AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team split a doubleheader with Florida Memorial University on Saturday afternoon at Bowie's Ballpark in Ave Maria. The Gyrenes rolled to a 10-2 win in the opener to take a game from the Lions, who are receiving votes in the national poll. FMU responded with a 9-5 win in the series finale.
Ten unanswered runs and a gem from Justin Bureau powered the Gyrenes to a 10-2 victory in the opening game of the day. Ave Maria powered out 17 hits in the win.
Florida Memorial jumped out to a lead with a run in the top of the second inning. The Lions' Chris Clara led off the inning with a double, and was moved over to third on an Axel Gomez single. Argenis Hernandez drove in the game's opening run with a sacrifice fly to left field
AMU responded with two runs in the bottom of the second, which gave the Gyrenes the lead for good. The entire rally came with two outs on three consecutive singles from Nick Wydler, Chris Wydler, and Tully Allen. Chris Wydler's single drove in his brother, and Allen's base hit brought Chris in to score.
The Gyrenes extended their lead with three more runs in the bottom of the third inning. Brody Howe drove in courtesy runner Matt Wiles with a single, and Luis Dominguez followed with an RBI single two batters later. A throwing error off the bat of Chris Wydler capped the inning for the Gyrenes, who had a 5-1 lead after three innings.
Ave Maria put the game away with four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Gyrene runs were produced by Steven Valentine on an RBI single, Dominguez on a two-run double, and Chris Wydler on an RBI single.
Both teams scored in their final turn at bat to finish the opening game's scoring. Dominguez drove in his fourth run of the game with a single in the bottom of the eighth, and FMU's  Argenis Hernandez recorded an RBI single to end the Lions' half of the scoring.
Bureau earned his third win of the season for the Gyrenes with eight standout innings, where he allowed just one earned run with six strikeouts.
In the nightcap, Florida Memorial held off the Gyrenes in a 9-5 decision.
Florida Memorial wasted no time in taking the lead, hitting two home runs in the top of the first inning. Raymond Guerrero hit a leadoff homer to start the game, and Clara followed with two outs with a two-run home run.
Ave got one run back in the bottom half of the second inning. Allen drove in Dominguez, who had reached on an error, with a single. Nick Wydler, who had walked, was thrown out at third base on the same play to end the inning.
FMU scored in each of the next three innings to take a 9-1 lead over the Gyrenes. A Gomez sacrifice fly and an error provided two runs in the third inning, while a sacrifice fly from Sergio Chil added a fourth inning run. A three-run fifth inning was powered by a Hernandez single and a two-run double from Guerrero.
The Gyrenes attempted to rally with four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Ryan Keegan belted a two-run double, and Valentine brought the Gyrenes within four runs with a two-run single. Ave Maria brought the tying run to the plate, but could not get any closer to the Lions.
Ave Maria's only games next week come at home on Tuesday, when the Gyrenes host Florida National University at Bowie's Ballpark. The doubleheader is scheduled to start at noon.
