BRADENTON, Fla. — The Ave Maria Gyrenes beat the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans Wednesday afternoon 9-3. The Kelly brothers at the top and bottom of the lineup brought home five of Ave Maria's nine runs.
Overall, it was a good day at the plate for all the Gyrenes, tallying 12 hits. That is the fourth time this season in eight games Ave Maria has had 10 or more hits. Uncharacteristically however, only one of the 12 hits went for extra bases.
The lone extra-base hit was a solo home run from Tanner Kelly on the first pitch of the game to give Ave Maria a 1-0 lead. It was his first homer of the season and 19th for the team.
After both teams scored a run in the third, the Gyrenes got some separation in the fourth with three runs to take a 5-2 lead. Tanner Kelly was back at it again, this time teaming up with his brother Michael Kelly, to hit two RBI singles to bring in the three runs.
Ave Maria kept adding on runs with one in the fifth and one in the sixth.
In the eighth inning, the Gyrenes scored their final two runs of the game with the Kelly brothers getting involved again. With a runner on second, Michael Kelly hit a single to right field to bring home Eric Havner. Tanner Kelly then got his third hit of the game with a single that moved Michael in scoring position, who was later brought home on a Francesco Barbieri single to give Ave Maria their ninth and final run.
On the mound, the Gyrenes took care of the Mighty Banyans. Ryan Schroeder began on the mound for the Gyrenes, his first start of the season, and tossed four innings while only allowing one run on three hits and striking out three. NCF scored their final two runs on the next pitcher Matt Barragy, but Blake Albritton took over and crushed any hopes of a comeback from the Mighty Banyans. The sophomore tossed 3.1 scoreless innings and struck out four, earning his second win of the season. Isaac Hines pitched the final inning for the Gyrenes and only needed five pitches to get the three outs. That was the Ave Maria debut for the junior transfer from Northwest Nazarene in Idaho.
With the win, the Gyrenes improve to 5-3 on the year. Wednesday was the first ever meeting between Ave Maria and New College of Florida with the Mighty Banyans in their inaugural season of athletics. The two teams will meet three more times this season with a weekend series scheduled for March 8-9 for the Gyrenes' home opener. In the 2024-25 athletic season, NCF will join the Sun Conference and become a conference opponent for the Gyrenes, bringing the Conference's baseball members back up to eight.
The Gyrenes have six more games on the road before they finally open their home season. Thursday, February 29, Ave Maria will travel north to Babson Park to start their conference schedule with the Webber Warriors. Webber was ranked #12 in the NAIA preseason polls, three spots ahead of the Gyrenes. The Sun Conference is moving to four game series between conference opponents this season, so Ave Maria will play a doubleheader against the Warriors Thursday and Friday. All four games can be streamed on the Sun Digital Network.
The final two games on the road is a neutral site doubleheader against the Mount Marty Lancers from South Dakota March 5 in Auburndale, Florida.
