AVE MARIA, Fla. --- Ave Maria and USCB continued their three-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. The Lady Gyrene offense shined in game one, leading to a 9-5 win over the Sand Sharks. In game two, USCB's won a 1-0 pitcher's duel.

Ave Maria moves to 15-7 overall and begins the conference season with a 2-1 record.

In the first game of a double header, the Lady Gyrenes jumped out to a big lead against the visiting USCB Sand Sharks. Three runs in the 4^th inning and four runs in the 5^th inning broke the game open. Pookie Del Pino had the big hit with a two run triple to cap the scoring. The Sand Sharks mounted a come-back as they scored 4 runs in the top of the fifth inning. After tacking on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning the Lady Gyrenes closed out the first half of the double header. Sadie Mosher gets the win as the starting pitcher in the 8-5 victory.

In the second game the Sand Sharks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after they loaded the bases. They weren't able to push an additional run across and it became a pitcher's duel from then on. Brittney Pressler held the USCB Sand Sharks to only four hits over 7 innings but the Lady Gyrenes couldn't get the bats going as they only generated 5 hits and couldn't capitalize on four runners in scoring position, most notably the two in the bottom of the seventh inning. In the end USCB takes the second half of the double header 1-0. Ave Maria University take the series win though, with two out of three games going to the Lady Gyrenes.

AMU hits the road next weekend when they head to Georgia to take on Thomas in a three-game conference set.