Box Score The Ave Maria University baseball team could not recover from an early deficit, and lost a Sun Conference game to Florida Memorial University, 12-5, Saturday afternoon at Bowie's Ballpark in Ave Maria.
The second game of the doubleheader was called due to time constraints, and will be played in the final week of the Sun Conference season.
 
The Gyrenes never led, a day after never trailing against the Lions.
Florida Memorial opened the game with three first inning runs to claim the advantage. A walk to Christopher Wydler and a single from Gianfranco Garlobo put two runners on for Anthony Diaz, whose grounder was misplayed to score Wydler and Garlobo. Diaz scored after the next hitter, Emilio Marrufo, hit a sacrifice fly.
 
Ave Maria had an answer in the first inning, plating a run to cut the lead to 3-1. RJ Warnock recorded a one-out single, and scored after consecutive base hits from Rico Soto and Conor Sullivan. Soto went
3-for-3 with two walks, reaching in all five of his at-bats.
 
Florida Memorial broke the game open in the fourth inning with five runs. Marrufo and Brian Gonzalez accounted for back-to-back doubles to start the inning and give FMU a 4-1 lead. The lead ballooned to six runs on three run home run from Lance Mansfield, his second of the series. Daniel Morales added the final run of the inning by reaching on an error and scoring on an Ashton Martinez single.
 
Max Nell hit his second homer of the series and season in the bottom of the sixth, hitting one out of the ballpark in right field. Nell's solo shot trimmed the Florida Memorial lead to 8-2.
 
FMU re-extended the lead in the seventh with three more runs. Marrufo continued his productive day with a two-run triple to score Martinez and Diaz. He then scored on a sacrifice fly from Brian Gonzalez.
 
Ave Maria pushed their final three runs across in the bottom of the seventh. Sullivan drove in Soto, who had tripled, on a single.
Courtesy runner Chris Lentine scored on an Andy Hernandez double, and Hernandez scored the final Gyrene run on a Steven Valentine double.
 
FLorida Memorial's scoring ended in the top of the eighth, when leadoff hitter Daniel Morales hit a solo home run to give the Lions the final 12-5 margin.
 
Ian Romano earned the victory for Florida Memorial, while Christian Dufresne was charged with the loss.
 
The Gyrenes play next on Tuesday, in a non-conference matchup with Palm Beach Atlantic University. Ave Maria returns to conference play next weekend in a three-game set against the Fire of Southeastern University.