for the Sand Shark offence, leading the team with a .403 batting average and four home runs. USCB as a team has put up some big numbers, hitting .331 as a group. Jamie Strock (Barnwell, S.C.) and Junior Delatorre (Beaufort, S.C.) each have four wins on the mound for the Sand Sharks, tying for the team lead.

You can follow all of the action from Beaufort by visiting uscbathletics.com for live stats and scores. As always, head to avemariagyrenes.com for a recap of all the Gyrene Baseball action from each day.
 
By Sean Buchanan | sean.buchanan@avemaria.edu