AVE MARIA, Fla. — A comeback win is so nice, the Gyrenes decided to do it twice. Ave Maria found themselves down by four and three runs respectively in each game and came back to win 10-5 in game one and 5-4 in game two in extra innings.
New College of Florida opened the scoring in the early game with a run in the top of the first. Davis Blair immediately answered that with a solo shot to deep center, 412 feet away. It was Blair's third home run of the season and the team's 48th.
The Mighty Banyans added three runs in the third and another in the fifth to get up 5-1 on the Gyrenes. Down four, Ave Maria didn't panic and started to go to work in the final few innings.
In the bottom of the fifth with two runners on, David Leonardi hit the second home run of the game for the Gyrenes, pulling them within one. Leonardi dinger also went to straight away center and fell 419 feet away from home plate. It was his 13th homer of the season, giving him the most on the team and one away from tying the single season record he set a year ago. For the team, it was home run 49, which is also one away from tying the team single season record set in 2022.
Ave Maria wasn't done scoring though. Following the home run, Luis Rodriguez-Gallo and Connor James hit back-to-back singles. Then Kyle Kuramoto singled to center field for the fifth consecutive hit of the frame for the Gyrenes and brought Rodriguez-Gallo home to tie the game at 5.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Gyrenes took their first lead of the game when the loaded the bases and Rodriguez-Gallo drew a walk to bring home what wound up being the winning run. James hit a two-RBI double for some insurance and Kuramoto brought home another two runs to put the Gyrenes up 10-5. It was the sixth inning this year the Gyrenes have scored five or more runs and set them up for the win in the top of the seventh.
In the final frame, Isaac Hines allowed one hit, but pitched to a double play which ended the game for the Gyrenes.
Hines tossed the final four innings for the Gyrenes in what ended up being a bullpen day. Hines got his first win of the season, only allowing one run off two hits and striking out a season-high three batters. In the designated bullpen day, Ryan Schroeder tossed the first two innings with Kelton Little tossing the third.
In game two, Ave Maria got on the board first, plating a run in the opening frame. Tanner Kelly led off the game with a triple to center field. It was his third triple of the season and extended his on-base streak to all 33 games of the season. He is now 10 games away from tying the record he set last season. In game one, Kelly extended the streak with a single in his final at bat. Blair got the opening RBI in game two as well, grounding out to second which allowed Kelly to score.
In the third inning, the Mighty Banyans scored all four of their runs to surge into the lead. NCF was able to hold on to this lead for a few innings before the Gyrenes stormed back, again in the fifth.
With the bases loaded, Francesco Barbieri drew a walk to bring home a run and make the score 4-2. It was his third walk of the game, tying a career-high for him, a high for any Gyrene this year. With the bases still juiced, Blair got his second and third RBI on a single to right field that scored Brian Williams and Tanner Kelly. Ave Maria was held to just the three runs in the inning, but it tied the game up at four with only two frames remaining.
Neither team could get the advantage in the sixth and seventh innings, so for the third time this season, the Gyrenes headed into extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, Matt Barragy made his sixth appearance of the season, and struck out two batters to end the inning a leave a Mighty Banyan stranded.
In the bottom half, both Leonardi and Rodriguez-Gallo were hit by a pitch to get two baserunners on and put the winning run in scoring position. After a pitching change from New College, the Gyrenes went to bench and called up Jimmy Coffey to hit. Coffey laid down a perfect bunt to move both runners over 90 feet, but then the NCF third baseman overthrew first, allowing everybody to get an extra base. Leonardi came into score, giving the Gyrenes a 5-4 victory. The dugout rushed out and mobbed Coffey as he delivered the first walk-off win of the season for the Gyrenes.
Barragy got the win, improving his record to 1-1. Game two was also a bullpen game for the Gyrenes with Ethan Petric pitching the first two innings, Alex Nickler tossing an inning, Paul Arencibia pitching a career-high two frames, and Callan Carn making his season debut in the sixth and seventh.
With the two wins, Ave Maria is back over .500 at 17-16 overall. They wrap up an 11-game homestand dating back to March 23 with a winning 6-5 record.
The Gyrenes will now go on the road for the first time in 26 days when they travel up to Lakeland, Florida, to take on the #1 Southeastern Fire. Last year, the Gyrenes stole a game from the top ranked Fire, winning 6-5 in game one of doubleheader April 1.
The series opener is Thursday, April 11,with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. Friday will have a doubleheader between the two teams and the series finale is scheduled for Saturday. All four games will be streamed on the Sun Digital Network.
