AVE MARIA, Fla. --- The Ave Maria softball team took care of business in their season opening doubleheader against the Eagles of Trinity Baptist, sweeping the two games in five innings. AMU won game one 18-3 behind a record setting 14-run fourth inning and kept in going in game two, winning 9-1.
 
Trinity Baptist touched home first in game one with three runs in the second inning. The Gyrenes responded with four runs in the bottom of the third to take a 4-3 lead.
 
Jessica Chavez led off the inning with an inside-the-park home run on a ball hit down the right field line and into the corner. AMU then took advantage of a TBC error and a Emma Thompson RBI groundout to drive in two more runs to pull even at 3-3. Abagail Love followed that up with a single up the middle to drive in Michella Davis to give AMU a 4-3 lead.
 
Ave Maria broke the game open in the fourth with 14 runs on 12 hits and six Eagle errors. The Lady Gyrenes batted around twice in the inning with Michella Davis and Genevieve Twigg each recording multiple hits in the inning. The big hit of the inning came from Thompson who drove in three with a bases-clearing double to make the score 16-3. Davis hit her second of two doubles in the inning to drive in the 13th run of the inning. She later came around to score to make it 18-3.
 
Chavez finished game one 3-for-3 with three runs scored and three RBI. Five other Lady Gyrenes recorded multiple hits. Thompson batted in a team-best four runs for AMU.
 
Brianna Geiger pitched four innings and allowed two earned runs in the win. She struck out three, walked three and allowed seven hits. Brooke Pierron allowed one hit and struck out one in one inning of work
 
Ave Maria picked up right where they left off in game two, scoring twice in the opening inning to jump out to the early lead. After Romig scored on a double-steal to plate AMU's first run, Davis hit her third double of the day to drive in Deanna Stirtzinger to make it 2-0.
 
Trinity Baptist got one run back in the top of the third only to see AMU tack on four more in the bottom half of the inning. With Romig on second and two outs, back-to-back singles by Davis and Twigg followed by a double by Love gave the Lady Gyrenes a 4-1 lead. Chavez then hit a two-RBI single to make it a five-run lead.
 
In the fourth, Destinee Elmore stole third and then scored on a wild thrown on the play to increase the AMU lead to six. Later in the inning, Davis doubled over the head of the center fielder to drive in Thompson and Stirtzinger to make the score 9-1.
 
Pierron picked up the win for the Lady Gyrenes. She allowed one run on three hits and one walk over four innings. Geiger pitched the final inning of the run-ruled game and didn't give up a run.
 
On the day, Davis finished 5-for-6 with four doubles, six RBI, and four runs scored. Chavez was 4-for-6 with five RBI and three runs scored. Six AMU players recorded multiple hits on the afternoon while eight different players scored at least two runs and four crossed home four times.
 
The Lady Gyrenes return to the diamond on Saturday when they host Stratford. The doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. at AMU Softball Field.