JACKSONVILLE, Fla.  – The Ave Maria University baseball team used a three-run ninth to post a 7-4 win in the series opener on Friday at Edward Waters College, before splitting a pair of games in Saturday's doubleheader to earn the series win.
 
The Gyrenes followed Friday's victory with a 14-6 setback in Saturday's opener and closed with a 10-7 triumph in the nightcap.
 
Ave Marie moves to 5-12 overall with the series win, while Edward Waters slips to 2-14 overall.
 
The Gyrenes scored three runs in the ninth to turn a 4-4 game into a 7-4 victory on Friday.  Brody Rubenstein got things rolling by drawing a one-out walk and promptly stealing second base.  Kolby Blanchard then laced a single to plate Rubenstein and then also swiped second base.  Blanchard advanced to third on a fly ball and scored on a wild pitch.  Aidan Hickey scored the final run of the rally on a RBI double by freshman Jeffery Cardazzone.
 
Sophomore Callan Carn picked up the win for the Gyrenes after going three innings of scoreless relief.  Carn allowed no hits and struck out four in raising his record to 1-3.
 
AMU opened Saturday's 14-6 loss hot at the plate with four runs in the top of the first.  Junior Daniel Caylor led off the frame with a double and was followed by a Rubenstein single to advance to third.  Caylor came home on a sacrifice fly by Blanchard to put the Gyrenes up 1-0.  Freshman David Leonardi provided the big blow two hitters later with a three-run blast that gave AMU an early 4-0 edge.
 
The Tigers made things even with a three-run second and a single run in the third, before putting the game away with a 10-run spurt over the fourth and fifth innings. 
 
The Gyrenes took control of the decisive third game from the outset with three runs in the top of the first.  AMU opened the inning with three consecutive hits, capped off by an RBI double from Hickey to take a 1-0 lead.  Leonardi provided a sacrifice fly to score Blanchard and Cardazzone plated Hickey with a RBI single.
 
Edward Waters responded in strong fashion with five runs of its own in the bottom of the first – the key blow coming off the bat of Carlos Garcia who provided a three-run home run to flip the lead to the Tigers at 5-3.
 
The two teams traded a single run in each half of the second to make the score 6-4 – with AMU's coming via a solo long ball from senior Alex Perez.
 
Four extra base hits sparked a six-run fourth that put the game away for the Gyrenes – all coming with two outs.  Blanchard doubled and then was driven in on a two-run blast by Hickey. 
 
Ethan Bergkamp followed with a walk and advanced to second on a base hit by Leonardi.  A two-bagger by Cardazzone gave the Gyrenes the lead for good at 8-6, scoring both Leonardi and Bergkamp.   
 
Senior Clayton Stanley launched a two-run shot to pad the margin to 10-6 to close out the fourth.  The Tigers added a run in the bottom of the seventh to account for the final 10-7 margin.
Cardazzone and Hickey each finished the contest with three RBI to lead the Gyrenes.
 
Senior Christian Whitlatch notched the win for AMU by limiting the Tigers to just a pair of hits in 2.2 innings of relief.  He fanned two while raising his record to 2-0.  Freshman Ethan Wood was also solid out of the bullpen, allowing one run and one hit en route to his first save of the season.  He also registered five strikeouts.
 
The Gyrenes return to action on Wednesday, March 3 with a match up against Bryant and Stratton (N.Y.) in Lake Worth, Fla., beginning at 2 p.m. ET.