WALESKA, Ga. — The Ave Maria Baseball team played their first game of the 2025 NAIA Opening Round Monday evening and lost to the Reinhardt Eagles 12-5. The Gyrenes opened the scoring, but Reinhardt had a big second inning to take the lead.

The Gyrenes started off hot in the first inning with three hits in the opening frame. The third hit was a 2-RBI triple from Michael Kelly to bring home Kyle Magdic and Dakota Jones. Kelly drove the ball to left center field where the Eagles' center fielder slipped on some wet grass allowing Kelly to go to third. It was the first triple of the season for Kelly.

The lead unfortunately did not last long as Reinhardt tied the game with a two-run homer in the bottom half of the inning. In the second, the Eagles exploded for six runs to take a commanding 8-2 lead.

The Gyrenes fought back and held the Eagles to three scoreless innings. During that stretch, Ave Maria got three runs back to cut the deficit in half. Two runs scored in the fourth with an RBI single from Jimmy Coffey and a sacrifice fly from Jesus Gonzalez. In the fifth, Tanner Kelly scored on a bases loaded fielder's choice to make it 8-5.

Ave Maria felt they had climbed back into the game, but then the Eagles scored three in the sixth and one in the seventh to take back a commanding lead.

Offensively, the Gyrenes were held silent, registering just one hit in the final four frames. Ave Maria finished the game with nine hits but left 10 runners on base in the loss.

Individually, Jones and Jordan Crawford led the team each with two hits. It was the eighth multi-hit game for Jones and the 12^th multi-hit game for Crawford. Michael Kelly led the team with three RBI, his ninth multi-RBI game of the year.

On the mound, Hunter Cashero got the loss pitching the first two innings. Owen Johnson entered the game in the third and tossed a solid three scoreless innings before giving up three runs in the sixth. Isaac Hines and Luke Zmolik also got innings at the end of the game.

With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 27-26 on the year and is 0-1 in the Opening Round.

The Gyrenes will now face elimination on Tuesday against the Oakland City Mighty Oaks. Oakland City lost to Loyola in the early game on Monday 7-4. Tuesday will be the first ever meeting between the Gyrenes and the Mighty Oaks. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on Reinhardt's YouTube channel by the Southeast Sports Network.