FORT MYERS, Fla. — Just like in March, the Ave Maria Baseball team played in the highest combined scoring game of the season against the Webber Warriors. Again, just like in March, the Ave Maria Baseball team lost the game to the Webber Warriors. Unlike the game in March, Ave Maria had the lead for most of the game before falling in the final innings.
The Gyrenes opened their stay in the Sun Conference Baseball Tournament Thursday afternoon by taking on the top seeded Webber Warriors. It was a back-and-forth high scoring affair between the two teams, but three runs in the eighth put the Warriors on top as they won 16-14.
Ave Maria's bats started out red hot with nine runs in the first three innings. Jake LaVine logged the first RBI in the first inning with a single that scored Anthony Fernandez.
In the second, the Gyrenes brought home three runs with back-to-back extra base hits from Kyle Magdic and Ri'Shon Pearl. Magdic drove a ball to the deepest part of JetBlue Park, which is an exact replica of Fenway Park, and logged a triple that scored Karson Green and Patrick Corley. Pearl then brought home Magdic with a double.
The third inning was the best for the Gyrenes as they batted around and plated five runs. Michael Kelly got the scoring started with a two RBI double that scored Joe Manesitotis and Corley. After a hit by pitch put Fernandez aboard, Magdic knocked his third hit of the day with a three-run blast over straight away center. The homer put him a double away from the cycle and gave Ave Maria a 9-3 lead, which was the largest advantage of the afternoon for either team.
Webber scored three runs in both the second and third innings and Ave Maria led 9-6 at the end of the three. After a scoreless fourth, Webber tied the game at nine with three more runs in the bottom of the fifth.
The tie did not last long as the Gyrenes brought home four runs in the top of the sixth. With two runners in scoring position, Corley rolled a single up the middle that brought home Manesiotis and Green. Corley was brought in a few at bats later along with Kelly off a two-RBI single from Magdic.
Webber responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh, scoring all of them with one swing of the bat. The Warriors loaded up the bags and Ave Maria went to the bullpen to try and halt their momentum, but a grand slam over the Green Monster tied the game at 13. It was the only homer to go over the tall left field wall in the first day of competition at JetBlue Park.
Webber took their first lead of the afternoon in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring three runs to go up 16-13.
In the top of the ninth, Magdic got a rally started with a leadoff single. It was his fifth hit of the game, which is a season-high for all Gyrenes in 2026. Magdic was brought home with an RBI single from Kelton Klemcke. The single also moved Omari Swinton, who was courtesy running for the catcher LaVine, to second, putting the tying run on first with two outs for the Gyrenes. Unfortunately, that is where the tying run would stand as strikeout ended things in favor of the Warriors.
Ave Maria finished the game with 21 hits. Every batter in the starting lineup logged at least one hit with eight of them logging multiple hits. Magdic led the team with five and ended a double away from the cycle.
With 30 combined runs between the two teams, it is the highest combined scoring game of the year for the Gyrenes. The official time of the game was three hours and 33 minutes, delaying the other two games by a full hour.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 13-23 overall and now has their backs against the wall as they enter the loser's bracket. Every game for the rest of the weekend will be an elimination game for the Gyrenes.
In the first game of the second day, the Gyrenes will take on the fifth seeded St. Thomas Bobcats. St. Thomas lost to Southeastern 11-5 to fall to the elimination game. Since the tournament moved to JetBlue Park in 2024, the sixth seed has beaten the fifth seed both times. In 2024, Ave Maria beat Warner to advance to Saturday and in 2025 Warner beat St. Thomas. In the regular season, St. Thomas took three of the four games from the Gyrenes.
First pitch from Fenway South is set for 11 a.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
