The Ave Maria University baseball team split a doubleheader with Indiana University-South Bend on Saturday at Bowie's Ballpark, picking up two wins in the three-game series. IU-South Bend won the opener 2-1, and the Gyrenes rallied for a 7-4 triumph in the series finale.
 
GAME ONE RECAP:
The Gyrenes fell short in the opening game of the doubleheader, losing
2-1 after surrendering the decisive runs in the fifth inning.
 
The game was marked by a pitcher's duel between AMU's Austin Munn and IUSB's Trey Bickel. Munn worked six innings with eight strikeouts, and Bickel tossed a complete game with eleven punchouts. Bickel earned his second win of the year, while Munn was charged with his second loss.
 
Ave Maria's offense was produced by Ryan Keegan, who gave the Gyrenes a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on a solo home run, his second of the year. Keegan went 2-for-2, reaching in all three of his plate appearances. RJ Warnock also reached three times, going 2-for-3.
 
Before taking the 1-0 lead, Ave kept the game scoreless on two great plays behind the plate in the fourth. During the frame, Conor Sullivan caught one runner stealing and picked another off second to record the final two outs of the inning.
 
IU-South Bend scored the neccesary runs in the fifth inning. With one out, Kevin Phelps singled and Sam Azarian was hit by a pitch. After a wild pitch, Phelps scored on a Josh Fry groundout, and the Titans took the lead for good on a single from Vinny Essig. Phelps led the IU-South Bend offense with two hits, giving him five hits on the series.
 
The two IU-South Bend runs in the fifth broke a streak of 21 innings without allowing an earned run for Munn.
 
Despite a scoreless seventh inning worked by Jesse Crosno, the Gyrenes were unable to score and extend the game. Ave had runners in scoring position in four of their six scoreless frames, including runners on the corners when the game concluded.
 
GAME TWO RECAP:
Ave Maria took an early lead, relinquished it, but rallied late for a
7-4 victory over the Titans to win the series. Ave Maria scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to claim their 13th victory of the
2016 season.
 
Ave scored the first four runs of the game, beginning with a run in the bottom of the first. Matt Wiles started the inning with a single, advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt from RJ Warnock. After a strikeout, Rico Soto began a busy game with an RBI double to plate Wiles.
 
The lead extended to 2-0 in the second inning. Andy Hernandez drilled a triple to the outfield wall, and scored on a wild pitch from starter Austin Weaver. Ave continued their scoring in the fourth, putting five straight runners on base and plating one. Max Nell drove in the run in the fourth on a fielder's choice, beating out a throw to first that allowed Ryan Keegan to score.
 
Another triple put the Gyrenes up 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Warnock legged out a triple and scored on a two-out single from Soto, his second RBI of the game.
 
AMU's 4-0 lead vanished in the top of the sixth in the span of just four hitters. Spencer McCool doubled and Jalon Linville was hit by a pitch. Chris Mangus drove them both in on a double, and Mason Love tied the game with a two-run homer to left. Austin Comesanas came on for the final pitch of the inning, inducing a double play ball.
Comesanas earned his first win of the year for the one-pitch outing.
 
With the game tied 4-4, Ave Maria struck in the bottom of the sixth, all with two outs. Nell reached on an infield single, and proceeded to advance three times on three wild pitches. The final wild pitch, that gave Ave Maria the lead, was ball four to pinch hitter Christian Sanchez. Warnock drove Sanchez in after a Wiles single, and a bases loaded walk to Soto provided the final margin. Soto went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in.
 
Justin Bureau slammed the door shut on the Titans with a 1-2-3 seventh inning. He picked up his sixth save for the effort.
 
After winning two of three against IU-South Bend, the Gyrenes begin a three game set with Indiana Tech on Sunday. The series begins with a doubleheader at Bowie's Ballpark, set to start at 11 a.m.