AVE MARIA, Fla. — It was tough Saturday for the Ave Maria Softball team has they dropped both games of a doubleheader to the Southeastern Fire. The Gyrenes lost the first game 6-1 and then the second game 12-3.

In the first game, Southeastern opened the scoring in the first inning with a run off an RBI single.

Ave Maria tied it in the bottom half of the frame with an RBI single of their own from Annabella Phillips. The single brought home Garrett who had reached on a leadoff single.

The game remained tied for the next two innings as both pitchers kept the other team off the board. In the circle for the Gyrenes was Gina Gallegos, making her 21^st start of the season. Gallegos allowed just one base runner in those two innings off a walk and got a strikeout as well.

Southeastern broke the tie with two runs in the top of the fourth to take a 3-1 lead. The Fire then added one run in each of the last three innings to get up 6-1.

Ave Maria registered just two hits in the final four innings of the game. One of those hits was a triple from Karsyn Moore in the seventh inning. It is her second triple of the year.

Gallegos tossed all seven innings in the circle for the Gyrenes, her 10^th complete game of the season, but did get the loss dropping her record to 6-13.

The second game was the complete opposite of the first. Instead of a late slow burn from the Fire, it was a fast blaze of runs from Southeastern in the early frames to get out to a 12-0 lead. A majority of those runs all came into score in one inning as the Fire brought home seven runs in the top of the third.

Down by 12, Ave Maria brought home all three of their runs in the bottom of the fourth. After a leadoff walk from Hailee Howe, Phillips brought her home with an RBI double. It is the 10^th double of the season for Phillips. Alexa Hehl kept the rally going with an RBI triple to left center to bring home Phillips. It was Hehl first triple of her Ave Maria career. She was brought home for the final run of the inning off an RBI groundout from Payton Maguire. Moore doubled and Garrett singled to put two more runners on base, but they were left stranded.

In the fifth, the Gyrenes needed two more runs to hold off the mercy rule but went 1-2-3 to end the game.

Garrett had a season-high three hits in the finale, accounting for half of Ave Maria's hits in the game. It was the only multi-hit game of the doubleheader for the Gyrenes and her 13^th of the season, the most on the team.

Kaedyn Sutton got the loss in the finale dropping her record to 9-7.

Following the sweep, Ave Maria falls to 17-24-1 overall and 6-12 in conference play. The Gyrenes are now in seventh place in the Sun Conference standings and are on the outside looking in to the conference tournament. They are a game back of the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans who are in sixth place.

Ave Maria is on the road for their next series as they take a trip across Alligator Alley to take on the Keiser Seahawks. Keiser is in third place in the Sun Conference with a 11-4 record. The series starts Friday, April 11, and then concludes with a doubleheader Saturday, April 12. First pitch for Friday is set for 3 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.