AVE MARIA, Fla. — The wait is finally over as the 2026 season got under way Friday night for the Ave Maria Baseball team with a doubleheader against the Wayland Baptist Pioneers. Despite a majority of new pieces on this year's squad, the Gyrenes picked right back up where the 2025 team left off as they dropped game one 8-3 and won game two 2-1 to split the twin bill.
Jeremy Fox got the nod as the game one starter for the Gyrenes, making his third career start at Ave Maria. Wayland Baptist scored a run in each of the first two innings of Fox, but the senior from Illinois kept the Pioneers for the most part contained and was backed up by his defense. AMU turned in a 1-2-3 inning in the third for their first scoreless frame of the season.
Down two in the bottom half of the inning, the bats came alive as the Gyrenes brought home two runs off two hits to tie the game. Michael Kelly got the inning started by drawing a one-out walk. In the next at-bat, Ri'Shon Pearl logged the first RBI of the season with long double up the gap in right-center field. Kelly scored from first on the extra-base hit for the first run of the season. Pearl was brought home on the next at-bat off an RBI single from Kyle Magdic that tied the game at two.
The tie did not last long however as Wayland Baptist brought home four runs in the next half inning to jump out to a 6-2 lead. The pioneers only logged one hit in the frame as walks and hit by pitches did the Gyrenes in in the frame.
Ave Maria got a run back in the fifth inning with an RBI single from Anthony Fernandez to score Magdic, but the Pioneers responded with two runs of their own in the top of the sixth.
The Gyrenes got a runner on base in the final frame of the shortened seven-inning first game, but a double play ended the game in favor of the Pioneers.
Pearl led the team with three hits in game one and was the only one to record a multi-hit game. Jack McGlynn came out of the bullpen in relief of Fox and tossed the final four innings, logging five strikeouts while on the mound.
After the high-scoring first game, runs were at a premium in the second game as the two teams entered into a pitcher's duel. Ryan Young started the game for the Gyrenes, making the second start of his career at Ave Maria. The senior from Texas was on fire on the mound as he mowed down Pioneers. The first six outs of the game recorded by the Gyrenes were all strikeouts from Young.
Two hits were mixed into those six strikeouts however as Christian Toledo hit his second home run of the day in the second at-bat of the game to give Wayland Baptist an early lead.
Young pitched the first five innings of the game and logged 10 strikeouts, doubling his season-high from 2025. Young only allowed the one run off three hits during his outing and kept the Pioneers quiet for the most part.
In the bottom of the sixth, Ave Maria capitalized on their best chance of the entire day to take their first lead of the season. Will Flaherty led the inning off with a single to right field. Kelly was then hit by a pitch and Magdic dropped a single in center field to load the bases with only one out. Fernandez was next up to the plate and rolled a ball down the third base line that stayed fair and made its way into left field. Both Flaherty and Kelly scored to put Ave Maria on top 2-1.
The rest of the game was a pitching masterclass from Caleb West out of the bullpen. West, a junior form Chattanooga, Tennessee, tossed the final four innings of the game, and only allowed one hit to Wayland Baptist. West also struck out five batters as the Gyrenes hung onto win 2-1.
West entered the game before the Gyrenes took the lead, so he earned the first positive decision of the year and improves to 1-0 on the season.
With the split, Ave Maria starts the 2026 season with a 1-1 record.
The Gyrenes have another doubleheader Saturday to wrap up the four-game series with Pioneers. Game one will be another seven-inning game with the first pitch set for noon while the series finale will be a full nine-inning game with first pitch set at 3 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
