The Ave Maria University softball team opened the 2019 season on Saturday at the RussMatt Spring Games in Winter Haven, playing a doubleheader with the Bryan College Lions from Tennessee. In the season opener, Ave Maria fell twice to the Lions, losing 7-3 in the first game and falling 8-0 in the nightcap.

In the opening game of the doubleheader, Bryan scored seven unanswered runs to rally from an early deficit in a 7-3 victory over the Gyrenes. 

Ave Maria struck the game's first blows in the bottom of the second, putting three runs on the board. Genevieve Twigg started the frame with a single, and moved to second base on a passed ball. Back-to-back doubles from Angela Cataldo and Michella Davis drove in AMU's first two runs of the game,. and a bunt off the bat of Paxton Hoop brought in Davis to give Ave a 3-0 lead.

Bryan answered with two runs in the next half inning, cutting the AMU lead to 3-2 after two and a half innings. The Lions hit three consecutive singles during the frame, with Heidi Smith bringing in the first run on the second of the three hits. The second run was plated on a sacrifice fly from Hannah O'Shields.

The Lions decided the contest in the top of the fourth, scoring four runs to take a lead they would not relinquish. Bryan loaded the bases with one out, and took the lead on a two-run single from Destiny McSwain. After an intentional walk to leadoff hitter Sydney Olander again filled the bases, the Lions extended their lead on a two-run single from Smith. Bryan added another insurance run in the top of the seventh, as Smith drove in her fourth run of the afternoon on a single.

Cataldo was the brightest spot in the Ave Maria order in the opening game, going 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI in her first collegiate contest. Another freshman, Aylin Naranjo, pitched well in relief, tossing three innings with three strikeouts and just one run allowed. 

Game two saw Bryan jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to a home run from designated player Austyn Durham. Olander started the inning with a single, and Smith reached base for the fifth time on Saturday with a walk. Durham then gave the Lions a 3-0 lead with a home run over the centerfield fence, Bryan's first roundtripper of the season.

Another run crossed the plate in the bottom of the second to extend the Bryan lead to 4-0. Olander reached base on an error, and stood on second base with two outs. Smith drove in yet another run on a single, bringing Olander in from second to stretch Bryan's edge to four runs.

Four more runs came in for Bryan in the bottom of the fifth, enacting the five inning run rule. The Lions loaded the bases with no outs on a walk and two singles, and got a two-run single from Maryah Sober and a two-run double from Olander to bring the game to an end.

The Gyrenes return to action on Tuesday afternoon with their first true road games of the season against NCAA Division II Lynn University. Ave Maria starts the 2019 season with 18 games away from the Ave Maria campus, playing 12 neutral site games and six road contests. The first pitch of the doubleheader against Lynn is scheduled for noon in Boca Raton.