AVE MARIA, Fla. – Senior Alex Perez was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, forcing in the winning run to give the Ave Maria University baseball team a 5-4 victory over Florida National in the second game of a doubleheader on Friday afternoon at Bowie's Ballpark.
The win marked the fourth in the last five games for the Gyrenes, as well as their second straight victory in a three-game series. Ave Maria now stands at 8-13 overall this season, while Florida National slides to 4-10.
Florida National posted a 7-5 win in the opening game of Saturday's twin bill.
Prior to Perez being hit by a pitch to plate teammate Aidan Hickey with the decisive score, the senior blasted a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth and break a scoreless tie, giving AMU a 1-0 edge. Wilfredo Acevedo followed with a single and scored two hitters later on a wild pitch to stretch the lead to 2-0.
Florida National deadlocked the score with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth off the strength of two hits and an AMU error. The Conquistadors followed with another two runs in the top of the seventh, once again capitalizing on an error by Ave Maria, to set up the Gyrenes' come-from-behind effort in the bottom half.
Freshman Ethan Wood picked up the win in relief for AMU by limiting Florida National to no hits and two unearned runs over 1.1 innings. The right hander struck out two and walked two. Freshman John Louthan took the loss for the Conquistadors after plunking Perez and allowing the winning run to cross.
The Gyrenes ran out to an early 3-0 lead in game one – with an RBI double by Kolby Blanchard and a run-scoring single by Ethan Bergkamp leading the surge. Florida National tied the score with a three-run second, that was keyed primarily by two errors and a wild pitch by AMU.
The two teams traded runs in each half of the fifth to make the score 4-4 after FNU scored on a wild pitch and Hickey scored on a single by Bergkamp for AMU.
Florida National loaded the bases with one out, following two singles and a hit batter. The next two Conquistadors drew walks to seal the 7-5 win.
Senior Christian Whitlatch was hit with the loss for AMU after allowing four runs, only one of which was earned and two hits over 2.1 innings of relief. He fanned five, walked one and hit a batter. Louthan earned the victory for Florida Memorial after two innings of scoreless relief.
The Gyrenes open a season-long 14 game road swing on Friday, March 12 with the first of back-to-back doubleheaders vs. William Carey (Miss.). First pitch for game one on March 11 is slated for 11 a.m.
