The Ave Maria University baseball team came within one out of victory, but surrendered a run in the top of the ninth and four more in the tenth to fall 6-2 in ten innings on Sunday afternoon at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers. The Reinhardt victory gave the Eagles a three out of four series win over the Gyrenes.
 
The Gyrenes did not trail until the tenth and final inning, scoring the opening run of the game in the bottom of the fourth. Conor Sullivan sparked a two-out rally with a single, and moved to second on a wild pitch. Rico Soto, who recorded three hits in the contest, drove in Sullivan with a single to right field, giving Ave a 1-0 lead.
 
The lead vanished in the top of the fifth, when Reinhardt leadoff hitter Daniel Rodriguez drove in one of his three runs on a sacrifice fly to bring in Eli Dickens, who had drawn a one-out walk and moved to third on a double from Asa Williams.
 
Ave Maria immediately retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Andy Hernandez singled with one out, and Matt Wiles drilled a double over the head of the left fielder to put the Gyrenes back in front. Hitting in the ninth position, Wiles reached base three times for AMU, including a stellar ten pitch that led to a single, and a walk.
 
The 2-1 lead held up until the ninth, thanks mostly to the pitching effort of starter Andrew Steele. Steele worked seven great innings on the mound, striking out nine Reinhardt hitters and allowing just one run on four hits in his second start.
 
In the ninth, Jimmy Kelley began the inning with a single for the Eagles, and after a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, Rodriguez tied the game with a single into right field. Reinhardt's offensive barrage continued in the tenth, with four runs scoring on five hits, the most notable a two-run single from Kelley.
 
The Gyrenes put the first two runners on in the bottom of the tenth via singles from Christian Sanchez and Sullivan, but lefty reliever Dylan Childers retired three straight to end the game and the series.
 
Justin Bureau was charged with the loss for Ave Maria, while Amael Gonzalez was the winning pitcher. Childers earned the save for recording the final three outs of the game.
 
The Gyrenes go on the road for the first time on Wednesday for a midweek game in St. Petersburg against Eckerd College. The conference slate begins on Friday, as AMU travels to Babson Park for a three-game set with Webber International University.