AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University softball team logged 17 hits over two games on Saturday, but could not come up with a clutch hit in a pair of losses to the Mariners of the College of Coastal Georgia at the AMU Softball Field. The Mariners won both games by two runs, earning victories of 4-2 and 6-4 in the final conference doubleheader on the AMU campus this season.
Ave Maria scored the first run of the day, using their small ball game to take a lead in the bottom of the first. Kalie Romig led off with a single, then stole second to set the Ave Maria record for steals in a season with 47. Romig then scored on a bunt single from Paxton Hoop, racing around third when Hoop beat the throw to first base.
Coastal Georgia got on the board with two runs in the top of the fourth, taking the lead for the first time on the day. A walk and two bunts put runners on second and third with one out for the Mariners, and Kayla Rowell drove in both Samantha Hiley and Cevana Wood with a double to left field, giving the Mariners a 2-1 lead after four innings.
AMU answered in the bottom of the fifth, evening the scoring with a clutch hit by their leading run producer. Hoop was hit by a pitch with one out, and moved up to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Marisa Michi drove in a run with a single just out of the reach of the CCGA third baseman. Scoring from second on the play was Hoop, tying the score at two.Â
Saturday's opener was decided in the top of the sixth, when the Mariners scored two decisive runs. Melani Jones led off with a double down the left field line, then scored the go-ahead run after a wild pitch on an RBI single from Bre Wells. After another double from Rori Rhodes and an intentional walk to Sarah Thinger, Bryce Peacock drew a bases loaded walk to account for the final 4-2 score.
Angela Cataldo led the way for Ave Maria in the losing effort in the opener, going 2-for-3. Romig, Hoop, Michi, and Miriam Padgett also added hits. In the circle, Sarah Shepard tossed the first four innings for the Gyrenes, allowing two earned runs in a no decision.Â
In game two, Coastal Georgia grabbed an early lead with two runs in the top of the first. The first two runners of the game, Thinger and Peacock, reached on a single and a walk, respectively. After a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, both runners scored on a double to left field from Wood, giving the Mariners a 2-0 lead.
The Gyrenes got a run back in the bottom half of the frame, as Romig singled, stole second, and moved up to third on a Paxton Hoop groundout. With two outs in the inning, Romig scored when Michi reached on an error.Â
Both teams scored in the second inning, keeping Coastal's lead at one run, 3-2. The Coastal run was driven in on a sacrifice fly from Thinger, which drove in Rhodes. Ave Maria answered in the bottom of the second with an RBI single from Emma Thompson, which brought Padgett around from first base to score the second AMU run of the game.
CCGA's lead lasted until the top of the seventh, when the Mariners added three insurance runs that proved to be critical. The Mariners' three runs in the inning were scored on a Thinger single, a sacrifice fly from Peacock, and a double from Hiley.
Ave Maria attempted to rally in the bottom of the seventh, getting two runs across the plate. AMU loaded the bases with no outs on a Michi single, a walk to Annie Nudera, and a single by Padgett. After Thompson lined out, Kayla Martinez singled down the right field line to score Michi. Nudera scored on a wild pitch, but the tying run was left on second base.
After coming on in the second inning, Kassandra Clark had one of her best outings of the season, allowing just one earned run in 5.2 innings in the circle. At the plate, Romig, Martinez, and Michi all had two hits.
The final conference doubleheader of the season comes on Wednesday, as the Gyrenes will look to play spoiler to the conference championship hopes of the Webber International University Warriors. The Gyrenes play in Babson Park on Wednesday, with first pitch of the doubleheader scheduled for 2 p.m.
