AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team played a pair of high-scoring games on Monday afternoon, as the Gyrenes welcomed the Blue Devils of Lawrence Tech to Bowie's Ballpark. Ave Maria scored 12 unanswered runs in their final two trips to the plate in a 16-7 victory in the opener, but gave up three innings of five runs or more in the nightcap, a 20-5 win for Lawrence Tech.

Lawrence Tech scored first on an RBI single in the top of the first, but Ave Maria countered with two in the bottom half. Daniel Caylor led off the AMU half of the first with a single, and moved up to second with a steal. Kolby Blanchard followed with a walk, and Jose Gonzalez gave Ave Maria their first lead of the day with a two-run double to right center field.

After the Blue Devils scored twice in the third and once in the fourth to take a 4-2 lead, the Gyrenes responded with a big hit to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth. Eli Garcia led off the inning by being hit by a pitch. The next batter, David Leonardi, unleashed his second home run of the season over the left field fence. The two-run shot from Leonardi evened the score at four after four innings.

Three runs from Lawrence Tech flipped the lead back to the visitors in the top of the fifth. The first of AMU's 12 unanswered runs came in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the Blue Devil lead to 7-5. Blanchard started the action with a single, and stole second to put himself in scoring position. He then scored from second base on an error off the bat of Harrison Rossi. 

Ave Maria then scored eleven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, and needed just four hits to do it. Gonzalez accounted for two of those hits, driving in three runs total with a pair of singles. Five other runs scored on walks or hit by pitches with the bases loaded, and another two were plated on wild pitches that scored runners from third. The othe run was brought in on an error off the bat of Garcia.

Nyk Crumrine was the last of four pitchers used by the Gyrenes, and retired four of the five batters he faced on the day to earn the win. At the plate, Gonzalez was the AMU leader, going 4-for-5 with five runs batted in. Caylor, Blanchard, and Leonardi also added two hits apiece in the win. 

LTU jumped out to a 7-0 lead in game two, scoring five runs in the first inning and two more in the second. Ave Maria's first run of the nightcap came across in the bottom of the second. Pinch runner Eric Havner scored for the Gyrenes, running for Rocco Pascente, who drew a walk. Havner went from first to third on a Garcia single, then scored on a passed ball.

Both teams scored two runs in the fourth inning, keeping the Lawrence Tech lead at six runs. Lawrence Tech's runs were plated on a two-run homer from Jackson Walkowiak. Ave Maria did not have a hit in the bottom of the fourth, but scored runs on an error and a wild pitch that scored Havner and Garcia, respectively.

Six more runs from Lawrence Tech put the game away in the fifth, but Ave Maria's bats were able to put two more up in the bottom of the fifth. Blanchard singled to lead off the inning, stole both second and third, and scored on a single from Gonzalez. Garcia drove in the second run of the inning, clubbing an RBI single that plated Francesco Barbieri. Lawrence Tech completed the scoring with five runs in the top of the seventh. 

The doubleheader against Lawrence Tech will be the only games this week for the Gyrenes, who are back at home next Monday for a game against Bryant and Stratton from New York. First pitch from Bowie's Ballpark is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.