AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team split their final doubleheader of the season, taking the final game of a series against the Sand Sharks of the University of South Carolina Beaufort. The Sand Sharks rallied for a 5-4 victory in the opening game, while the Gyrenes cruised to a 10-5 win to avoid the sweep. Before the games, the Gyrenes honored the members of their senior class.
Both teams scored a run to open the scoring in the first inning. Each of the first four batters of the game reached base for the Sand Sharks, ending with an RBI single from Chris Vazquez to score Cole Hamilton. In the bottom half, Ave Maria countered with back-to-back singles from Rico Soto and Steven Valentine, with an ensuing error allowing courtesy runner Chris Wydler to score.
After three scoreless innings of play, Ave Maria put three runs on the board to take a 4-1 lead through five innings. Ryan Keegan doubled with one out, and was driven in on a single by Soto. After a single from Valentine, Luis Dominguez added an RBI double and Alex Perez drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
With one run in both the seventh and eighth innings, the Sand Sharks pulled within one run. Noah Matthews drove in the second run of the game for the USCB on a single, which drove in Alex Murphy. USCB made it 4-3 in the top of the eighth inning on another RBI single, this one from Graham Hatfield to score Keith Olmo.
Back-to-back walks started the top of the ninth inning for the Sand Sharks, with a fielder's choice and an error loading the bases with no outs. After closer Andrew Giddens got a strikeout, Olmo provided the game's decisive hit, a double to right center field that scored Matthews and Vazquez.
Justin Bureau took a tough luck no decision for the Gyrenes, striking out nine hitters over 6.1 innings on the mound. Bureau allowed only two runs, and was in line for the win before USCB's runs in the top of the ninth.
In the second game, Ave Maria used a six-run fourth inning to claim a 10-5 victory over the Sand Sharks. The Gyrenes recorded 14 hits in the victory, while USCB logged 13.
USCB and Ave Maria each scored a run in the second and third innings, leaving the game tied at two after three innings. USCB's runs were provided on RBI singles by Hunter Helms and Olmo, while the Gyrenes answered in the bottom half of the frames with RBI singles from Mark Rooney and Valentine.
The game's decisive inning was the bottom of the fourth inning, where the Gyrenes scored six runs to take an 8-2 lead. The inning featured eight consecutive Gyrene hits and nine consecutive players reaching base. RBIs were recorded by Rooney, Matt Wiles, Tully Allen, Keegan, Valentine, and Alex Perez. Wiles and Allen's RBIs came on triples, two of AMU's four extra base hits in the frame.
Ave Maria added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning with two more runs. Keegan led off the inning with a single, and eventually scored on a wild pitch. An RBI single from Dominguez that drove in Valentine gave AMU a 10-2 lead. USCB scored three runs in the eighth inning, but could not get any closer than five runs as Griff Anderson earned the save over three innings on the mound. Fellow senior Sergio Miyares earned the victory.
The Gyrenes have one conference series remaining on the season, and will travel to Thomasville, Georgia for a three-game set against Thomas University on Friday. The first pitch of the Friday doubleheader is scheduled for noon.
