HATTIESBURG, Miss.- The Ave Maria University baseball team shut out their opposition for 15 innings on Saturday, claiming victories of 10-0 over Culver-Stockton College and 1-0 over Columbia College on the campus of William Carey University. The Gyrenes finished with a 3-1 record in four games in Hattiesburg, and outscored their competition 26-15 over that time.

Ave Maria jumped on Culver-Stockton in the opener, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first inning. A double from Daniel Caylor and two hit batsmen loaded the bases for AMU with one out. A fielder's choice and an errant throw scored Caylor from third, and the third hit batsman of the inning made it 2-0. An RBI single from Jakob MacLeod and another error increased the Gyrene lead to 4-0, and the scoring concluded with a single from Wilfredo Acevedo and a fielder's choice off the bat of Caylor.

The Gyrenes added runs in the second and fourth innings, increasing their lead to 8-0 through four. Kolby Blanchard scored the run in the second, as the centerfielder singled and came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Clayton Stanley. In the fourth inning, Jared Halteman singled with one out, advanced to third base, and came home on another sacrifice fly, this one from Alex Perez.

Saturday's opener ended early when the Gyrenes scored their final two runs in the bottom of the eighth. An error allowed Halteman to score the ninth run of the game, and Blanchard scored the final run to end the game early via the run rule.

Culver-Stockton was shut out by freshman Will Shea, who worked eight scoreless innings with just three hits allowed. All three hits against Shea were singles, and the freshman struck out six CSC hitters while only walking two. At the plate, MacLeod led the way by going 3-for-4 with one run batted in and another run scored. 

In the second game, pitching for both Ave Maria and Columbia was stellar. AMU's Trey Felker tossed seven spotless innings, striking out eight hitters without a walk. For Columbia, Reid Browning and Conner Darnell combined to allow just one run on seven hits. The two Columbia pitchers struck out seven Ave Maria hitters while surrendering just two walks.

The lone run scored by the Gyrenes proved to be enough, and came in the top of the sixth. Jared Halteman led off the inning with a single, and a bunt from Alex Perez moved him to second base. Tyler Chase singled to left field to move Halteman to third, and a single from Aidan Hickey provided what would be the game-winning run.

Ave Maria's seven hits came from seven different players, with Halteman and Chase drawing walks to reach base twice in the win. Jakob MacLeod added the game's only stolen base after he was put in as the courtesy runner for Chase in the top of the fourth.

AMU will spend most of next week in Babson Park, on the campus of Webber International University. The Gyrenes will play Grand View University from Iowa in a neutral site game on Monday, then will return to play the host Warriors in the first conference series of the season on Friday and Saturday.