LAKELAND, Fla. — The Ave Maria Softball team opened their conference season Thursday afternoon against the Southeastern Fire. AMU had trouble generating any offense as they were no-hit in a 10-0 loss. It is the first time since 2022 the Gyrenes have been held hitless in a game.

Southeastern's starter Maria Zelenka faced just one batter over the minimum in her five innings of work. The lone base runner for the Gyrenes came in the third as Sienna Franklin reached first with two outs off a throwing error from the SEU shortstop. Unfortunately, a strikeout ended the frame before the Gyrenes could capitalize on the mistake.

In the bottom halves of the frames, Southeastern scored in three of the four innings they stepped up to the plate. The majority of their runs came in the first inning as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead.

Kaedyn Sutton suffered her first loss of the season but settled in after the big first inning and just gave up three runs after that. Freshman Noelani Sokolik pitched the final inning and struck out two batters while just allowing one run.

With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 4-2 overall and starts conference play 0-1.

The Gyrenes close out the series against Southeastern with a doubleheader Friday, February 27. The first game will start at 11 a.m. with the finale slated to start at 1 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.