Ave Maria, FL – The Webber International Softball team split a Sun Conference softball doubleheader at Ave Maria on Tuesday, falling 4-3 in nine innings in the opener before bouncing back for a 4-3 win in game two behind another complete-game effort from Taylor Thomas..
In game one, Webber and Ave Maria were locked in a pitchers' duel for much of the afternoon as Thomas held the Gyrenes to just three hits across eight innings while striking out four. Webber finally broke through in the top of the sixth when Thalia Romero tripled home a run, and the Warriors carried a 1-0 lead into the bottom half before Ave Maria answered with the tying run on an RBI single.
The Warriors looked poised to steal the opener in the ninth. Sommer Zier-Norris crossed the plate on an Ave Maria error to put Webber in front 2-1. Romero scored soon after on a sacrifice fly from Sami Franz to make it 3-1. But the Gyrenes answered in the bottom of the ninth, capitalizing on late pressure and defensive miscues to push across three runs and walk off with the 4-3 win. Romero paced Webber's offense by going 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, an RBI and a walk. Sami Franz added a sacrifice fly, while Aliyah Bentley scored once.
Webber responded quickly in the second game by jumping on Ave Maria in the first inning. Romero singled and later scored, while Eliana Hernandez brought home a run and Franz lifted a sacrifice fly to bring home another run for a 2-0 Warrior lead.
The Warriors added two more in the third as Abigayle Ellison delivered with a two-run double to left center Webber to put Webber back ahead 4-2. Thomas again went the distance in the circle, working all seven innings and allowing just five hits and one earned run while striking out six to earn the win. Ave Maria scored twice in the first and added one in the fifth, but Thomas stranded traffic throughout the afternoon and closed out the one-run victory.
Romero finished game two 2-for-3 with a run scored and a walk, while Ellison went 1-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Hernandez added a hit, an RBI and a run scored, and Webber totaled seven hits to salvage the split.
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