LAKE WALES, Fla.- The Ave Maria University softball team kept their hopes for a trip to the Sun Conference Tournament alive on Wednesday, splitting a doubleheader with the Warner University Royals in Lake Wales. A resilient AMU team lost the opener, 9-3, but battled back for a dominant 7-0 victory in the nightcap.
Ave Maria found themselves in a major hole in game one, trailing 4-0 after just one inning. The Gyrenes didn't back down, as Marisa Michi put the Gyrenes on the board in the top of the second. The senior launched a solo home run to lead off the frame, her second of the season and the ninth of her AMU career, to cut Warner's lead to 4-1.
However, that run would be AMU's last until the fifth, as Warner opened up a 9-1 lead with five runs in the bottom of the fourth. Ave Maria did avoid a run rule, scoring two runs in the top of the fifth. Ashley Lykins drove in the first of these runs with an RBI single, part of a 4-for-4 game for the sophomore, while Maya Gonzalez brought in the the second with a hit by pitch with the bases loaded.
Game two proved to be remarkably different, with Ave Maria taking control early. It was again Michi driving in the first run of the day for AMU, this time on an RBI double. Michi's double drove in Lykins, who started the game with a hit by pitch and moved to third via a sacrifice bunt by Ryanne Saluter and a popout.
The Gyrenes broke the game open with three runs in the top of the third, opening up a 4-0 lead. AMU loaded the bases on a Warner error, followed by a pair of singles from Annabella Phillips and Ashley Nelson. Hailee Howe made it 2-0 Gyrenes with an RBI single, and Ashley Altman pushed two more across with a two-out, two-run single.
AMU pushed three more runs across in the second half of the game, scoring once in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings. Gonzalez added her team-high 28th RBI in the fifth inning with an RBI single, while Garrett and Lykins both drove in runs with groundouts in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
Kaedyn Sutton proved to be Ave Maria's stopper in the circle, earning a crucial ninth win of the season with a complete game shutout. At the plate, Altman and Phillips both had two hits in the win, while Lykins reached base four times via three walks and a hit by pitch. Phillips was also on base four times, adding two hit by pitches to her two singles.
Ave Maria can clinch a spot in the conference tournament on Thursday, as the Gyrenes and Royals play the final game of the regular season at 4:00 p.m. The winner of the finale between Ave Maria and Warner will clinch a spot in Clearwater, while the loser, although not eliminated, will have to wait for the full week's results to see if they qualify for the postseason.
