AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team could not maintain an early 5-0 lead, and fell in the season finale to St. Thomas University, 7-5, on Tuesday afternoon. The regular season Sun Conference champion Bobcats scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to claim their 46th victory of the season.

Ave Maria jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to five hits in the first six batters of the frame. Tully Allen led off the inning with a single, and moved to third base following an errant pickoff and a Ryan Keegan single. Rico Soto drove in the first run of the game with a single of his own, and Luis Dominguez drove in two more runs with a double. A pair of wild pitches allowed Steven Valentine and Dominguez to score the fourth and fifth runners of the inning to give AMU their five-run lead after the first inning.

Following a Rico Soto single to lead off the second inning, Ave Maria did not put a runner on base until the ninth inning. The Bobcats retired 20 consecutive Gyrene hitters until Alex Perez led off the ninth inning with a single.

St. Thomas got back into the ballgame in the top of the fourth inning, scoring four runs. Back-to-back singles from Nelson Mompierre and Chris Garabedian started the action, with an errant throw on a double steal allowing the first run of the inning to score. With two outs in the inning, Nick Izquierdo and Juan Martinez drove in three runs on a two-run double and an RBI single, respectively.

The Bobcats tied the game in the sixth inning with a two-out rally. Sergio Lopez walked with one out, and stole second base after the second out was recorded on a flyout to left. Izquierdo drove in his third run of the game with an RBI single through the left side, evening the game at five.

An error in the top of the ninth inning allowed the Bobcats to plate the decisive runs. With two outs in the frame, Elih Marrero and Jackie Urbaez hit consecutive singles, putting runners on first and third. Against relief pitcher Justin Bureau, Mompierre hit a groundball that was thrown over the head of the Ave Maria first baseman, allowing the final two runs of the game to cross the plate.

Jake Davey took a tough-luck loss for the Gyrenes after working five innings with only one earned run allowed. Soto was the lone Gyrene to reach base twice, hitting a single and a double in his final collegiate game.

Tuesday's game, which was not a conference contest, marked the end of the 2017-18 season for the Gyrenes. St. Thomas will play a weekend series before heading to The Sun Conference Tournament as the number one seed.