HATTIESBURG, Miss.- The Ave Maria University baseball team split two games in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on Friday afternoon, earning an 11-1 victory over Culver-Stockton College before falling 15-5 to Columbia College. In both games, the victorious team scored multiple runs in the top of the first inning to take full control of the contest.
Ave Maria jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning of the opener against Culver-Stockton. A Daniel Caylor single and two error loaded the bases for the Gyrenes, and a two-run single from Aidan Hickey got AMU on the board. Kolby Blanchard followed with a double to deep right centerfield, scoring another run. Jared Halteman completed the scoring for Ave Maria, driving in two more runs with a two-out single.
Culver-Stockton's lone run came in the bottom of the second inning. The Wildcats loaded the bases on a single by Greyson Durbin and a pair of walks. With two outs in the frame, Alejandro Cardinale was hit by a pitch, bringing Durbin in from third to cut the AMU lead to 5-1.
In each of the next two innings, the Gyrenes would score to add to their lead. AMU scored once in the third inning, as a double from Caylor drove in Halteman, who had started the inning with a single. Three more runs crossed the plate in the fourth, with a two-run double from Ethan Bergkamp and an RBI double from Wilfredo Acevedo doing the damage.
Two more runs were added by the Gyrenes in the top of the seventh, finishing off the 11-1 victory with RBI doubles from Alex Perez and Tyler Chase. In the win, four Gyrenes finished with two hits - Caylor, Hickey, Blanchard, and Halteman. On the mound, Jakob MacLeod earned the victory following five innings of work, while Bryan Craft tossed two perfect innings with three strikeouts.
Game two of the day saw Columbia jump out to a 3-0 lead over the Gyrenes. The first five hitters of the game reached for the Cougars, with RBIs provided by Kenny Piper and Dalton Bealmer. In total, Columbia sent eight hitters to the plate in the first inning, and logged four hits.
Columbia scored eight more runs before AMU got on the board, building an 11-0 lead. The Cougars scored once in the fourth, added five runs in the fifth, and plated two in the sixth. The major hit in the five-run fifth inning was provided by Kendrick Delima, who blasted a three-run home run that extended a 6-0 Columbia lead to 9-0.
All five of Ave Maria's runs came in the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Gyrenes cut the Columbia lead to 11-5. Jeff Cardazzone got the Gyrenes on the board with an RBI single, and Halteman added two more on a double to left-center field. A single by Perez plated two more runs, completing AMU's half of the scoring.
The Cougars scored the final four runs of the game, adding one in the seventh, two in the eighth, and one in the top of the ninth. For the game, Jarett Newell led the way for Columbia, going 6-for-7 with two runs scored and one batted in at the top of the lineup.
Ave Maria finishes their trip to Mississippi on Saturday, with two games scheduled. The Gyrenes will take on Columbia again at 2 p.m., and will complete the weekend with a game against host William Carey University at 6 p.m.
