AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University softball team couldn't get the bats going on Saturday at the AMU Softball Complex, and dropped the final game of a three-game series to the Mariners of the College of Coastal Georgia, 7-0. The Mariners took all three games of the series, keeping Coastal Georgia in first place in The Sun Conference with one weekend remaining on the schedule.

In the first five innings of the game, the Gyrenes and Mariners traded zeroes. On the AMU side, Kaedyn Sutton did everything in her power to give Ave Maria a chance to win. The freshman tossed five scoreless innings, working out of several jams with the aid of solid defensive play to keep a dangerous CCGA offense off the board. However, Coastal Georgia would finally break through in the final two innings of the weekend.

Coastal Georgia broke the deadlock in the top of the sixth inning, when Bryce Peacock clubbed a changeup over the centerfield fence for a solo home run. The Mariners would add two more runs in the frame, thanks to RBI singles from Malarie Peacock and Zoe Johnston-Hadaway.

Four more runs crossed the plate for the Mariners in the top of the seventh, with one big hit doing much of the damage. Makenzie Kagee plated the first run of the inning on an RBI double, and Johnston-Hadaway broke the game open later in the inning with a three-run double with two outs in the inning.

The Gyrenes posted four hits in the losing effort - all singles. Cecilia Garrett singled with two outs in the third inning for Ave Maria's first hit. AMU's best chance to score came in the fourth inning, when back-to-back hits from Marisa Michi and Ryanne Saluter gave the Gyrenes runners on the corners with no outs, a rally that was extinguished by two strikeouts and a popout. Senior Brooke Angerer accounted for AMU's final hit of the day, a single in the bottom of the seventh. 

Ave Maria now becomes an ally of Coastal Georgia, as the Gyrenes will attempt to help the Mariners secure the Sun Conference title next week. Southeastern, who currently trails Coastal by one game in the conference standings, will come to Ave Maria for a three-game set. The series will start with a solo game on Friday, with the regular season finale, as well as Senior Day festivities, scheduled for a Saturday doubleheader.