MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. | Saturday produced two heartbreaking losses for the Lions, who drop the series to Ave Maria after two blown leads late in both games of the doubleheader at the Harry T. Moore Baseball Field.
Gm. 1
Lions 6 – Gyrenes 8
The Lions scored the first run of the day in the first inning off an RBI-single by Luis Ruiz that brought in Ulises Rodriguez. Another RBI-single by Levis Aguila allowed Jalen Young to score, giving the Lions a 2-0 lead.
The Gyrenes responded with a home run in the second inning, which closed the gap to 2-1. A sacrifice fly-RBI by Ulises Rodriguez scored Reinaldo Prieto which increased the Lions lead heading to the third inning.
In the fourth, a wild pitch by the Gyrenes pitcher allowed Allan Berrios to touch home plate for the Lions' fourth run of the contest. In the next inning, an RBI-single by Gabriel Marinez scored Kyle Morrison to give the Lions a 5-1 lead.
In shocking fashion, Ave Maria stormed back to score seven unanswered runs, including five runs in the top of the eighth to take a 8-5 lead with one inning left in the game. In the bottom of the ninth, Berrios managed to score the sixth run of the game for the Lions, but it wasn't enough as FMU split the series 1-1.
William Hicinao pitched five innings for the Lions and allowed three hits, one run, one walk and struck out four Gyrenes batters. Samuel Briceno came in relief in the sixth inning and allowed three hits, two runs, one walk and struck out one Gyrene batter. Anthony Molina came in relief for Briceno in the seventh and generated one strikeout before allowing four hits, five runs and two walks in the eighth.
Jamal Johnson came in relief for Molina and produced one strikeout.
Gm. 2
Lions 6 – Gyrenes 7
FMU took an early lead in the bottom of the first after a sacrifice-RBI by Luis Ruiz that scored Ivan Zambrano for his first run of the day. However, Ave Maria answered back to tie the game in the top of the second.
With Morrison on base, a two-shot home run by Reinaldo Prieto gave FMU a 3-1 lead in the second inning.
In the third, Luis Ruiz generated an RBI-single that scored Zambrano in the third, increasing the Lions lead to 4-1. FMU added another run in the fifth inning when Jalen Young generated an RBI-double that brought home Zambrano, increasing the Lions' lead to 5-1.
Ave Maria generated another late game comeback, scoring five unanswered runs, including four in the top of the eighth to take a 6-5 lead.
FMU responded when Young scored a run in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game 6-6. However, the Gyrenes scored the game-winning run in the top of the ninth to steal another win and seal the series at Harry T. Moore Baseball Field in dramatic fashion.
FMU Starting pitcher Ricardo Alverez de Lugo allowed four hits, one run, one walk and struck out two batters in five innings of action. Samuel Briceno came in relief and allowed four hits, four runs, one walk and struck out one batter before being replaced by Kyle Morrison, who played at first base for the majority of the contest before moving to the mound. Morrison allowed five hits and two runs.
The Lions return to action Wednesday, March 22, as they host Florida National. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Harry T. Moore Baseball Field.
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