CLERMONT, Fla.- The Ave Maria University softball team dropped a pair of games on Tuesday afternoon to Mount Vernon Nazarene University, losing 20-2 and 5-4 at the PFX Spring Games in Clermont. After losing the opener, the Gyrenes held a 4-1 lead in the nightcap, but surrendered four runs in the bottom of the seventh to drop to 3-5 on the season.

The Gyrenes did score first in the opening game, pushing across a run in the bottom of the first. Kalie Romig walked with one out, and moved to third with a stolen base and a groundout. Ave Maria got on the board when Michella Davis singled into center field, bringing Romig across the plate.

Mount Vernon Nazarene tied the game in the second inning on an RBI double from Cassidy Frazier. The second inning marked the beginning of a stretch of eleven unanswered runs, which put the Cougars up 11-1 after three and a half innings. 

Ave Maria scored their other run in the bottom of the fourth before giving up nine runs in the top of the fifth. Morgan Grimm drove in the second Ave Maria run, singling down the right field line to score Jessica Chavez, who was running for Genevieve Twigg, who had doubled to start the frame. 

In the second game, MVNU and Ave remained tied through four innings, with the Cougars scoring first in the bottom of the fifth. MVNU pieced together three singles in the frame, culminating in a two-out RBI single from Mackenzie Huey to open the scoring. 

AMU answered in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs to take a 3-1 lead. An error, a single, and a double steal had runners on second and third with one out, and Dariyen Varner was able to score the game-tying run by beating the throw home on a fielder's choice. Twigg then gave the Gyrenes the lead with a sacrifice fly, and Emma Thompson made it a two-run lead with an RBI single to left field.

Through six innings, the Cougars were kept in check by the efforts of senior Brooke Pierron. Pierron allowed just the lone run in her first six innings, consistently forcing the MVNU lineup to ground out and strand runners on base.

Another Ave Maria run was added in the top of the seventh. Brittany Frye drew a leadoff walk, and pinch runner Miriam Padgett proceeded to steal second and third. The pinch runner crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly to right field from Varner, increasing the AMU lead to 4-1 heading to the bottom of the seventh.

The bottom of the seventh saw the Cougars draw within one run on an RBI triple from Sarah Boue' and an RBI double from Meghan May. The Cougars then claimed a walk-off win in the nightcap on a game-winning two-run home run from Huey that cleared the left field fence.

Ave Maria now enters the Gulf Coast Invitational in Gulf Shores, Alabama, playing six games in a three game span. The Spring Break trip begins on Friday, when the Gyrenes battle a pair of nationally ranked teams in No. 19 Faulkner and No. 11 Campbellsville. The action on Friday is set to begin at 4:30 p.m.