LAKELAND, Fla.- The Ave Maria University softball team could not find their footing against one of the hottest teams in the nation, dropping three games to the No. 21 Southeastern University Fire in a Sun Conference series in Lakeland Friday and Saturday. The Fire claimed victories of 6-1, 5-0, and 14-4 in their first SUN series of the spring, while the Gyrenes dropped to 2-4 in SUN play.

Southeastern scored in the first three innings of Friday's game, plating two runs in the first and one each in the second and third to build a 4-0 lead. Ave Maria got a run back in the top of the fourth, but the Fire were able to pull away with two in the bottom of the fifth. The host Fire racked up eleven hits in the win, while both teams committed three errors.

Annie Nudera supplied Ave Maria's run on Friday, clubbing an RBI double that scored Alexis Lendo. Nudera was running for Morgan Grimm, who had singled in the fourth inning for her 100th career hit. Ryanne Saluter added a double to account for the third of Ave Maria's three hits. Alissa Bolinger pitched all six innings for AMU, her tenth complete game of the season. 

Game two was scoreless through five and half innings, as neither team was able to come up with the big hit. It was the Fire that broke through with five runs in the bottom of the sixth, breaking the game open with a home run and a pair of two-run singles. 

Kassandra Clark pitched admirably for the Gyrenes, keeping the nationally ranked Fire off the board for five innings before the breakthrough in the sixth. Offensively, Ave Maria managed two baserunners in game two - a walk drawn by Katelynn Sebastiani in the third inning and a double from Saluter in the top of the seventh that ended Southeastern's bid at a no-hitter.

Ave Maria jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and a half, scoring one in the first and three more in the top of the second. Southeastern answered in a major way, though, scoring nine runs in the bottom of the second and five more in the third, which would eventually end the game in the fifth due to the NAIA's run rule.

Ashley Nelson drove in two of AMU's four runs with a two-run double in the second, while Cecilia Garrett added an RBI single earlier in the inning. Miriam Padgett was the lone Gyrene with two hits, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base. Marisa Michi, in her second collegiate pitching performance, worked 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit to the Fire.

AMU will quickly have a chance to get back above .500 in Sun Conference play, with another SUN series on tap for Tuesday and Wednesday. The Gyrenes will head to Miami Gardens for a series with the Lions of Florida Memorial University. The first game is set for 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, with a doubleheader starting at noon Wednesday closing out the series.