PLANTATION, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team never trailed in a doubleheader sweep of the University of Fort Lauderdale at The Ballpark in Plantation on Tuesday afternoon. The Gyrenes held on for a 3-2 win in the opener, then controlled the action in an 8-2 victory in the nightcap. The wins gave Ave Maria the series victory over the first-year Eagles this season, taking four of the five games played between the schools with two still to be played next month.
In the opener, the top of the Ave Maria lineup opened up a 2-0 lead just four batters into the game. Tanner Kelly doubled with one out, stole third, then scored on an RBI double from Kolby Blanchard. The next batter, Jose Gonzalez, singled through the left side to give AMU an early 2-0 lead, which would hold until a UFTL run in the bottom of the third cut the Gyrene lead in half.
David Leonardi continued his stretch of hot hitting in the fourth, belting a solo home run to center field to account for Ave Maria's final run of the opener. Fort Lauderdale scored in the seventh and got the tying run to second base, but Brandon Willoughby was able to get a strikeout to slam the door, earning his second save of the season.
Kelly, Gonzalez, and Leonardi all had two hits in the victory to lead the Gyrenes at the plate. Callan Cark pitched the first three innings for the Gyrenes, while Kelton Little moved to 3-0 on the season with three scoreless innings, with the Eagles earning just one hit during Little's time on the mound.
Game two saw the Gyrenes jump out to an early 1-0 lead, thanks to a miscue from Fort Lauderdale. With two outs in the first, Blanchard singled through the left side, then moved around to third on a walk to Gonzalez and a UFTL error. The Eagles' second error of the inning, which came off the bat of Dylan Moser, sent Blanchard home for the first Gyrene run of the game.
Ave Maria's lead widened to 5-0 following two runs each in the third and fourth innings. Eli Garcia plated both runs in the third with a two-run single, which scored Gonzalez and Leonardi, who reached on a single and an error, respectively. In the fourth inning, Kelly reached base on the final of Fort Lauderdale's four errors, and Blanchard followed with a two-run homer to left field.
After a Fort Lauderdale run in the fifth, Ave Maria put the game away with three runs in the top of the sixth. Tanner Kelly singled, stole second, moved to third on a Gonzalez flyout, then scored on a wild pitch. Leonardi concluded the scoring by homering for the third consecutive game and the fourth time this month, a two-run shot that accounted for the last of AMU's eight runs.
Fernando Fernandez was the winning pitcher for Ave Maria, tossing four shutout innings to start the game while striking out five Fort Lauderdale hitters. Blanchard led the Ave Maria offense with two hits and two runs batted in. Jimmy Coffey joined him with two hits, while Garcia was the other Gyrene with two runs batted in.
AMU returns to Sun Conference play this weekend with a three-game series against the Lions of Florida Memorial University. The Gyrenes and Lions will start their series with one game Friday, then will concludes matters with a Saturday doubleheader at Bowie's Ballpark.
