THE CONQUISTADORS DROP TO 2-5 IN THE SEASON

AVE MARIA, Fla. – The Ave Maria baseball team picked up two wins on Tuesday afternoon when they swept Florida National, 10-0 (six innings) and 14-2 (five innings). Both games were shortened by run rule.

The Ave Maria offense scored in five of the six innings in game one to power past the Conquistadors, 10-0. AMU also got a shut-down performance by Trey Weathers on the mound. Weathers pitched a complete game shutout, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out five in his first collegiate win.

Matt Wiles got the scoring started for Ave Maria with an RBI double in the first to drive in Tully Allen. In the second, an RBI groundout by Alex Perez followed by a solo homerun by Justin Hartshorne made it 3-0 in favor of the Gyrenes.

Ave Maria added a run in the third and two more in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead. An RBI triple by Wiles in the sixth followed by an FNU error allowed Ryan Keegan and Wiles to score to make it 8-0. Later in the inning, Brody Howe had his second RBI of the day to increase the lead to nine. The Gyrenes walked-off in game one when Steven Valentine drew a bases-loaded hit by a pitch to increase the advantage to 10.

Five AMU players recorded multiple hits and six recorded RBIs in the game one win. Wiles and Howe each had three hits. Wiles added three RBI and two runs while Howe finished with two RBI.

It was more of the same in game two for Ave Maria. After Florida National got a run in the top half of the first, AMU responded with one in the bottom half of the inning and four in the second. The Gyrenes added two more in both the third and fourth and five in the fifth to close out the game.

Florida National University returns to action February 20th against St. Thomas in Miami Gardens. First pitch on Tuesday is at 6 p.m.