AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria softball team dropped both games of a doubleheader Friday to the Coastal Georgia Mariners to open conference play. The Gyrenes lost 5-1 in game one and 4-3 in eight innings in game two.
Both teams were held scoreless through the first four innings of game one. Gina Gallegos got the start in the circle for the Gyrenes and tossed a relatively clean four frames. The second inning got a little hairy with two singles and a walk loading the bases, but Gallegos got a ground ball to third to end the frame. Gallegos also struck out three batters in the first four innings which ties her season high.
The Gyrenes were kept just as quiet however in the first four innings as well to keep the score locked at zero.
Coastal Georgia finally opened the scoring in the fifth inning in a big way, bringing home four runs off two hits and an error. The Mariners added a run in the top of the seventh to make it 5-0.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Gyrenes got a run back with an RBI single from Lindsey Watson to bring home Karsyn Moore, but it was too little too late for Ave Maria. The Mariners got the final out to secure the 5-1 win.
Game two got off to a much better start for the Gyrenes. Ave Maria raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first three innings. Two runs were brought home off back-to-back RBI singles from Genevieve Peterson and Cecilia Garrett bringing home Hailee Howe and Neveah Wing, respectively.
In the third, Howe added another run with an RBI bloop single that scored Kate McIntyre.
Ave Maria recorded six hits in the opening three innings and were cruising along, but then Coastal Georgia made a pitching change. The new arm shut down the Gyrenes who only managed one hit in the final five innings of the game.
In the circle, Kaedyn Sutton had a good start, scattering four hits over four inning and striking out three batters. In the fifth, the Mariners got their first run. In the sixth, Coastal Georgia got another run to pull within one of the Gyrenes. Sutton stranded two runners on the bags in the sixth with an infield popout to end the frame.
In the seventh, the Gyrenes went to Annabella Phillips to shut down the Mariners and protect the one run lead, but a leadoff double and an error brought home the tying run that sent the game to extra innings. Phillips did get two strikeouts in the circle, doubling her season total coming into the doubleheader.
The Mariners played small ball with a sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly back-to-back to bring home the automatic runner placed on second in the extra frame.
The Gyrenes drew a walk to start the bottom of the eighth and put two runners aboard, but that proved to be more detrimental. A fielder's choice on the next at bat kept the Gyrenes from getting a runner on third, then a popout and another fielder's choice ground out ended the game.
Three runs is the largest lead the Gyrenes have lost this season.
McIntyre led the team with three hits over the two games, two in the first and one in the second. Garrett, Howe, and Peterson each had multi-hit games in game two.
With the two losses, Ave Maria falls to 11-14-1 overall and starts conference play 0-2.
The Gyrenes are back home Saturday for the series finale with the Mariners as they look to take one from Coastal Georgia and avoid the sweep. First pitch is set for noon and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
