HARDEEVILLE, S.C.  – The Ave Maria University baseball team lost a pair of games on Friday afternoon at University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB) at Richard Gray Stadium.  The Gyrenes dropped a 6-2 decision in the opener before falling 10-5 in game two.
 
Following the losses, AMU slips to 14-27 overall and 4-13 in Sun Conference action.  UCSB moves to 22-17, including a 9-11 mark in league play.
 
AMU got a nice start in game one from freshman Ethan Wood.  The right hander limited the Sand Sharks to three runs and seven hits over 5.2 innings of work.  He also walked three and struck out four.  Senior Christian Whitlatch made his team-leading 22^nd appearance in relief while allowing three hits and three runs over 1.1 innings.
 
Offensively, the Gyrenes only managed four hits as USCB starter Matt Malatesta allowed just two hits and one run in six innings.  Payton MacPherson pitched the final three frames to earn the save while allowing two hits and a run.  Malatesta (9) and MacPherson (5) combined to strike out a total of 14 AMU hitters.
 
Leandy Castro hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the first to put UCSB up 1-0. AMU's Anier Ricardo scored on a ground out by senior Alex Perez in the top of the sixth after leading off the inning with a walk to knot the contest at 1-1.
 
That was as close as the Gyrenes would get as the Land Sharks added two runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh to open a 6-1 edge.  AMU scored its final run of the contest on an RBI triple by freshman Hayden Sullivan in the ninth.
 
UCSB took control of game two with a four-run outburst in the first before adding two more scores in the second.  Clint Sellers led off the bottom of the first with a solo shot to left center, making the score 1-0.  Kyran Russ notched an RBI double before a base-loaded free pass to Mathew Morgan and a run-scoring fielder's choice off the bat of Wesley Ambrose increased the lead to 4-0.
 
The Land Sharks added their two runs in the second off the strength of a pair of solo long balls from Castro and Russ to make the AMU deficit 6-0.
 
The teams traded runs in the fourth with Brody Rubenstein driving home Perez on a single to get AMU on the board.  Brian Meyer added an RBI single of his own in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 7-1.
 
Sullivan registered an RBI double and senior Ethan Bergkamp ripped a single that plated two in the top of the seventh to creep AMU back to 7-4, but a homer by Alexander Humphrey in the bottom of the seventh increased the lead back to 8-4.
 
Humphrey drove home another run on a sac fly in the eighth and UCSB added its final run of the game on a single by Nick Milhan.
 
Starter Ryan Schroeder (2-2) took the loss for AMU after allowing six runs and six hits over two innings.  Micah Krieghauser (4-0) earned the victory for the Land Sharks after a six-inning effort that saw him give up just one earned run and seven hits.
 
The Gyrenes close out the three-game series at UCSB on Saturday, April 16 beginning at 12 p.m. EDT.