WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Ave Maria Gyrenes clinched the second seed in the Sun Conference tournament Sunday with a series win over the Keiser Seahawks. The Gyrenes and Seahawks split the doubleheader to finish the series, with KU winning game one 9-8 in 10 innings and AMU winning game two 8-7.
Game one was the first game of Ave Maria's 2023 season to go into extra innings. The first 40 games of the year all ended in the allotted innings or even earlier.
The Gyrenes struck first in the early game, scoring two runs in the opening frame. Daniel Caylor brought home the first run when he roped a double to left field scoring Tanner Kelly. Kelly, who got on base with a leadoff single, extended his on-base streak to all 41 games of the season. After David Leonardi got on base with a fielder's choice, he and Caylor attempted a double steal that caught the Keiser defense off guard and allowed Caylor to score on a subsequent catcher's error.
The lead did not last long however, as the Seahawks brought home three runs in the bottom of the first and another run in the second. Ave Maria made it 4-3 after a Tynan Shahidi RBI single, but another Keiser three-spot in the fourth put the Seahawks up 7-3.
Down four runs entering the sixth, the Gyrenes did not quit and showed off their comeback ability. They got within one run again after three straight RBIs from Axel Melendez, Kelly, and Jose Gonzalez. Keiser got one back in the bottom half of the inning, to go back up by two, but that lead was not safe from the Gyrenes.
In the top of the ninth, Ave Maria plated two runs, both with two outs, to tie the game. Melendez got his fourth hit of the game, a season high for him, with an RBI single to left field to score Eric Havner. Kelly then singled again, this time up the middle to score Francesco Barbieri and tie the game at eight.
Unfortunately, Keiser got the final run in the top of the tenth, winning 9-8.
Game two was drastically different from the matinee earlier in the day, with Ave Maria racing out to a five-run lead and cruising for the rest of the game. Keiser got back in the final innings, but the Gyrenes built too great a lead to overcome for the Seahawks.
As was the case with the two previous games of the series, the Gyrenes struck first, this time with three runs in the opening inning. All three runs scored off one swing, with Caylor hitting his second home run of the season to left field. The dinger scored Kelly and Gonzalez, the former of which extended his on-base streak to all 42 games of the season.
In the third, the Gyrenes saw two more homers, both solo shots, off the bats of Caylor and Shahidi. It was the first time this season Ave Maria has hit back-to-back home runs in an inning, and Caylor becomes the first Gyrene to hit two bombs in a game since David Leonardi did so in April of last year.
Keiser put two up in the bottom of the fifth, but the Gyrenes responded with two runs of their own in the seventh. Gonzalez got his RBI of the game with a single to right field scoring Kelly, and Shahidi got his second with a single to left field that scored Gonzalez.
Keiser got within striking distance after a three-run bottom of the third, but the Gyrene defense stood tall. Starter Ryan Schroeder got his tenth strikeout to start the inning, tying a career high for him. The junior from Jacksonville also struck out 10 in his first start of the season against Thomas.
Matt Barragy came out of the bullpen for the Gyrenes and tossed 2.2 innings, striking out three during that time span. Despite giving up two runs in the ninth, the Seahawks never led, so Barragy got his second save of the season.
Gonzalez got his second RBI in the eighth, which ended up being the game winning run, with an RBI infield single that scored Cole Rasbury.
Following the split, the Gyrenes' record moves to 31-11 and a 13-5 in conference play. Ave Maria also won their fifth conference series. With the series win, Ave Maria has clinched the second seed in the Sun Tournament. Before the playoffs though, AMU has two more series, both at home, on the schedule. It starts with a non-conference doubleheader against the Fort Lauderdale Eagles Tuesday, April 25, and ends with a three-game set against the Webber Warriors. All five games can be streamed on the Sun Digital Network and live stats and recaps can be found on avemariagyrenes.com.
