WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- The Ave Maria University softball team earned their most impressive wins of the season Saturday afternoon, sweeping a doubleheader with NCAA Division II Palm Beach Atlantic. The Gyrenes rode dominant pitching to the sweep, winning games by final scores of 3-0 and 6-1. Ave Maria's current winning streak of eight games is the program's longest since the 2020 season, when the Gyrenes set a school record by winning 14 consecutive contests.

The opening game of the doubleheader saw the Gyrenes take advantage of five Palm Beach Atlantic errors - three of which directly casued Ave Maria runs. The first of those came in the top of the fourth, which started with a single from Ryanne Saluter. Saluter moved to second on a groundout, where she stood with two outs. Saluter then scored on an error off the bat of Kylee Lewis, giving Ave Maria a lead they would not relinquish.

Two more runs would cross the plate in the top of the seventh, giving AMU some insurance. Ave Maria had runners on second and third, thanks to a hit by pitch drawn by Lewis, an Ashley Altman single, and a Lindsey Watson bunt. Lewis' pinch runner, Annie Nudera, and Altman both scored with two outs, coming across the plate on back-to-back errors on the Sailfish. 

Kaedyn Sutton was masterful in the circle for the Gyrenes, earning her second win in as many days. The sophomore scattered four hits over her seven innings, and walked just one in the complete game shutout. Offensively, Ave Maria's game one leader was Ashley Lykins, who went 2-for-4 with a single and a double.

Game two continued the theme of game one - Ave Maria capitalizing on errors from the Sailfish. With a runner on first and one out, Marisa Michi scalded a grounder that went through the legs of the shortstop, rolling all the way to the fence. Cecilia Garrett would score on the play, again giving the Gyrenes a lead against their NCAA Division II opposition.

The biggest inning of the day was the top of the fourth, which saw the Gyrenes put three runs on the board. In a day filled with PBA errors, Ave Maria's biggest inning was all Gyrenes, with five hits driving in the three runs. Ashley Nelson drove in the first with an RBI single, and Ashley Altman added an RBI double to increase the AMU lead to 3-0. Ava Burke capped off the inning with an RBI single, pushing the Gyrene advantage to four runs.

After PBA scored their only run of te day in the bottom of the fifth, the Gyrenes put the game away with runs in the sixth and seventh. The run in the sixth inning was the loudest, as Ashley Altman hit a moonshot to deep right field for the first Gyrene home run of the season, a solo shot. The scoring for AMU was concluded in the top of the seventh, thanks to a sacrifice fly from Nelson.

Gina Gallegos followed the lead of Sutton in game two, tossing six stellar innings of her own to pick up her third win of the season. Nelson continued to be lights out coming out of the Ave Maria bullpen, tossing a scoreless seventh inning to shut down the Sailfish's final chance to score.

The Gyrenes will now have a break of more than a week between the PBA wins and their next contests. The Gyrenes will make their first trip to the USSSA Space Coast Games in Melbourne on February 25 and 26, playing two games on each day.