Ave Maria, FL -- The Ave Maria University baseball team fell victim to St. Thomas University on Saturday afternoon at Bowie's Ballpark, and were swept in a doubleheader, 8-1 and 13-2. The Bobcats claimed a three-game sweep in the first Sun Conference series of the season.
 
In the first game of the twinbill, St. Thomas took an early advantage that they did not relinquish, topping the Gyrenes 8-1. The Bobcats took advantage of four Ave Maria errors.
 
St. Thomas struck first in the opening game, plating a pair of unearned runs in the top of the first inning. Andrew Steele retired the first two hitters of the game, but then hit a batter and saw another man reach via a fielder's choice and an error. Both runners scored on a two run double by Randy Oliva off the center field fence.
The runs were unearned due to the error off the bat of Jack Diaz.
 
The Bobcats stretched the lead to 4-0 in the top of the fourth, again doing the damage with two outs. German Morales singled with one out, and stole second before the second out of the inning was recorded.
With two outs, Nick Canino was hit by a pitch. Orlando Rivera drove in Morales with a single of his own, and Canino subsequently scored on an error when the Gyrenes attempted to throw out Rivera on a stolen base.
 
Ave Maria got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, doing some two-out work of their own. Matt Wiles drew a walk with one out, and moved to second on a Tully Allen sacrfice bunt. Justin Hartshorne extended the frame with a walk, and Ryan Cook got Ave in the run column with a line drive single.
 
For the second day in a row, St. Thomas scored four runs in the top of the eighth inning, this time to put the game away. The key hit was a two-run single by Michael Centeno, who proceeded to score on an errant pickoff play. A wild pitch allowed the other run in the inning to score. Centeno, Rivera, and James Spatafora provided the hits in the inning.
 
A bright spot in the game for AMU was freshman JP Pellis, who tossed a scoreless frame in his collegiate debut.
 
The second game of the doubleheader saw another early St. Thomas lead turn into a Bobcat victory, 13-2.
 
St. Thomas plated three runs in the first inning to take the initial advantage in the game. The damage for the Bobcats was done on three consecutive singles, culminating in a two-run hit by Kendrick Gutierrez. David Palenzuela also recorded an RBI single in the inning.
 
Three more runs crossed the plate in the top of the third for St.
Thomas. Five of the seven hitters in the frame reached base, and German Morales clubbed a two-run triple to give the visiting Bobcats a
6-0 lead. The inning's other run was scored by Orlando Rivera, who crossed home when a Bobcat runner was caught between first and second.
 
The contest was put away by St. Thomas in the top of the fourth, when they scored four runs to take a 10-0 lead. Randy Oliva drove in two runs with a home run, and two others crossed the plate on wild pitches. A run in the fifth and two in the ninth completed the scoring for the Bobcats.
 
Nearly the entirety of Ave Maria's offense was provided in the bottom of the fifth inning. Ryan Keegan hit one of his two doubles, and scored on an Andy Hernandez RBI single. Mason Dinesen also added a double in the inning, and Hernandez would eventually score on an RBI groundout by Brody Howe. The best pitcher in the loss was Deaven Phillips, who allowed only two earned runs over the last five innings of the game.
 
Another road midweek game awaits the Gyrenes on Wednesday, as AMU travels to St. Petersburg for a contest against Eckerd College. Ave Maria then plays its second Sun Conference series of the season, taking on the Warriors of Webber International University. The series consists of one game Friday, followed by a Saturday doubleheader.