MELBOURNE, Fla. — The Ave Maria Softball team got their biggest win in over two years, taking down the 10^th ranked Marian Knights 4-0 Tuesday at the USSSA Space Coast Games. It was the first of two wins as the Gyrenes swept a doubleheader, beating the Hannibal-LaGrange Trojans 7-1 in the late game.

It was a tight first game against the Knights for the Gyrenes, with both teams holding each other scoreless for the first three innings.

Gina Gallegos got the start in the circle for the Gyrenes and despite giving up a few hits, kept the runners on the basepaths. Gallegos recorded one strikeout in the first three frames.

Ave Maria broke the scoreless tie by bringing home two runs in the top of the fourth. With two runners on and two out, Karsyn Moore drove a single through the right side to bring home Mary McIntire. Sienna Franklin kept the rally going with an RBI single of her own to bring home Hailey Howe.

The Gyrenes added runs in the fifth and sixth innings to get their final total of four. In the fifth inning, Annabella Phillips slapped a single up the middle to bring home Cecillia Garrett. In the sixth, Franklin got her second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to left field to again bring home Howe.

While the Gyrenes were lighting up the scoreboard, Gallegos and the defense were keeping the Knights quiet in the bottom half. In the fifth and sixth innings, Gallegos faced the minimum six batters. She worked a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth and then the leadoff batter was thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into a double.

In the bottom of the seventh, Gallegos worked another 1-2-3 inning, this time with two strikeouts to secure the top 10 win for the Gyrenes. Gallegos pitched her sixth complete game of the season and got her fourth win of the year. It was also her first shutout of the season and the third of her Ave Maria career.

For the Gyrenes, the win was their first ranked win since the April 29, 2023, when they beat the Southeastern Fire in the season finale. It is the first time Ave Maria has beaten a top 10 team since April 1, 2022, when the Gyrenes took down No. 10 Coastal Georgia. AMU beat two top 10 teams that season, taking down No. Campbellsville Tigers 1-0 in the season opener.

If beating a top 10 team wasn't enough, the Gyrenes beat Hannibal-LaGrange 7-1 to sweep their doubleheader at the Space Coast Games.

Unlike the early game, Ave Maria opened the scoring right away in the first inning, bringing home two runs off RBI hits from Cecillia Garrett and Annabella Phillips. Garrett brought home Neveah Wing with a single while Phillips brought home Garrett with a double.

The Trojans got a run back in the third to cut the lead in half, but that was the closest Hannibal LaGrange would get.

Ave Maria struck for three more runs in the bottom of the third, with Moore hitting an RBI double to bring home McIntire and Franklin hitting a two-RBI single to bring home Howe and Moore.

The Gyrenes scored their final run in the fifth inning off an RBI groundout that scored Genevive Peterson, who pinch ran for Moore.

In the circle, Kaedyn Sutton got the job done, tossing her seventh complete game of the season. The junior allowed just the lone run, which was unearned, off two hits and one walk while striking out three batters.

With the sweep, Ave Maria improves to 11-12-1. It is the third doubleheader sweep for the Gyrenes this season and bumps their winning streak to four games in a row. 2025 was the third season in a row AMU has participated in the USSSA Space Coast Games, but this year was their shortest stay in Melbourne, playing just the two games on Tuesday.

Ave Maria is back home Friday, March 7, as they open conference play at home against the Coastal Georgia Mariners. Coastal Georgia was ranked No. 25 in the preseason poll and is off to a hot 15-4 start. Friday will be a doubleheader against the Mariners with the season finale on Saturday. First pitches for Friday are set for 1 and 3 p.m. and the games will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.