BABSON PARK, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team completed their first conference series of the season on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader against the No. 16 Warriors of Webber International University. Webber won both games of the twinbill to claim a sweep over the Gyrenes, earning a 5-2 victory in the opener before winning 14-4 nightcap.

After three scoreless innings in the opener, the Gyrenes got on the board first with a run in the top of the fourth. With two outs, Tyler Chase doubled down the left field line, and was replaced by pinch runner Jakob MacLeod. After a walk to Kolby Blanchard, Aidan Hickey drove in the first run of the afternoon with an RBI single to right field. 

The score remained 1-0 Ave Maria until the seventh inning, when the teams traded runs to leave the Gyrenes with a 2-1 lead entering the eighth inning. Ave Maria's run was manufactured following a leadoff single from Hickey. Hickey moved around to third on a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch, then scored on a sacrifice fly from Clayton Stanley. Webber's run, which came after six shutout innings from Trey Felker were completed, was supplied on an RBI triple by Orlando Pena. 

Webber rallied from the 2-1 deficit in the bottom of the eighth, scoring four decisive runs. A hit batsman, a walk, and a bunt single loaded the bases with no outs. Bryan Eusebio then gave the Warriors the lead on an RBI single to right field. Two more runs were added on a bunt single from Norberto Navarro and an AMU error. 

Game two was in Webber's control from the very start, as the Warriors scored the first 13 runs. The scoring started with two runs in the first inning, coming on a two-run homer from Carlo Mancillas. In the second inning, Webber added five runs on a Cale Jones double, a Navarro single, an Rougie Odor single, and a two-run double from Victor Florentino.

The Warriors extended their lead to 13-0 in the third and fourth innings, as four runs scored in the third and two more were plated in the fourth. All four runs in the third inning were the responsibility of Mancillas, who hit a grand slam over the center field fence. A home run from Florentino was added in the fourth inning, and an RBI groundout from Jones concluded the scoring in the inning. 

Four runs crossed the plate for the Gyrenes in the seventh, getting AMU on the board. An error allowed Chase to score the first run of the game for Ave, and Mark Rooney followed by belting his first home run of the season over the left field fence, a three-run shot that would extend the game for the time being. 

Saturday's doubleheader ended with a Webber run in the bottom of the seventh. Jones started the inning with a single, and pinch runner Nick Martinez came around to score on a wild pitch and a pair of walks.

Ave Maria will face another nationally ranked team on Tuesday, when the Gyrenes travel to Miami Gardens for a meeting with the Bobcats of St. Thomas University. St. Thomas is ranked No. 2 in the nation. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.