LAKELAND, Fla. — The Gyrenes led the number one team in the nation three times Thursday evening, but ultimately fell to the Southeastern Fire 6-4. Three runs in the bottom of the eighth secured the victory for SEU.
Ave Maria opened the scoring in the opening frame with an RBI single from Luis Rodriguez-Gallo that brought home Tanner Kelly. Kelly got on with a leadoff hit by pitch, extending his on-base streak to 34 games.
Southeastern responded in the bottom half of the inning, also bringing home their run with an RBI single. In the third inning, the Fire took a 2-1 lead with another RBI single.
SEU held the lead for an inning before surrendering it in the fifth. Kelly got on base for the second time in the game with a lead off single. Francesco Barbieri then stepped up to the plate and hammered a two-run bomb over the wall in right field, giving the Gyrenes a 3-2 lead. For the fifth-year senior from Canada, it was his 13th home run of the season, tying him with David Leonardi for most on the team and second in the conference. As a team, it was the 50th home run of the season, tying the 2022 season for most home runs in a year, but doing so in 19 fewer games.
The lead did not last long as the Fire tied it up in the bottom half of the inning, although the damage could have been a lot worse. SEU had bases loaded with only one out when Isaac Nunez dropped a single in center field, letting Matt Delay to score. Barbieri, who was fielding in center for the third game in a row after Cole Rasbury left Tuesday's doubleheader with an injury, played the ball off a hop and fired it back towards the infield. Blake Albritton, who had come in to relieve starter Sean Hogan just a few batters earlier, collected the ball and gave it an extra boost on its way to the plate, which gave Rodriguez-Gallo plenty of time to tag out David Castillo who tried to score from second. Rodriguez-Gallo then looked up, saw another Fire runner being greedy, and fired the ball to third, where Brian Williams tagged out Chayse Bryant for the classic 8-1-2-5 double play.
The score remained tied at three in the sixth. In the top of the seventh, the Gyrenes took their third lead of the game, this time from a Southeastern mistake. Michael Kelly led the inning off with a double and then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from his brother Tanner. Standing 90 feet away from home, Michael got in the pitcher's head and got balked home.
Ave held off the Fire in the seventh, but Southeastern broke through in the eighth with a three-run frame.The first two runs came in off an RBI double, with the insurance run scoring on an error that would have ended the inning.
The Gyrenes got a baserunner in the top of the ninth, putting the tying run at the plate, but couldn't generate any other offense and the Fire won 6-4.
Albritton pitched the final 3.2 innings after entering in the fifth and got the loss dropping his record to 3-4. He finished the game with four strikeouts and three runs, only two of which were earned, off two hits and five walks. Hogan pitched the first 4.1 innings and struck out seven while allowing three runs off six hits and no walks.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 17-17 overall and 4-9 in conference play. The Gyrenes will play a doubleheader Friday for games two and three of their conference series with the Fire. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. with game two set to start around 6 p.m.
