AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team split their final conference doubleheader of the season on Friday, using a walk-off grand slam from Nick Wydler to claim a 7-4 win in the opener before dropping a 9-4 decision in the nightcap. Both teams earned their seventh conference win of the season during the twinbill.

The Night Hawks scored the first two runs of the afternoon, pushing one across in the first and third innings. A double from Chase Hinson led to a run in the first inning, as the leadoff hitter in the Thomas lineup scored on an error off the bat of Maury Gonzalez. In the third, Hinson singled up the middle to give the Night Hawks a 2-0 lead.

Ave Maria pulled within a run in the bottom of the fifth, scoring with two outs in the frame. Nick Wydler reached on a fielder's choice with one out, and proceeded to steal second. After a walk to Spencer Nelson, Chris Wydler drove in his brother with a single to right field, cutting the Thomas lead to 2-1 through five innings.

A home run gave the Gyrenes their first lead of the day in the bottom of the seventh inning. Robby McMahon started the frame with a single, and courtesy runner Justin Hartshorne moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt from Anier Ricardo. Nick Wydler continued his hot hitting with a two-run homer, giving the Gyrenes a 3-2 lead. 

Thomas struck back in the top of the ninth, retaking the lead with a pair of runs. With two outs in the frame, the Night Hawks had the tying run on second and the go-ahead run on first. Jake Bryan then gave the lead back to Thomas with a two-run double to left center, putting the Night Hawks on top by a 4-3 score.

Wydler's heroics were set up by the Gyrenes loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth. An Alex Perez single, a McMahon double, and an intentional walk to Ricardo set up Wydler's grand slam, which tied him for the team lead with his fifth home run of the season.

In game two, the Gyrenes jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring each of those runs in the bottom of the third. Singles from Jared Halteman and Perez put runners on first base, and Halteman was able to score on a Thomas error. After a walk to McMahon, Ricardo drove in both runners with a double to right field, increasing the AMU lead to 3-0.

After a run in the fourth inning crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly from Jacob Schmidt, the Night Hawks took the lead for good with four runs in the fifth. RBI singles by Tyler Keaton and Keefer Beaty tied the game at three, and back-to-back bases loaded walks to Gonzalez and Levi O'Steen allowed the visiting Night Hawks to take a 5-3 advantage.

AMU got a run back in the bottom of the sixth inning, completing their half of the scoring. The Gyrenes took advantage on an error off the bat of Mark Rooney, cutting the lead of Thomas down to 5-4 following a double by Chris Wydler.

Thomas put the game away in the top of the eighth with a four-spot. Schmidt drove in the first two runs by blasting a home run that also scored Keaton, and the scoring was concluded on RBI singles by Chase Hinson and Gonzalez.

The Gyrenes will complete The Sun Conference season on Saturday with the rubber match against the Night Hawks. Before the game, which has a noon first pitch time, the Ave Maria baseball program will honor the eight members of its senior class.