AVE MARIA, Fla. — Noelani Sokolik and Lindsey Watson combined for just the fourth no-hitter in program history as the Ave Maria Softball team dominated in the home opener doubleheader Monday afternoon against the Fort Lauderdale Eagles. The Gyrenes won the first game 3-2 and then dominated in the second game winning 8-0 in six innings.

Karsyn Moore got the scoring started in the first game with an RBI infield single that brought home Genevieve Peterson.

Ave Maria added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single from Liz Negron that scored Nevaeh Wing and Hailee Howe. As well as notching her first multi-RBI game, Negron helped turn the only double play of the twin bill in the top of the third, fielding a ground ball, stepping on second for out number one and firing to first for out number two.

In the circle, Kaedyn Sutton started her third game of the season and got her third win of the season. The senior from Ohio tossed four scoreless innings and scattered three hits while striking out two batters.

Fort Lauderdale scored two runs in the top of the fifth to make it a one-run ballgame, but the Gyrenes defense held steady for the rest of the way. Mia Mazzolini entered in the fifth inning to clean up the damage and got a ground out to strand the tying run on base. Mazzolini stranded three more runners across the sixth and seventh innings while striking out a batter to get the first save of her career.

While game one was a low-scoring, defensive battle, home opener's finale was all Ave Maria.

At the plate, the Gyrenes logged 15 hits, their second-most in a game this season, and scored in five of the six innings.

The scoring opened when Teagan Milewski was plunked with the bases loaded to bring home Kaitlyn O'Neill.

In the second inning, the Gyrenes added another run with an RBI triple from Alexa Hehl, scoring Peterson. It was the second career triple for the junior from Alaska.

The third inning was the most productive of the day for the Gyrenes with three runs crossing the plate. Kate McIntyre brought home the first two with an RBI single to left center field, scoring Moore and O'Neill. Howe brought home McIntyre for the third run when she laid down a perfectly placed bunt in front of home plate.

By far the most interesting run was scored in the fourth inning when Ashley Lykins drove a single to right field and then made her way all around the base paths after three different errors from the Eagles.

The final two runs came in the sixth inning. McIntyre brought home the first run with her third RBI of the game, scoring O'Neill with a single. The mercy rule walk off run scored in the next at-bat when Milewski dropped a single into right field to bring home Alexia Bracero.

As dominant as the Gyrenes were at the plate in game two, the real dominating performance was in the circle as Sokolik and Watson combined for the fourth no-hitter in program history and the first since 2023. Freshman Sokolik tossed the first five innings of the game and struck out seven batters. She faced just four batters over the minimum with two walks allowed and two batters reaching on an error.

Sokolik had reached 85 pitches by the end of the fifth so Watson entered the game and finished what she started. The junior went three up, three down and struck out one before the Gyrenes walked it off in the bottom half of the frame.

With the doubleheader sweep, Ave Maria improves to 4-1 to start the season.

The Gyrenes will take a week and a half off to prepare for their first Sun Conference series at the end of the month. February 27 and 28 Ave Maria heads up north to Lakeland to take on the Southeastern Fire. The Fire were ranked 19^th in the NAIA in the preseason poll. Ave Maria took one game from the Fire the last time the two teams played in Lakeland. The series starts with one game on Friday and then a doubleheader on Saturday. All three games will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.