The Ave Maria University softball team moved into third place in the Sun Conference with an 8-0 victory over the Keiser University Seahawks at AMU Softball Field on Friday afternoon. The Gyrenes enter the final day of the regular season with hopes of a conference championship alive.

Three singles in the bottom of the first inning got the Gyrenes on the board. Each of the first two hitters, Kalie Romig and Marinna Shadley, beat an infield that was playing in to put runners on second and third. Alyssa Colding then drove in Romig with a hit through the left side of the infield. Colding's 25th RBI of the season gave Ave Maria an initial 1-0 lead.

Danielle Garcia started the Gyrene action in the bottom of the second by clubbing a one-out double. After the second out was recorded, Romig slapped a single up the middle, and Garcia was able to beat the throw to the plate and extend AMU's lead to 2-0.

Ave Maria broke the game open with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Garcia reached on a fielder's choice with one out, and Rachel Curtiss followed by getting hit by a pitch. Romig then added the third of her four hits, and a subqequent error allowed Garcia to score from second. Shadley drove in Curtiss with her second single of the contest, and Sadie Mosher finished the offensive surge with a two-run double into the gap.

AMU ended the contest early after scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Colding singled with one out, and was driven home on the third hit of the game from Deanna Stirtzinger, a triple. Garcia brought in the game-ending run with a bloop single into left center field. Garcia's single was her second hit of the game.

The six-run lead was more than enough for Sadie Mosher, who picked up her Gyrene-record 15th win of the season. The senior tossed six shutout innings, and retired 11 consecutive Seahawk hitters at one point. Keiser could only manage four hits against Mosher.

The regular season comes to an end for the Gyrenes on Saturday, with a doubleheader scheduled between AMU and Keiser. The first pitch of the opener is scheduled for 11 a.m., and Senior Day festivites will follow the first game. The Gyrenes need two wins and some help elsewhere in the conference to claim a share of the conference title, and could still snare the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament.