AVE MARIA, Fla. — Ave Maria won both games of their doubleheader on Saturday to sweep the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans in their first home series of 2024. AMU won game one 4-0 and game two 6-2. Both wins featured dominant pitching and timely hitting from the Gyrenes.
Kevin Figueredo got the call in the early game and pitched a gem. The left-handed senior tossed six scoreless innings, only allowed three hits, two walks, and struck out seven, earning him a quality start and the win. Figueredo tied his season-high for strikeouts, last getting seven punchouts against Wiley. That game also ended with the Gyrenes shutting out their opponent.
Ave Maria had trouble getting hits in the early innings of game one, but finally found their groove at the plate in the fifth inning. With two outs and a Brian Williams on first, Michael Kelly slapped a double to right field putting two runners in scoring position. A wild pitch during the next at bat brought home Williams to put the first run on the board for either team, and Tanner Kelly reached on an error by the third baseman, which also allowed Michael Kelly to score.
The two-out error ended up costing more runs for the Mighty Banyans. With the inning extended, Francesco Barbieri got a chance to bat and crushed a ball over the wall in right center field, putting Ave Maria up 4-0. It was the fifth-year senior's ninth home run of the season and his second consecutive game with a dinger.
Blake Albritton pitched the seventh inning for the Gyrenes and worked a 1-2-3 inning with two flyouts and a groundout to secure the victory.
Game two saw a similar stellar performance on the mound for the Gyrenes, this time from Ethan Petric. The transfer from Palm Beach Atlantic threw four hitless innings to start the game, with the only blemishes being a reach on an error in the first and a walk in the second. New College got on in the fifth inning to score their first runs in the doubleheader, but it was a great outing from Petric overall, who finished with a stat line of five innings pitched, two runs off two hits, one walk, five strikeouts and the win.
Ave Maria got on the board earlier than they did in the first game, plating three runs in the bottom of the third. Following a lead off walk and a balk to move Barbieri to second, Davis Blair brought him home with an RBI single to center field. Later in the inning, with runners on the corners, Kyle Kuramoto got his first RBI of the season, smacking a single to right field that scored Blair and Rasbury.
The Gyrenes added runs to their total in the next inning with Tanner Kelly hitting an RBI triple that scored his brother Michael, and then coming home himself on a wild pitch.
The final run of the afternoon came in the sixth inning with Barbieri hitting his 10th home run of the season and third of the series, this time over the tall wall in right field. It is the second time this season Barbieri has homered in three straight games, doing so in the final three games against Webber. At 10 taters on the year, Barbieri is tied for the fourth most blasts in a season in Ave Maria history and four away from tying the record, set by teammate David Leonardi last year. At his current pace, Barbieri should hit 28 home runs by the end of the 45-game regular season the Gyrenes have scheduled.
Matt Barragy and Alex Nickler pitched the sixth and seventh innings for the Gyrenes to close out the game and the series.
With the two wins, Ave Maria evens their record to 8-8. The Gyrenes return to action Monday, March 11, hosting a doubleheader against the Northwestern Red Raiders out of the GPAC. This will be the first ever meeting between the two teams. Northwestern is 9-8 on the year and played six games in the RussMatt Invitational in central Florida earlier this week. The doubleheader with the Gyrenes will be their final games in the Sunshine State before heading back to the midwest. First pitch is set for noon, with game two set to start 30 minutes following the conclusion of game one. Both games can be streamed on the Sun Digital Network.
