West Palm Beach, FL -- The Ave Maria University baseball team lost a 12-10 slugfest to the Keiser University Seahawks on Saturday afternoon before darkness forced the game to be postponed with the teams locked in a 10-10 tie in the final game of a Sun Conference series. The game will concluded prior to the already scheduled midweek game at Keiser on March 22.
 
In the first game, a ninth inning rally was not enough as the Gyrenes fell 12-10 to the Seahawks. The victory clinched the series for Keiser.
 
For the second game in a row, it was Ave Maria that scored first, as the Gyrenes plated a pair in the top of the first inning. The run production came with one out, after Ryan Cook had reached on a throwing error. On a 2-0 pitch, Rico Soto belted a home run over the left field fence. Soto's longball provided Ave with an early 2-0 lead.
 
Keiser responded with a homer of their own to tie the game in the bottom of the third. A leadoff single from Shane Olive put a runner on for Tyler Goff, who matched Soto with his own two-run home run to left field.
 
The power continued in the top of the fourth inning, when AMU retook the lead on another home run. This time, it was a solo shot from Ryan Keegan. Keegan, who also hit his homer to left field, gave the Gyrenes a 3-2 lead.
 
The Seahawks jumped back in front in the bottom of the fourth with three runs. With runners on first and second and no outs in the inning, Olive hit a single to left center, and a fielding error in center pished Brad Myott across the plate. Goff then drove in Jack Curtis on a sacrifice fly, and a two-out error from the Gyrenes allowed pinch runner Olivero to score as well, giving Keiser a 5-3 lead through four.
 
Ave Maria would score the next two runs, one each in the sixth and seventh, to tie the contest. Soto scored on an Andy Hernandez single in the sixth, and a Justin Hartshorne single with two outs in the seventh evened the game at five.
 
Without the aid of a hit, Keiser reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the seventh. Myott drew a walk, and pinch runner Reyni Olivero stole second and third. With two outs, Olivero scored on a wild pitch to give Keiser a 6-5 lead.
 
The Seahawks broke the game open with six runs in the eighth. A bases clearing double from Olive dealt the decisive blow, while Dylan Dore, Curtis, and CJ Fitzpatrick also drove in runs during the frame.
 
AMU was almost able to erase the seven run deficit, scoring five in the top of the ninth. A walk to Brody Howe and singles by Tully Allen and Matt Wiles loaded the bases. Justin Hartshorne then drove in a run on a walk, bringing Cook to the plate. Cook powered a homer to left center, clearing the bases and bringing Ave within two. The Gyrenes were able to bring the go-ahead run to the plate, but could not get closer than 12-10.
 
The second game saw Keiser score six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game at 10-10 before play was stopped due to darkness.
 
Yet again, the Gyrenes scored first, this time going up 1-0 in the first inning. Ave took the lead in the same way they did in the first game of the day- a Rico Soto homer. The junior drilled another one over the left field fence, and the Gyrenes led 1-0 after an inning.
 
Three runs in the bottom of the second allowed Keiser to take their first lead, 3-1. Walks proved to be the difference in the inning, as bases loaded free passes to Tom Prospero and Tivon Faneyte scored runs for the Seahawks, as did a fielder's choice by Dylan Dore.
 
The Gyrenes had an answer, scoring four runs in the top of the third. A Miles Stevens single and a Justin Hartshorne walk had runners on first and third with one out. Soto then reached on an error that allowed pinch runner Christan Sanchez to score. After a strikeout, Andy Hernandez blasted a three-run shot to put AMU up 5-3.
 
Ave Maria's lead stretched to 7-3 in the top of the fourth inning. The Gyrenes loaded the bases with one out on a Hartshorne single, a Cook double, and a Soto walk. Ryan Keegan then drove in Hartshorne with a sacrifice fly to right field, and a double by Hernandez brought Cook home to give the Gyrenes a four run lead.
 
Keiser got a run back in the bottom of the fifth. Faneyte hit a 2-1 pitch over the left center field fence with one out, pulling the Seahawks within three, 7-4.
 
Ave Maria put three more runs on the board in the seventh inning, which would prove to be the final inning due to darkness. AMU loaded the bases again, and a two-run single from Tully Allen and a sacrifice fly from Hartshorne gave the Gyrenes a 10-4 lead.
 
However, in the final half inning of the contest, Keiser put up a six spot to force a draw. Dore drove in two runs with a single that moved Keiser within one, and Fitzpatrick singled to right to tie the game at ten.
 
Hartshorne and Mason Dinesen led the Gyrenes with three hits each in the tie, while Andy Hernandez drove in four runs.
 
The Gyrenes get just one day off before their next contest, a Monday afternoon tilt with St. Thomas University at Bowie's Ballpark.