AVE MARIA, Fla. --- The Ave Maria baseball team won game two of today's doubleheader 5-4 over sixth-ranked St. Thomas to avoid the series sweep. St. Thomas won game one of the doubleheader 18-3.
 
In game one, the Gyrenes scored first in the bottom half of the first inning on a Tully Allen RBI single to score Luis Rodriguez. St. Thomas came back with four in the second to take a 4-1 lead.
 
RBI singles by Chris Wydler in the fourth and Spencer Nelson in the fifth brought the Gyrenes to within one 4-3 heading to the sixth.
 
The Bobcats broke open the game in the sixth with four runs. They added two in the eighth and eight in the ninth to take game one 18-3.
 
Rodriguez and Allen each had multiple hits in game one. As a team, AMU had 10 hits. Noah Christopher took the loss on the mound for AMU.
 
After St. Thomas jumped out to an early lead with a run in the top of the first in game two, AMU responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Robert McMahon had an RBI groundout followed by an RBI single by Brian Spradlin.
 
The Gyrenes added three runs in the bottom of the second to take a 5-1 advantage. Rodriguez hit a sac fly to drive in Nick Wydler. Daniel Caylor then hit an RBI double to right center to bring in Justin Hartshorne. Later in the inning, McMahon drove in Caylor on a RBI single to left center.
 
The Ave Maria pitching staff was able to hold off the high-scoring Bobcats the rest of the way. St. Thomas added two runs in the fifth and one in the seventh but AMU prevented the Bobcats from tying the game late.
 
Chase Barrett picked up the win in game two after going five innings and allowing three runs. Jake Davey pitched three innings in relief and allowed one run before handing the ball over to Christian Whitlatch. Whitlatch got the final three outs to pick up his second save of the season.
 
Caylor and Tyler Chase finished game two with two hits apiece while McMahon finished 1-for-4 with two RBI.
 
Ave Maria returns to action on Tuesday when they travel to St. Petersburg, Fla., to take on Eckerd in a midweek matchup. First pitch will be at 6 p.m.