Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Gyrenes swept a non-conference doubleheader against the Fort Lauderdale Eagles Tuesday afternoon, winning game one 11-7 and game two 10-7. The Gyrenes hit four home runs over the course of the two games, bringing their season total to 26, which is tied for the four most bombs in a single season in school history. All four home runs sailed over the left field fence and got the boost of some heavy wind that was blowing all day.

Fort Lauderdale got on the board first, putting up two runs in the top of the second, but the lead didn't last for long as Ave Maria responded with five runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Jimmy Coffey got the scoring started for the Gyrenes, smacking an RBI single to right field to score Daniel Caylor and moved Tynan Shahidi to third. Coffey tried to stretch the single into a double but was thrown out at second.

Connor James then ripped a double to right field to score Shahidi and was brought in one batter later when Cole Rasbury hit a double centerfield. The final runs came off the bat of Tanner Kelly, who blasted a home run to put the Gyrenes up 5-2. It was just Kelly's second home run of the year, with his first coming back in January in the opening series against Thomas. Keeping the good news going, Kelly, who also walked in the first inning, extended his record-setting on-base streak to 35 games.

Ave Maria struck in bunches again in the fourth inning, this time putting up four runs. Kelly and Gonzalez hit back-to-back RBIs to put AMU up 7-3. Then two batters later, Caylor brought home another run with an RBI single and the final run came in on a UFTL wild pitch.

Fort Lauderdale struck for three more runs in the top of the sixth, but the Gyrenes put the game away with a two-run blast from Jose Gonzalez, his fifth home run of the season. The Eagles scored one more in the top of the seventh, but that wasn't enough as the Gyrenes won 11-7.

Not only were the Gyrenes deadly at the plate, the were also burning the Eagles on the base paths, swiping nine bags. Nine stolen bases are the third most in a game this season for Ave Maria and tied with four other games for the fourth most in school history.

Cameron Horner pitched a declared three-inning start and was the pitcher of record for the Gyrenes, winning his ninth game of the season. He now has sole possession of the second-most wins in a single season an Ave Maria pitcher, one behind the leader Joe Bocchino, who won 10 games in the 2013 campaign. It was also the sophomore's 13th career win as a Gyrene, tying him with Justin James for the fifth most wins in an Ave Maria career.

Chris Cuppini entered the game in the sixth inning in a situation that saw the Eagles have the tying run on-deck. He was able to pitch out of the jam, and closed down the seventh, striking out two batters to go along with it. That performance was good enough to earn him his first save of the season.

In game two, the Eagles jumped out to another early lead, hitting solo home runs in the first and second innings. The Gyrenes responded in kind though and Rasbury blasted a three-run homer over the left field wall to give AMU a 3-2 lead. The bomb was Rasbury's second of the season and, like Kelly, the first since the opening series against Thomas.

The third inning saw the two squads swap leads again, each hitting a two-run home run in the frame. Ave Maria's was smacked by David Leonardi, his 12th of the season, which breaks the individual record for homers in a single season, a record Leonardi set last year with 11.

The 5-4 lead did not last long though as the Eagles scored in their fourth consecutive inning to tie the game at five.

Game two stayed quiet in the fifth inning, the only inning not to see any scoring from either team. The runs picked back up in the sixth, and in a big way.

Fort Lauderdale seized a 6-5 lead with an RBI double and threatened to score more with the bases loaded. Justin David had other plans though. He entered the game in a dangerous situation with the bases juiced and only one out, but David remained calm and struck out the first two batters he faced to end the inning, stranding all three UFTL baserunners. It was a huge momentum shift, and gave the Gyrenes a lot of energy heading into the bottom half of the inning, despite being down one run.

Ave Maria proceeded to put up their second big inning (an inning where they score five or more runs) of the doubleheader and 21st of the season. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Kelly smacked a single to center field moving everybody up 90 feet and tying the game at six. This, and a walk earlier in the game, extended his on-base streak to all 36 games of the season.

A couple batters later, Leonardi ripped a double down the third base line to bring home two runs and put the Gyrenes up 8-6. Caylor brought in one more run with an RBI single also down the third base line, and Shahidi brought home the final run with a sacrifice fly to put Ave Maria up 10-6.

Despite surrendering a run in the seventh inning, David closed the game out and earned his fifth win of the season. He is now just the 12th Ave Maria pitcher to post five or more wins in a season.

Kevin Figueredo and Matt Barragy were the other two pitchers who toed the mound for Ave Maria in game two, and as a staff, the Gyrenes struck out 12 batters, which is tied for the third highest total this season.

With the doubleheader sweep, Ave Maria improves to 27-9 on the year and 19-3 at home. Ave Maria has one more non-conference doubleheader left on the schedule for the 2023 campaign. That doubleheader is scheduled for April 25 against the same Fort Lauderdale Eagles team.

Before those two games though, the Gyrenes are on the road for their next two conference series. The road trip starts in Lake Wales, Florida, this weekend when Ave Maria will play a three-game set with the Warner Royals. Warner, who is sitting in seventh place in the Sun Conference right now, is on the outside looking in for the SUN Tournament. 

Ave Maria's magic number to clinch a spot in that tournament over the Royals is four, meaning any combination of four Gyrene wins and Royal losses will secure them a spot in the post season. If AMU wins at least two of the three games this weekend, they will be heading to Ballpark of the Palm Beaches for the Sun Tournament for the first time since 2013, and second time in school history.

The other road series the Gyrenes will play before returning home April 25 is a three game set against the Keiser Seahawks. All six games will be broadcasted on the Sun Digital Network and game recaps came be found on avemariagyrenes.com.