SARASOTA, Fla. - New College of Florida hosted the Gyrenes of Ave Maria University for the teams first home series in program history.

New College hosted Ave Maria for their second doubleheader in three days. The Banyan's traveled to Fort Myers, FL on Thursday to compete against on of the best teams in the country in Florida Southwestern. The Banyan's, now with the backing of a home crowd, looked to get back on track. 

Ave Maria's hitters took no time adjusting to the Banyan's pitching. A single followed by a Banyan error put the Gyrenes in excellent position. A hard hit single to shortstop scored the lead runner. Ave Maria followed suit with a double to deep left field, scoring another run. A wild pitched scored the final run of the inning, giving the Gyrenes a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom half. 

The Banyan's offense sputtered out the gate. Ke'Asia Waters walked to begin the inning. Waters, a threat on the base paths, got a perfect jump on the Ave Maria pitcher, easily stealing second base. NCF was not able to capitalize with the runner in scoring position, finishing the inning with two strikeouts and a routine ground out to third. 

The Gyrene offense continued to pour on runs, scoring on a double and a three run shot to deep center field. The New College offense had no response, going scoreless heading into the fifth inning. The Banyan's were not able to get anything going in game one, going scoreless and dropping game one 13-0. 

Game two of the double-header was a completely different story for the New College offense. Ke'Asia Waters led off with a base hit to center field. Waters took off from first, stealing second and putting NCF into scoring position. Tiffany Lepic answered the call, doubling to deep center field and scoring Waters. Madilyn Dutton came to the plate looking to extend the lead. After taking a first pitch ball, Dutton connected on a fastball, driving it to opposite field. The Gyrenes, trying to stop the runner, threw the ball over the third basemen's head. This error allowed Dutton to take the turn towards home plate, reaching safely and recording the first home run in Mighty Banyan history. 

The Banyan's would tack on another run in the fourth inning, bringing their lead to 2 entering the 6th inning. Disaster struck on the defensive end. The Gyrenes led off the inning with a hard driven single, leading to a stolen base. A ground out led to the lead runner scoring from second, setting up another clutch at bat. The Gyrenes continued to execute, crushing a double to right-center field. Another double from Ave Maria double compeletly turned the tides of the game, giving them three runs scored in the inning and tying the game at 5 a piece. 

The Banyan's were never able to regain momentum. Ave Maria tacked on another 3 runs in the seventh, putting the Banyan's on their heels in the bottom of the inning. New College wasn't able to make adjustments, recording three straight outs and sealing an 8-5 defeat. 

New College had many standout performances on the day. 

Ke'Asia Waters tallied 4 hits in 6 at bats, scoring 1 run and recording a walk. Tiffany Lepic finished 5-7 with 2 RBI and a run. Madilyn Dutton pitched 6 innings while going 3-6 at the plate with an inside the park home run and 2 RBI.

The Banyan's are back in action on Tuesday, Feb 6 at home against Florida Memorial.