WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- The Ave Maria University softball team found a way to win on Saturday, taking the rubber match of a Sun Conference series with the Keiser University Seahawks, 2-1, in West Palm Beach. The series winner, which moved AMU to 3-3 in Sun Conference play, came after a 3-0 Keiser win in the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader.

The Gyrenes couldn't push a run across in the opening game of the doubleheader, despite putting eight hits on the board. Keiser remained scoreless for four innings as well, but the Seahawks broke through with a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth. Keiser then added some insurance runs in the sixth inning, scoring on a RBI single and an error.

AMU had the bases loaded twice in the loss, but couldn't get a run across against the Seahawks. Three Gyrenes - Cecilia Garrett, Annie Nudera, and Maya Gonzalez - all had two singles. Nudera reached base a third time via a walk. Gonzalez also pitched well in the circle, allowing just two earned runs over six innings despite taking the loss.

Game two was the definition of a pitcher's duel. as neither team was able to score in the seven regulation innings. Kelsie Merriman threw seven shutout innings for Keiser, while the duo of Hailee Howe and Kaedyn Sutton did so for the Gyrenes. Howe escaped a jam in the first inning, and Sutton pitched the final six to send the Gyrenes and Seahawks to extra innings.

Both teams scored in the eighth inning, with the inherited runner on second base coming home in both halves of the inning. In the top half, Maya Gonzalez was the runner for AMU. Gonzalez moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Kylee Lewis, then scored on a well-placed grounder off the bat of Garrett. Keiser answered with a clutch hit in the bottom of the eighth, as Ashley Bullock drove in Molly Woerner with a two-out RBI single.

Ave Maria did their job in the ninth, albeit thanks to an error from the Seahawks. Nudera, the runner for AMU, moved to third on a flyball from Ashley Nelson, then scored when a throw from the Seahawks skipped away. The error proved to be the difference in the game, as Keiser left the tying run on third and the winning run on first. 

Nelson was the lone player from either team with two hits in the nightcap, going 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. In the circle, Sutton picked up her eighth win of the season with eight brilliant innings of work. The Seahawks managed just three hits off the freshman, and the only run scored against her was unearned - the inherited runner in the eighth.

Now holding a 3-3 Sun Conference record, the Gyrenes are back on the road next weekend for another league series. AMU will return to the east coast for a series with the Lions of Florida Memorial University. The series starts with a solo game Friday, then concludes with a Saturday doubleheader in Miami Gardens.