The Ave Maria University baseball team turned in a dominant performance Friday afternoon at Bowie's Ballpark, cruising to a 9-1 victory over Warner University. The Gyrenes scored in six of the eight innings in which they came to the plate, and never trailed in dealing Warner their sixth straight loss. The win extended Ave Maria's winning streak to four games.
Ave Maria's offensive efforts began in the bottom of the first inning.
After the first two hitters were retired, Rico Soto and Conor Sullivan clubbed back-to-back doubles, scoring Soto and giving the Gyrenes a
1-0 lead.
The Gyrenes extended the lead to two runs in the second frame, again scoring with two outs. Christian Sanchez was hit by a pitch with one out, and advanced to second base on a groundout by Max Nell. Sanchez crossed the plate when Sean Trymbiski hit a two-out single.
AMU went up 4-0 in the fourth inning, courtesy of another pair of doubles. Nell led off the inning with a single, and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Trymbiski. A double from Jack Yvars scored Nell, and Yvars proceeded to score on a double from RJ Warnock.
Warner scored their lone run in the top of the sixth, as Jose Fortuna recorded an RBI double to score Broderick Rodocker.
Ave continued the scoring in the sixth inning, scoring a run on just one hit. Trymbiski, who had reached on a fielder's choice, advanced to third on an error and scored on a sacrifice bunt from Warnock, a bunt that was thrown away to allow Warnock to reach.
The lead expanded to six runs in the bottom of the seventh. Ave Maria loaded the bases on a walk, an error, and a hit batsmen. Yvars then drove in his second and third runs of the game on a hit, pushing the Ave Maria lead to 7-1.
Ave Maria put the finishing touches on the victory in the eighth, scoring two runs on a solo homer from Rico Soto- his fifth of the
year- and a double from Sanchez.
Austin Munn fired a gem for the Gyrenes, turning in one of his best outings of the season. Munn allowed just one run over seven innings of work, recording seven strikeouts in his third win. Austin Comesanas and Tommy Craparo combined to finish the game with a scoreless inning each. Warner's Jordan Pike was charged with the loss.
The Gyrenes look to win the series on Saturday, playing a doubleheader with the Royals. First pitch of the opener is set for noon in Ave Maria, with Senior Day festivities preceding the contest.
