BABSON PARK, Fla. — The Ave Maria Baseball team played a one-off game with the Webber Warriors Friday night and kept it close with the preseason number eight team in the country. However, the Gyrenes fell just a few runs short, losing 7-4.
Harrison Rossi got the scoring started in the second inning, smacking a two-out RBI single that scored Caleb Metzen. Jimmy Coffey moved up to second on the play keeping two Gyrenes on the basepaths. Jesus Gonzalez kept the rally going in the next at bat with another single that brought home Coffey. The rally stopped on that play though as Webber caught Rossi being greedy trying to advance to third on the single.
Webber got a run back in the bottom half of the second, cutting the Gyrenes' lead in half. A couple of innings later, the Warriors brought home three more runs to take a 4-2 lead. Webber did not give the lead back to Ave Maria for the rest of the game.
It almost became a one-man show for the Gyrenes as Gonzalez brought home the final two runs of the game for Ave Maria. In the top of the fifth, the junior transfer from Taft College in California went deep to right center for a solo bomb to bring the Gyrenes within one run. It was not only the first home run of the season for Gonzalez, but his first extra-base hit as well.
Webber got back their two-run lead in the bottom half of the inning, but Gonzalez put the Gyrenes right back into striking distance with another run in the seventh. Gonzalez started the frame with a lead off double, his third hit of the night and second extra-base hit. A Jordan Crawford single moved him to third and then scored off a throwing error from the catcher trying to back pick him with two outs.
Ave Maria kept Webber off the board in the seventh but couldn't find any runs in the eighth. The Warriors sealed the game in the bottom of the eighth bringing home two more runs to take a three-run lead, their biggest of the night. Webber worked a 1-2-3 in the ninth to finalize the game.
Gonzalez finished the game 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs. Those are all season highs for him in his fifth game in the lineup. Crawford, Metzen and Coffey all had multi-hit games as well.
Hunter Cashero started his fourth game of the season for the Gyrenes but got the loss giving up five runs in five innings, dropping his record to 1-3. Jeremy Fox tossed two scoreless innings in relief but gave up the two runs in the eighth. Alex Nickler finished the night on the mound for Ave Maria, striking out two batters to end the eighth.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 4-8 on the year. Friday did not count as a conference game even though the Gyrenes played a fellow Sun Conference team. Conference play begins Friday, February 21, for the Gyrenes.
AMU has one more non-conference game against a familiar foe Saturday, February 22, as the Gyrenes make the eight-minute drive around Crooked Lake from Babson Park to Lake Wales to take on the Warner Royals. Saturday is the first of five games in a row against the Royals for Ave Maria. After Saturday's one-off non-conference game, the Gyrenes go back to Lake Wales to open league play.
First pitch for Saturday is set for 12 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
