HARDEEVILLE, S.C.- The Ave Maria University baseball team began their final road series of the season with a pair of losses on Friday afternoon to the USCB Sand Sharks. The Sand Sharks claimed victories of 9-3 and 12-2 to seal their second conference series win of the season.

USCB never trailed in either game of the doubleheader, scoring the first five runs of the opener with one in the first and four in the second. An RBI single from Nick DelBianco got the Sand Sharks on the board in the first inning. In the second, an RBI single from Cole Hamilton, an RBI double from Robbie McKinney, a Bobby Wenthe sacrifice fly, and a Jay Newell RBI single did the damage for USCB.

Ave Maria got on the board in the third inning, cutting the USCB lead to 5-2 with a pair of runs. A walk to Jared Halteman and a single by Luis Rodriguez put runners on the corners with no outs, and Daniel Caylor drove in Halteman with a single to right. The second run scored on a double play ball off the bat of Alex Perez.

Four unanswered runs scored for USCB over the next five innings, as the Sand Sharks scored one in the fourth, one in the sixth, and two in the eighth. Newell drove in his second run of the day with a single in the fourth, and McKinney added his second RBI with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. The two runs in the eighth were driven in by Wenthe on a double and DelBianco on a single.

A run crossed the plate for the Gyrenes in the top of the ninth, accounting for the final 9-3 margin. Andy Hernandez led off the frame with a double, and was lifted for pinch-runner Chris Wydler. Wydler was driven in with two outs by his brother Nick, who singled to left center.

The Sand Sharks again took an early lead in game two, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. Chris Vazquez drove in the first run with an RBI single, and DelBianco scored the second run on an AMU error. The lead extended to 3-0 when Vazquez then scored on a balk.

USCB pulled away from the Gyrenes, taking a 9-0 lead after scoring four runs in the second and two more in the third. The runs in the second were provided on a wild pitch, a two-run double from McKinney and another double from Wenthe. McKinney drove in two more runs in the third on a single.

Both of Ave Maria's runs in the nightcap came in the top of the sixth. Anier Ricardo started the frame with a triple, and then scored when a relay throw from the Sand Sharks was thrown away. Nick Wydler then followed with a triple of his own, and scored on an RBI groundout from Mark Rooney.

The game ended early due to the run rule when USCB scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Tavaris Terrell started the inning with a triple, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Daniel Searles. The game ended on a two-run single from McKinney, who ended the game with four hits and six runs batted in. 

Saturday marks the conclusion of the series between the Gyrenes and the Sand Sharks, with first pitch of the series finale in Hardeeville scheduled for noon.