AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team returned home on Saturday, hosting the Cougars of Cleary University for a doubleheader at Bowie's Ballpark. Cleary won the opener by an 8-0 score, then completed the sweep with a 12-4 win in the nightcap.
After three scoreless innings in the first game, the Cougars broke the ice with two runs in the top of the fourth. Gino DeMarino was hit by a pitch with one out, and moved to third on a wild pitch and a stolen base. A Gyrene error allowed the first run to score, and Matt Sander drove in Garrett Larner with a double.
Cleary added three more runs in the sixth inning, increasing their lead to 5-0. Three consecutive singles did the damage for the Cougars, as Anthony Lacle, Jesse Fishbaum, and Jarod Wierengo drove in the runs. The runs were scored by Ryan Kadoguchi, Sander, and Lacle.
The visitors scored three more runs for good measure in the top of the seventh. Runners stood on first and second after a hit batsman and a single from Larner. With one out in the inning, Lacle belted a three-run homer to end the scoring.
Aidan Hickey and Ethan Bergkamp were the brightest spots for the Gyrenes at the plate, combining for four of AMU's six hits. Cristian Cotto finished the game on the mound, retiring both of the hitters he faced.
In game two, Cleary scored the first nine runs of the contest. The onslaught started with three runs in the top of the first, and continued with four in the top of the third. A solo home run from Kadoguchi and RBI singles from Wierengo and Daniel Ammons scored the runs in the first, while a two-run homer from Ian Hoogerhyde and a two-run single by Adam Nowicki did the damage in the third.
Two more runs were scored by Cleary in the fourth, as the lead ballooned to 9-0 on a two-run homer from Ammons. Ave Maria got on the board in the fifth inning, as an error off the bat of Jeff Cardazzone scored both Kolby Blanchard and Bergkamp. Cleary then got one of the runs back in the fifth, when Wierengo drew a bases loaded walk.
Ave Maria's final two runs of the game were driven in by Nicholas Soles. AMU had the bases loaded on a single from Bergkamp and a pair of walks to Cardazzone and Anier Ricardo. Soles then drove in the runs on a double down the left field line. The Cougars ended the game's scoring in the seventh, as Joey Vershay drove in DeMarino and Cameron Maybodi on a single to center field.
The Gyrenes return to Bowie's Ballpark on Monday, as Ave Maria hosts Lawrence Tech. First pitch in Ave Maria is scheduled for 11:00 a.m., with the finale scheduled to follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of the opener.
