BRADENTON, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team split a doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon with the Bears of Shawnee State University. The Gyrenes picked up a win in the first game, 6-4, but saw a massive comeback fall short in the second game in an 11-9 loss. The games were played in Bradenton, Florida, on the campus of IMG Academy.

Ave Maria earned the victory in the opening game of the doubleheader behind a five-run first inning, and held on for a 6-4 win over the Bears. 

AMU's five-run first inning began on a Tully Allen single, followed by a single from Matt Wiles. An error on the Wiles single allowed Allen to score, putting the Gyrenes on the board. Ryan Keegan and Rico Soto then added consecutive RBI singles, and Brody Howe made it 4-0 on an RBI double. Steven Valentine concluded the inning with an RBI groundout.

Shawnee State got three of the five runs back in the bottom of the first. Sam Gerhold scored the first Bear run on a wild pitch, and JT Boggs followed with a two-run double down the right field line. AMU starter Joshua Harrell left two runners on base to keep the lead intact for the Gyrenes.

The teams traded runs in the second inning, keeping Ave's two-run lead intact. The Gyrene run came from Wiles, who drove in Alex Perez with an RBI single. Shawnee State did their damage with two outs, as a Gerhold double led to an RBI single from Dalton Phillips. 

The game remained 6-4 for the remainder of the contest, with Ave Maria pitchers Kyle Naylor, Justin Bureau, and Andrew Giddens combining to protect the lead. Naylor earned the win for his efforts, while Giddens snagged his fifth save.

In the second game, Ave Maria rallied from a 6-0 deficit to tie the game, but gave up two runs in the seventh inning in an 11-9 loss.

SSU scored the first six runs of the game, putting up two in the first inning and four more in the second. In the first inning, RBI singles from Levi Jones and Boggs gave the Bears a 2-0 lead. A two-run double from Phillips led the offense in the second inning, with a Jones double and a Boggs triple moving the Shawnee State lead to 6-0.

Ave started to rally in the bottom of the third inning, scoring four runs to pull within two, 6-4. The Gyrenes loaded the bases on singles from Luis Dominguez, Allen, and Mark Rooney. Soto drove in the first run on a walk, and Howe brought in the second on a hit by pitch. Valentine doubled to right center field for two more runs to conclude the inning's scoring.

Shawnee State increased their lead to five runs in the top of the fourth inning. An RBI single from McGuire, an RBI hit by pitch to Christian Helton and a passed ball accounted for the Bears' runs in the fourth. 

The Gyrenes responded with five unanswered runs, tying the game at nine. AMU scored once in the fourth on an RBI single from Keegan, and added four more runs in the fifth. The biggest hit of the inning was a single from Keegan that brought in three runs, with an Allen single bringing in the first run of the frame.

A wild pitch and an RBI single from Joseph Campos provided the decisive runs in the top of the seventh inning for Shawnee State. Ave Maria got the leadoff runner on in the bottom of the seventh, but a double play and a groundout ensured the split for Shawnee State.

The doubleheader marked the end of Ave Maria's Spring Break schedule. The Gyrenes return to the field on March 14 for a midweek game against Division II Rollins College. The first pitch from Winter Park is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.