Ave Maria, FL -- The Ave Maria University baseball team moved to 2-2 on the weekend with a 9-6 victory over the University of St. Francis at Bowie's Ballpark on Sunday afternoon. The Gyrenes pounded out 12 hits in the win.
Ave Maria got on the board first on Sunday, plating a run in the bottom of the first. Tully Allen hit a leadoff single, and scored when Rico Soto drilled a double with one out in the inning. Soto would be left on second after a pair of strikeouts, but still had the Gyrenes up 1-0.
Two runs in the top of the fourth inning got St. Francis on the board, and gave the Saints the lead. Nick Fleischauer clubbed an RBI triple, and he scored on a grounder from Travis Schoonover that was misplayed by the Gyrenes.
The first of three Ave Maria home runs got the Gyrenes back in front in the bottom of the fourth. Ryan Keegan was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and Andy Hernandez followed by drilling a two-run homer over the left field fence. His third home run of the season moved AMU ahead, 3-2, after four innings.
A set of wild pitches allowed three runs to score for St. Francis in the top of the fifth inning. Pat Michalak and Tom Smith scored on wild pitches, and Smith drove in Kyle Burton on a single. The three-run frame gave St. Francis their biggest lead, 5-3.
AMU's biggest inning of the game came in the bottom of the fifth, when the Gyrenes plated a decisive six runs. Allen led off with his second single of the game, and Ryan Cook tied the game with his third homer of the season. Keegan drew a one-out walk, bringing Hernandez to the plate, where he belted his second homer of the game, another two-run shot. An error and a single then put Mason Dinesen and Brody Howe on base, and a Justin Hartshorne sacrifice fly and a Blake Roxberry single giving the Gyrenes a 9-5 advantage.
St. Francis threatened in both the sixth and seventh innings, but Tyler Prichard and Andrew Giddens were able to enduce bases loaded strikeouts to keep the Saints off the board until the eighth inning, where a sacrifice fly from Tom Smith plated Kyle Burton to supply the final run of the game.
Tyler Prichard tossed 1.1 innings for the Gyrenes, and earned his first victory of the season. A scoreless ninth inning provided Justin Bureau his third save of the campaign. Five Gyrenes- Allen, Cook, Soto, Hernandez, and Roxberry- each had two hits for Ave Maria in the winning effort.
The Spring Break series continues for Ave Maria on Monday morning, as the Gyrenes welcome Lawrence Tech to Bowie's Ballpark for a pair of seven-inning games. The opening contest of the doubleheader is scheduled for 11 a.m. in Ave Maria.
