AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University softball team, playing their first conference games in 690 days, leapt to the top of The Sun Conference standings on Wednesday, thanks to a doubleheader sweep of the St. Thomas University Bobcats at the AMU Softball Field. The Gyrenes won the opener 9-1 before finishing off the sweep with an 11-3 victory in the nightcap. Both games were concluded in six innings thanks to the NAIA run rule, and increased AMU's winning streak to six games.

Wednesday's game got off to a picture perfect start for the Gyrenes, who scored five runs in the bottom of the first. Kalie Romig started the action with a single, and when the throw sailed wide of the bag, the speedster proceeded to circle the bases to put AMU on the board. AMU took advantage of two more STU errors in the inning, with runs crossing the plate on a two-run single from Marisa Michi, a throwing error on a steal attempts, and an RBI single from Katelynn Sebastiani.

St. Thomas got a run back in the top of the third on an error, keeping the score at 5-1 until the bottom of the fifth inning. There, AMU added three runs to break the game open. A walk, two singles, and an error pushed the first run of the inning across the plate, and consecutive RBIs from Michi and Miriam Padgett increased the Gyrene lead to 8-1 heading to the sixth. 

In that sixth inning, the Gyrenes put together a two-out rally to bring the game to an early end. Paxton Hoop singled with two outs, stole second base, and moved to third on another single from Angela Cataldo. After Cataldo stole second to put runners on second and third, a long single to center from Martinez scored Hoop for the ninth and final run of the opener.

Sarah Shepard, the reigning Sun Conference Pitcher of the Week, lived up to her billing with a complete game win, allowing zero earned runs to the Bobcats. In her sixth win of the year, the senior struck out four hitters and allowed just three hits. At the plate, Padgett led the way by going 3-for-3 with four stolen bases, a run scored, and a run batted in.

In game two, St. Thomas scored the first run in the top of the first, but AMU answered with four in the bottom half of the second. The big hit of the inning was provided by Padgett, who slapped a two-run triple into the left center field gap. Sebastiani added an RBI groundout to score Padgett, and Mia Gallegos drove in Abagail Love with a squeeze bunt to increase the lead to three runs. 

After St. Thomas climbed back to within two in the third, Ave Maria scored the next three runs to increase their lead to 7-2. One run came in the bottom of the third, as a double from Martinez was followed by an RBI single from Michi. Two more runs scored in the fourth inning, with Angela Cataldo driving in both Romig and Hoop with a single through the right side.

A St. Thomas run in the fifth cut the lead back to 7-3, but Ave Maria responded with four in the bottom of the sixth to end the contest. Cataldo added two more RBIs with a single, and Michi logged her fifth RBI of the day with a single of her own. A single from Padgett, followed by an STU error, plated the fourth run of the inning and ended the action.

Kassandra Clark followed Shepard with a complete game of her own, her second in a row following a win Friday over Dordt. Clark's efforts were aided by Romig and Michi, who combined to go 8-for-8 with four runs scored and two runs batted in. 

Next on the schedule for the Gyrenes is The Sun Conference Series of the Week, which will see Ave Maria travel to Lake Wales for a meeting with the No. 19 Warner University Royals. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for noon.