AVE MARIA, Fla. --- The Ave Maria University baseball team claimed a series victory over the Titans of Indiana University South Bend, splitting a doubleheader with a 11-2 victory in the opener before a 9-8 defeat in the nightcap. The Gyrenes won three of four in the series, and concluded the Spring Break homestand with a 7-4 record.
 
Ave Maria dominated the first game of the doubleheader, hanging eleven runs in a 11-2 victory over the Titans. The Gyrenes scored eight runs in the second and third innings combined, leading to the decisive win.
 
The Gyrenes jumped out to the early lead with a five-run second inning. Ave Maria loaded the bases on two walks and an error, and Steven Valentine started the scoring with an RBI single. Andy Hernandez then scored on a wild pitch, and a walk to Matt Wiles again loaded the bases. Tully Allen cleared the bags with a three-run double down the left field line, giving AMU an 5-0 lead.
 
Indiana South Bend got on the board in the top of the third inning, as Chris Mangus lifted a home run, his third of the season, over the left field fence. Mangus' homer cut the Gyrene lead to four runs, 5-1.
 
AMU added three more in the bottom of the third, extending the lead to seven runs. Keegan and Hernandez each doubled to start the frame, putting runners on second and third. A one-out walk to Brody Howe loaded the bases. Valentine singled in a run for the second inning in a row, and Matt Wiles supplied a two-run single to push the Ave Maria lead to 8-1.
 
An error allowed IU South Bend to score one run in the fourth. Tanner Wesp reached base on a fielding error in the outfield, and came around to score when Brandon Papp hit an infield single with two outs.
 
Rico Soto got the run back almost immediately for the Gyrenes, belting his fourth home run of the season to lead off the inning. Soto's homer moved the AMU lead back to seven runs at 9-2.
 
Two more runs crossed the plate in the bottom of the fifth for Ave Maria. The Gyrenes did the damage with two outs, as both Allen and Ryan Cook recorded singles. An error after Cook's single plated Allen, and Cook scored on an RBI single by Soto.
 
Austin Comesanas picked up the victory for Ave Maria after six quality innings on the mound, earning his first win of 2017. Soto, Valentine, and Allen were the three Gyrenes with two hits in the winning effort.
 
Two runs in the top of the seventh inning were the difference in the finale, as IU-SB walked away with a 9-8 win.
 
A pair of four-pitch walks in the bottom of the first inning helped the Gyrenes take an early lead. Tully Allen and Ryan Cook both scored after drawing the free passes. Allen scored on a Rico Soto groundout, and Cook crossed the plated on a wild pitch.
 
The visitors evened the score in the top of the second inning. Walks to Zack Lazenby and Brandon Papp resulted in runs when Damon DeJesus doubled, tying the ballgame at four.
 
For the first time on Saturday, IU-South Bend took the lead with two runs in the top of the fourth. Again, DeJesus drove in the runs with a two-run double, which was set up by a hit by pitch and a single by Brandon Papp.
 
Ave Maria reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth with five runs, which came on a pair of big hits. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out, and Mason Dinesen doubled to right field to score two runs. After a walk to Brody Howe, Steven Valentine cleared the bases with a double of his own, giving Ave a 7-4 lead after five innings.
 
South Bend struck back to tie the game in the next half inning, putting three runs on the board. The Titans tied the game with the bases loaded, when Sammy Nieves was hit by a pitch.
 
Dinesen gave the lead back to Ave Maria in the bottom of the sixth, as a sacrifice fly to right field brought in Keegan. Dinesen's third RBI of the game provided an 8-7 advantage for the Gyrenes entering the final inning.
 
Indiana South Bend provided the decisive runs with two in the top of the seventh. A wild pitch and an RBI single by Spencer McCool gave the visitors the needed runs to win the ballgame.
 
With the Spring Break homestand in the rearview mirror, the Gyrenes will travel to St. Thomas University on Wednesday for a midweek tilt. They return home on Thursday for a contest against Purdue University Northwest.