AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team took a game from the number one team in the nation on Wednesday afternoon, splitting a doubleheader with the defending national champion Southeastern University Fire. The Fire won the opener 5-0 before the Gyrenes snapped a 12-game losing streak to Southeastern with a 7-6 win in the nightcap. The doubleheader was considered a non-conference affair, and will not count in The Sun Conference standings.

The Fire led from wire-to-wire in the opener, as the leadoff hitter of the game came in to score in the opening inning. Manuel Mesa started the game with a triple, and eventually crossed the plate when Ivan Nunez grounded out to the shortstop.

Southeastern added to their lead in the fourth inning, as each of the first three batters reached base without putting the ball in play. After a fielder's choice saw a runner forced out at the plate, Carlos Viera drove in Dominic Anagnos with another fielder's choice to increase the Fire lead to 2-0. 

A wild pitch brought in the third Southeastern run in the top of the fifth. Mike Taylor led off the inning with a single, and was moved around to third base on another single and a fielder's choice. With two outs in the inning, Anagnos walked, with the fourth ball heading to the backstop and allowing Taylor to score. Southeastern completed the game's scoring in the top of the seventh, when Nunez and Taylor both scored on a pair of Ave Maria errors.

Two big innings propelled the Gyrenes to the upset victory in the nightcap, beginning with a three-spot in the bottom of the first inning. After Southeastern had jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a Taylor home run, the Gyrenes immediately answered. Tully Allen singled to lead off the bottom half, and scored when Luis Rodriguez doubled. Rodriguez scored on the same play following a Southeastern error. Spencer Nelson completed the action with the first AMU home run of the season, giving the Gyrenes a 3-1 lead after one inning of play.

The Fire answered with four unanswered runs, scoring three in the second and one more in the third. In the second, RBI singles from Mesa, Taylor, and Noah Strohl accounted for the runs. The Gyrenes nearly escaped trouble in the top of the third, but an error off the bat of Mesa allowed Anagnos to score from third, increasing the Fire lead to 5-3.

Ave Maria provided the game's decisive runs in the bottom of the third, scoring four runs. With runners on second and third and one out, Nelson drove in both Rodriguez and Nick Wydler with a single, tying the game at five. Nelson moved to third base on a pair of walks, which loaded the bases. Alex Perez then singled in the go-ahead run with a pinch hit single, and Daniel Caylor extended the lead with a sacrifice fly. 

The game remained 7-5 until the top of the seventh inning, thanks to a stellar outing from the AMU bullpen. The Fire got a run on the board in the final frame on a sacrifice fly from Viera, but were never able to get the tying run on base, as Christian Whitlatch locked down the save for the Gyrenes.

Rodriguez led the Gyrenes with three hits, two runs scored and an RBI, while Nelson went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Allen was the other Gyrene to log multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. On the mound, Ben Krizen earned the win. Jake Davey was another bright spot, tossing three shutout innings to keep the defending national champions in check.

AMU will head on the road for the first time this weekend for four games in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The Gyrenes will play two games against both Missouri Baptist University and William Carey University in alternating fashion on Friday and Saturday, beginning against Missouri Baptist at noon on Friday.