AVE MARIA, Fla. — It took 11 tries, but the Ave Maria Baseball team finally got a Sun Conference doubleheader sweep Friday evening as they took down the Southeastern Fire in two straight games. Both games were as dramatic as they could have been, with the Gyrenes winning the first game 2-1 in 11 innings and then shutting out the Fire in the shortened, seven-inning second game 1-0.

The low scoring nature of the games was a bit surprising since Southeastern and Ave Maria came into the series as two of the top four offenses in the Sun Conference in runs per game.

In the first game, Ave Maria scored the opening run in their first at bat. Leadoff hitter Jesus Gonzalez got a hold of the third pitch he saw and crushed over the fence in right field for the game's first run. It is his seventh homer of the season, tying him with Tanner Kelly and Jordan Crawford for the most on the team.

After the leadoff homer though, it was a quiet game at the plate for the Gyrenes as they registered just one more hit over the next nine innings.

On the mound, starter Owen Johnson had a good outing, tossing five scoreless innings. The Fire did manage five hits and two walks, but every runner was either left stranded or picked off. Johnson also struck out six batters.

Southeastern tied the game in the sixth with an RBI double. The Fire then loaded the bases and threatened to take the lead, but the Gyrenes left them all stranded with a flyout to centerfield.

In the final three innings of regulation, Southeastern put five runners on the bags, but the Gyrene defense came up big to keep it a 1-1 ballgame.

In the extra innings, the Gyrenes went to Ryan Young out of the bullpen, and he shut the Fire down. SEU managed just one hit against the junior while striking out three times.

The Gyrenes got two baserunners in the 10^th but left them both in scoring position.

In the 11^th, Crawford drew a walk, Michael Kelly beat the throw on a bunt single and Sebastian Cabeza drew a walk to load the bases for Ave Maria. The Gyrenes then went to the bench and brought in Kyle Magdic to pinch hit. It was his first game since the midweek game against Eckerd. Magdic worked a 2-2 count before getting plunked in the head, bringing in the winning run.

It was the first walk-off win of the season for the Gyrenes and their sixth win in the last at-bat.

At 11 innings pitched for the Gyrenes, the first game tied for the seventh longest game in AMU program history.

Ryan Young got the win for the Gyrenes, improving his record to 2-1 on the year.

The second game, while four innings shorter, was just as dramatic, if not more dramatic, than the first.

Again, Ave Maira opened the scoring in the early frames with a run in the second, and it turned out to be the winning run. Michael Kelly opened the inning with a double, his fifth of the year. The junior scooted up to third on a wild pitch and then was brought home on an RBI single from Cabeza.

The Gyrenes only got two more hits in the game after Cabeza's RBI single, but it didn't seem to matter as the Ave Maria defense put together their best game of the season.

On the mound, Hunter Cashero made his 12^th start of the year and tossed a gem. The junior transfer from Kansas tossed all seven innings, throwing 100 pitches, and did not allow a single run. The Fire only scraped five hits past him and one walk, while striking out six batters.

When the Fire did get a hit past him, the defense stepped up. The highlight of the game was in the top of the fifth inning. With a runner on second, JP Pennella from the Fire dropped a base hit into right field. Southeastern gave the wave around third to the runner in hopes of tying the game, but Gonzalez rocketed the ball from right field to home plate on one hop and Cabeza was able to tag out the runner and keep the score 1-0.

In the top of the seventh, Cashero got his final two strikeouts of the game, including the game-ending out, to finish off the Fire and complete the twin bill sweep for the Gyrenes.

It was his third complete game and second complete game shutout of the year.

As a team, it is the first time this season the Gyrenes have not split a doubleheader in league play in 2025.

"[I'm] just really proud of the guys. I mean, it's one of those moments where we have been battling, all of these people on this team battling so hard for this, and we haven't been able to put together as a team for the entire year. But today was just a day where it just clicked. We pitched it really well on the mound. And maybe we didn't get a trillion hits, but we found a way to stack enough good at-bats to win," said interim head coach Pete Horner. "A quote in our dugout a lot is 'Good enough to win,' we found a way to be good enough to win twice today."

With the sweep, Ave Maria improves to 22-20 overall and 12-10 in Sun Conference play. The Gyrenes hold onto their third spot in the Sun Conference standings, now just a game back of the Southeastern Fire for second place and two and a half games back of Webber for first. Ave Maria also has the most conference wins at 12.

The series against Southeastern wraps up Saturday, April 12, with another doubleheader. Even if the Gyrenes go back to their usual splitting ways in that twin bill, they will still win their first conference series of the year. First pitches are set for 12 and 3 p.m. and both games will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.