AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team split two games with No. 13 Keiser on Saturday afternoon, picking up a walk-off victory in the first game of the doubleheader before dropping the last game of the series. Ave Maria won 3-2 in the opener, but could not take the series after a 12-3 loss in the finale.

Each team scored a run in the second inning. Keiser scored on a wild pitch, which plated Marco Rivera. Rivera had reached on a double to start the inning, and a flyout had moved him in to third base. In the bottom half of the inning, Luis Dominguez capped off three consecutive singles by driving in Brody Howe to tie the game at one.

The first of two Ave Maria home runs gave the Gyrenes the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out in the frame, Luis Dominguez blasted his fourth home run of the season, a solo home run that provided AMU a 2-1 lead over the nationally ranked Seahawks.

After two scoreless innings, the Seahawks tied the game in the top of the seventh inning. Rivera continued his hot hitting with a leadoff double, and moved to third on a wild pitch. After two strikeouts from Justin Bureau, CJ Fitzpatrick drove in Rivera with a two-out single.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Rico Soto ended the game for Ave Maria, blasting his fourth home run of the season over the left center field wall. 

Andrew Giddens was the winning pitcher for the Gyrenes, coming on in relief of Justin Bureau. Bureau tossed eight quality innings with 11 strikeouts for the Gyrenes in the victory.

Keiser scored the first seven runs of the nightcap, and cruised to a 12-3 victory over the Gyrenes to finish the three game series. 

The Seahawks scored three runs in the first, one each in the third and fourth, and two more in the fifth. The leader of Keiser's attack was Rivera, who went 3-for-3 with three solo home runs and two intentional walks. Rivera homered in the second, fifth, and seventh innings. 

Ave Maria's three runs came across in the sixth inning. Nick Wydler broke up Keiser's no-hitter with a leadoff double, and scored after a single from Alex Perez. A double play ball off the bat of Ryan Keegan brought the second run of the inning in, and a single from Steven Valentine capped off Ave Maria's scoring for the day.

One run in the seventh inning and four more in the eighth ended Keiser's offensive output. The four-run eighth was led by a two-run double from Karsten Sherman, with Zack Saldivar and Carlos Pena also driving in runs. 

The Gyrenes continue their Sun Conference schedule on March 23 and 24 with a home series against Florida Memorial University. The first game of the series is scheduled for Friday at Bowie's Ballpark, with first pitch set for 2:00 p.m.