AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team secured their first winning season in nine years on Tuesday afternoon, taking both games of a doubleheader with the Eagles of the University of Fort Lauderdale. Ave Maria's wins of 13-4 and 10-7 ensured the Gyrenes will finish no worse than .500 for the first time since the 2013 season, when AMU went 38-21 and played in the NAIA Tournament for the first time in school history.
Ave Maria wasted little time in scoring in the opening game of the doubleheader, crossing the plate in each of the first three innings. AMU's two runs in the first came on one swing of the bat, as Dylan Moser drilled his first home run of the spring to put the Gyrenes up 2-0. Eli Garcia added an RBI single in the bottom of the second, scoring Kolby Blanchard from second to extend the lead to three runs.
Fort Lauderdale scored four runs in the top of the third, but Ave Maria's answer was a substantial one - a nine-spot that gave the Gyrenes control of the contest for good. The nine runs came on eight hits, and only one hit - a two-run double from David Leonardi - drove in mutiple runs. RBIs were also provided by Ethan Bergkamp, Blanchard, Jimmy Coffey, Daniel Caylor, Tanner Kelly, and Jose Gonzalez. AMU would also score once in the fifth on a home run from Gonzalez, his eighth, to conclude the scoring.
For just the fourth time in school history, and the first time since 2019, the Gyrenes logged 20 hits in the victory. The hitting barrage was led by four from Caylor and Moser, and three from Leonardi. On the mound, Justin David pitched the fourth and fifth innings without allowing a run, and earned his third win of the season.
In game two, Ave Maria again scored in each of the first three innings, buidling a 6-2 lead. AMU scored on a Gonzalez groundout and a passed ball in the first, then reclaimed the lead on an errant pickoff throw in the second.
The Gyrenes padded the lead in the third, first on an RBI single from Leonardi. Bergkamp ended the scoring with a two-run home run, which ended a streak of 77 consecutive at-bats without a homer after hitting five home runs in his first 14 ABs.
Five runs in the top of the fourth inning gave Fort Lauderdale a 7-6 lead, but the Gyrenes would respond with two runs to take a lead they would not relinquish. Garcia drew a leadoff walk, then came around to score on two wild pitches and a Caylor single to tie the game. Caylor would then steal two straight bases to tie the program record for steals in a season (26), and scored the eventual game-winning run on a passed ball.
Two insurance runs were added to essentially put the game away in the bottom of the sixth. Jose Gonzalez concluded his day with an RBI double that scored Kelly, while the final run of the afternoon scored on an RBI single from Moser.
Ave Maria's four pitchers allowed just four earned runs in the seven innings of game two, starting with Callan Carn, who pitched the first 3.1 innings. Cameron Horner finished off the fourth inning, which would eventually earn the freshman his third win. Brandon Willoughby tossed two scoreless frames, and Kelton Little slammed the door in the seventh to pick up his third save.
AMU will have the remainder of Easter week off, and will return to action next Tuesday in a midweek, non-conference matchup against the Lions of Florida Memorial University.
