AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Baseball team split a doubleheader with Point Skyhawks Saturday, securing their first series win of the new season by taking three of the four games in the opening weekend. The bats were alive in the first game with Ave Maria hitting double digits for the second time in a row winning 11-4, but then Point avoided the sweep taking the final game of the series 5-2.

The Skyhawks struck early in the first inning of game one, plating three runs off four hits. That was the first time in the series the Gyrenes trailed the Skyhawks, but it didn't seem to phase them. After the shaky first inning, starter Cam Horner settled down and delivered shutdown baseball for the rest of his appearance. Horner worked a scoreless second, third, and fourth innings to keep Point at bay.

At the plate, the Gyrenes got a run back in the third off a Jimmy Coffey RBI single that scored Tanner Kelly.

The momentum continued into the fourth inning when the Gyrenes took the lead for good by bringing home five runs. Davis Blair got the scoring started with a two-RBI single that brought home Harrison Rossi and Michael Kelly to tie the game at three. Blair came in to score the go ahead run a few plate appearances later of an RBI groundout from Brian Williams. A wild pitch and another RBI single from Coffey put Ave Maria up 6-3. Five runs in one inning was a series-high for the Gyrenes.

Point got back within two in the top of the fifth, but reliever Owen Johnson shutdown any comeback hopes of the Skyhawks.

The Gyrenes scored five more runs across the fifth and sixth innings with the bulk of those runs coming off the bat of Blair. With the bases loaded, Blair launched a ball deep to right center to bring home all three runners and give AMU a 9-4 lead. Blair finished the game with five RBI, tying a career-high when he brought in five runs against Wiley in the Gyrenes 19-0 win last year.

A fielder's choice and an error scored the last two runs for the Gyrenes.

Horner got the win for Ave Maria, striking out seven batters in 4.2 innings of work. That is the 21^st win of his Ave Maria career. Johnson got the save 2.1 inning save in his Ave Maria debut, entering the game when the Gyrenes had just a two run lead.

The win also gave Ave Maria their first series win of the season.

The Gyrenes tried to complete the sweep in the second game, but a rough fifth inning put Ave Maria in a hole.

AMU came out swinging like in the first three games of the series, plating a run in the first two frames. Jordan Crawford brought home Blair on a sacrifice fly in the first and Rossi brought home Coffey with an RBI groundout in the second. That is when the offense stopped for the Gyrenes.

Starter Sean Hogan was cruising through the first three innings allowing Ave Maria to cling to a 2-0 lead. However, in the fourth inning, the grad student landed awkwardly after a pitch and immediately called time. Hogan was able to walk off the field but was done for the day. Jeremy Fox came in to pitch for him and kept the shutout going in the fourth, but gave up five runs in the fifth to give Point the lead.

The Gyrenes tried to come back in the final three innings of the shortened seven-inning doubleheader game and did manage to get baserunners in those frames. Unfortunately, AMU left six runners on the bags in those innings, including leaving them loaded in the seventh.

The doubleheader split moves Ave Maria's record to 3-1 to start the season. The Gyrenes also won their first series of 2025. AMU has now won their first series of the year in the last four seasons dating back to 2022.

The Gyrenes are on the road for their next four games, traveling up to Lakeland for some neutral site action in the annual East-West Challenge. This is the second year in a row Ave Maria has competed in the annual tournament that pits the best of the East against the best of the West. Last year, Ave Maria flew out to Arizona and went 2-1 with wins over Vanguard (Calif.) and Arizona Christian. This year the tournament is much closer to home with fellow Sun Conference member Southeastern hosting on behalf of the East. The Gyrenes have four games scheduled, all against ranked opponents.

Ave Maria opens the challenge with #7 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) on Thursday, January 30. The Warriors have yet to play a game in 2025 but are coming off an NAIA Opening Round appearance in 2024. First pitch is set for noon with live stats available at www.avemariagyrenes.com.