MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — It was a wild Friday for the Ave Maria Baseball team, and yet the result was the same as it has been for every conference doubleheader this season. The Gyrenes lost a tight game in the series opener against the Florida Memorial Lions 5-3. In the second game of the doubleheader, Ave Maria won 19-16 in 10 innings thanks to a history-making hit from Jordan Crawford to salvage the day and get the split. It is seventh doubleheader split of the year for the Gyrenes.

Ave Maria scored all three of their runs in the first game in the fifth inning. After falling behind 2-0 in the first four innings, the Gyrenes put together a two-out rally to score their three runs. With two runners on, Dakota Jones slapped a single to right field to bring home Jesus Gonzalez and move Tanner Kelly to third. A wild pitch brought home Kelly to tie the game, and a Crawford single brought home Jones to give the Gyrenes a lead.

On the mound, Hunter Cashero made his 10^th start of the season and threw seven innings. He scattered three runs across those frames, one in the first, fourth and sixth innings, off six hits and one walk while striking out five.

FMU took the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning with a two-RBI single.

In the top of the ninth, Ave Maria got two baserunners on with back-to-back two-out singles, but a lineout ended the rally before the Gyrenes could bring home any runs.

After a relatively quiet game at the plate for both teams, the bats exploded in the second game, bringing home a combined 35 runs. It is the highest scoring game in Ave Maria history since February 23, 2019, when AMU and Webber brought home a combined 40 runs.

In three of the first four innings, Ave Maria brought home three runs to race out to a 9-3 lead. In the first inning, Crawford hit a three-run bomb over the left field wall to open the scoring. It is his sixth home run of the year, giving him the most on the team for a few innings.

A sacrifice fly from Davis Blair and a two-RBI single from Michael Kelly scored the three runs in the third inning. In the fourth, Ave Maria got their three runs off an RBI single from Jesus Gonzalez and a two-run blast from Tanner Kelly over the center field wall. It is Kelly's sixth home run as well, tying him with Crawford after falling behind him a few innings earlier.

Heading into the bottom of the fourth, the Gyrenes had a six-run lead, and they needed all of it as Florida Memorial scored five runs to make it 9-8.

Fortunately for the Gyrenes, they responded with a five run-inning of their own. Michaael Ciscar got the party started with an RBI single. Tanner Kelly got his third and fourth RBI later with a bases loaded double. A balk from the FMU pitcher brought in the next one and Crawford brought home the final run with an RBI single.

Ave Maria got one more run in the top of sixth inning with a Gonzalez sacrifice fly to get up to 15 runs.

However, even a seven-run lead wasn't safe. Florida Memorial scored five runs in bottom of the sixth to get to back 13 and back within two of Ave Maria.

After 28 combined runs in six innings, the offenses finally took a break, and both put up zeros in the seventh and eighth innings. It was the first two frames of the game neither team scored. Paul Arencibia pitched those two innings and did not give up a hit while striking out one batter.

AMU was held off in the top of the ninth keeping the lead at two heading into the bottom of the ninth. However, FMU completed the comeback, scoring the tying run on a wild pitch with two outs. The Gyrenes were able to get the third out, but the damage was done and the two teams headed into extra innings.

Despite losing the seven-run lead, the Gyrenes were not discouraged. Ave Maria quickly loaded up the bases with a double sandwiched between two walks. Jones brought in the first run with an RBI hit by pitch. In the next at-bat, Crawford made AMU history and became the first Gyrene to hit for the cycle. The senior transfer homered and the first, doubled in the fourth, singled in the fifth and finally tripled in the 10^th to collect all four types of hits in one game for the first time in program history. More importantly to the game, his triple brought home three runs and put the Gyrenes up 19-15.

In the bottom of the 10^th, FMU got really close to forcing another inning. After two quick outs, the Lions hit their first extra base hit of the game with a solo home run. The next three batters got on to load the bases, putting the tying run on first and the winning run at the plate. Thankfully, a strikeout ended the game after four hours and 12 minutes of play.

 As a team, Ave Maria tied their season-high with 19 runs and set season highs with 17 hits, 18 RBI, six doubles. Nineteen runs are tied for the third-most in program history. Eighteen RBI is tied for the fourth-most in school history and six doubles are tied for the second-most.

Individually, four players had multi-hit games in the second game with Tanner Kelly and Crawford at four, Gonzalez at three and Jimmy Coffey at two. Kelly tied a program record with five runs scored and Crawford tied the record for most RBI in a game with seven.

It was the seventh conference doubleheader of the season for the Gyrenes and their seventh split as well, as they move to 7-7 in conference play and 17-16 overall. That is the most doubleheader splits in a single season for Ave Maria. The previous record was five in 2012.

The Gyrenes conclude their series with the Lions Saturday, March 29. First pitches are set for 12 and 3 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.