AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Gyrenes swept Florida Memorial in a doubleheader Sunday to win their first conference series of the season. The bats were hot for the Gyrenes, bringing home 27 runs over the course of the two games. Ave Maria run-ruled Florida Memorial in the first game, winning 17-5 in seven innings, and then made a late-inning comeback to win game two 10-6.
It didn't take long for the Gyrenes to get on the board in game one with the first two batters in the lineup, Tanner Kelly and Franco Barbieri, hitting back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the first. For Kelly, it was his third home run of the season and first since February 21 when he went deep against New College of Florida. For Barbieri, it was his 11th of the season, which at the time was second most in the conference.
Florida Memorial responded quickly, bringing home two runs in the second and another in the third to take a 3-2 lead. It didn't last long though as the Gyrenes got four in the bottom of the third to retake the advantage, 6-3. The scoring was started by a David Leonardi two-run blast over the left field wall. It was his 10th of the season, putting him second on the team and third in the conference, one behind Barbieri. The other two runs were driven in with a RBI double from Luis Rodriguez-Gallo and an RBI single from Michael Kelly.
The bulk of Ave Maria's runs came in the fifth. The Gyrenes had 13 batters step up to the plate and 10 of them came home to score. Surprisingly, Ave Maria only registered three hits in the frame. Six of the batters got on base via a walk, two of them with the bases loaded to bring home a run. Three runs were scored on wild pitches and passed balls, and two runs came in on an RBI groundout, and a blown fielder's choice. The scoring hits were a two-RBI double from Kyle Van Liere, his second career hit as a Gyrene, and an RBI single from Leonardi. After the inning was all said and done, the Gyrenes led 16-3. 10 runs ties for the most runs in an inning this season, matching their third inning total in game one of a doubleheader against Wiley in February.
In the final two innings before the run-rule was put into effect, each team brought home a run to make the final score 17-5.
On the mound, Cam Horner pitched his second complete game of the season and fourth of his career. The junior pitched all seven innings, allowed five runs, only three of which were earned, on nine hits and struck out six batters, tying a season-high. It was his fourth win of the season, but more importantly, it was his 20th career win as a Gyrene, setting the new program record. Horner set the single-season record last year with 12 wins and now has the title of winningest pitcher in Ave Maria history.
Game two saw more scoring from the Gyrenes, but in a comeback effort as Ave Maria won their first game of the season after trailing in the sixth inning. The Gyrenes got on the board first with Leonardi going deep in the second inning for his 11th home run of the season, tying him for the team lead and second in the conference with Barbieri.
Like in game one, Florida Memorial responded with three straight runs to take the lead. Ave Maria got one of them back in the fourth inning with Rodriguez-Gallo hitting his first homer of the series and fifth of the season.
In the sixth inning, Florida Memorial, who had been kept within Bowie's Ballpark all series, launched a two-run blast to take a 5-2 lead.
In the bottom half of the frame, Rodriguez-Gallo brought the Gyrenes back within one again, this time with a two-run shot over the wall in left field. It is the second time this season the senior transfer has had a multi-HR game, last doing so in the doubleheader against Wiley.
Entering the seventh inning, the Gyrenes found themselves down 5-4. Ave Maria was 0-10 this season when trailing after the sixth inning. The Gyrenes didn't care about that record however and put up six runs to surge into the lead. Barbieri brought home the first run with an RBI single that tied the game and put runners on the corners. The next batter, Davis Blair, got plunked in the back to load the bases. In a prime spot to take control of the game, Ave Maria's home run king, David Leonardi, hit the first grand slam of his Ave Maria career over the furthest part of the wall in deep center. With his third home run of the day, Leonardi grabbed hold of the team lead and is tied for the most in the Sun Conference at 12. He is also two away from tying the single-season record he set last year.
Ave Maria brought home one more run in the sixth with a Connor James double to the inning up 10-5.
Florida Memorial got one final run in the eighth inning, but that was all as the Gyrenes closed out the game to win 10-6.
On the mound, Ethan Petric started the game and tossed a solid four innings for the Gyrenes. Ryan Schroeder came in to relieve him in the fifth and tossed a solid four innings as well to earn his first win of the season. Isaac Hines pitched the ninth and worked a 1-2-3 inning to close out the game.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 14-12 on the season and 4-8 in conference play. The Gyrenes now find themselves in fifth place in the Sun Standings, after starting conference play in last place. The Gyrenes play a midweek doubleheader against the Fort Lauderdale Eagles at home Wednesday, March 27 before getting Easter Weekend off. First pitch is set for noon with game two set to start around 3 p.m. The doubleheader can be streamed on the Sun Digital Network.
