The Ave Maria University baseball team earned a neutral site split with Cornerstone University on Monday afternoon, losing the opener 9-5 and winning the nightcap by a 6-4 score.
 
GAME ONE RECAP:
The Gyrenes fell victim to Cornerstone's late-inning surge in the opening game of the doubleheader, surrendering nine runs in the final four innings to fall 9-5 to the Golden Eagles.
 
Ave Maria did open the scoring, pushing a run across in the bottom of the third inning. After the first two hitters of the inning were retired, RJ Warnock singled and moved to second on a balk by starting pitcher Brandon Willard. The Gyrenes took advantage of the miscue, as Conor Sullivan hit a single to plate Warnock for the game's first run.
 
The Cornerstone offense began in the top of the fourth, as the game was evened on an opposite field home run by Jacob Klemme. Cornerstone then exploded for four runs in the fifth, taking a 5-1 leas. Klemme also provided the biggest hit of that inning, clubbing a two-run double. Jon Stewart and Joe Corsten added RBI singles in the frame.
 
A four-run sixth broke the game open for the Golden Eagles, powered by a pair of home runs. Stewart drove in three runs on an inside the park home run, and Klemme followed with his second longball of the game.
Stewart and Klemme combined for eight runs batted in, and Klemme was a triple short of the cycle.
 
AMU attempted a rally in the bottom of the sixth, putting seven hitters in a row on base before an inning-ending double play. Rico Soto reached on an error, and then back-to-back doubles from Ryan Keegan and Andy Hernandez cut the Cornerstone lead to 9-3.
Pinch-hitter Tommy Lentine added an RBI single, and a bases-loaded hit by pitch off the back of Matt Wiles brought the Gyrenes within four runs, but the double play ball got the Golden Eagles out of trouble.
 
Joe Bernhard pitched well in relief for Ave Maria, working 1.2 scoreless innings at the end of the game.
 
Despite striking out six hitters in 4.2 innings, Zack Rose was charged with the loss. Willard earned his first win for Cornerstone, and Ryan Harris recorded the final five outs to pick up a save.
 
GAME TWO RECAP:
AMU used timely hitting to topple the Golden Eagles in the series finale, picking up the split with a 6-4 victory.
 
As in the first game, Ave scored the first runs of the game, putting up a two-spot in the second. The Gyrenes took the initial lead on a home run by Andy Hernandez, his third of the season. Following walks by Steve Valentine and Max Nell, Sean Trymbiski made it 2-0 Gyrenes with an RBI single.
 
Cornerstone tied it in the top of the third with two runs of their own. The Golden Eagles were the beneficiary of two Ave Maria errors, as well as another RBI from Jacob Klemme, this one a single.
 
Ave Maria took the lead for good in the bottom half of the third with three runs. Ryan Keegan reached on a dropped third strike, and came around to score on a wild pitch. Then, with two outs, Trymbiski hit a single to center that scored Hernandez, and an error allowed Nell to score on the single.
 
A Joe Corsten double led to a Travis Gordon RBI single in the top of the fourth, but the Gyrenes would maintain the lead at two runs.
 
The lead was extended in the bottom of the sixth, when Sean Trymbiski scored on a Matt Wiles single. Trymbiski went 3-for-3 with one run scored and two RBIs.
 
Despite surrending a run in the final inning, Justin Bureau picked up his fourth save of the season. Tommy Craparo was the Ave Maria winning pitcher, while Justin Geerts took the loss despite ten strikeouts for Cornerstone.
 
The Gyrenes return to action on Wednesday at home against Florida Memorial University.