AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team dropped their conference home opener on Friday afternoon, falling 12-0 to the Bobcats of St. Thomas University at Bowie's Ballpark in Ave Maria. St. Thomas, who is ranked sixth in the preseason NAIA Coaches' Poll, needed just seven innings to win in their first conference game of the season.

St. Thomas got the first run of the game on the board in the top of the third after a pair of scoreless innings. The Bobcats put runners in second and third after starting the inning with a single and a hit by pitch. With one out, Erick Delgado flew to out to center field, which allowed Joey Thompson to cross the plate for the game's opening run. AMU starter Jared Halteman forced a groundout to strand a runner at third, keeping the game 1-0.

The Bobcats added to their lead in the next inning, taking a 4-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Alejandro Rivero drove in the first run of the frame on a sacrifice fly, which scored Sergio Lopez. Jackie Urbaez added a two-out RBI single, and the Bobcats plated a third run on an Ave Maria error off the bat of Chris Garabedian.

In the sixth inning, Urbaez belted a three-run homer to increase the Bobcat lead to 7-0, hitting his first home run of the young season. Lopez also added an RBI for the visiting Bobcats, as he drove in Garabedian with a single to center field.

STU's final four runs, which enacted the ten-rule rule following the bottom of the seventh, came in the top half of the frame. Two of the runs were plated on a pair of Ave Maria errors, while the two RBIs of the inning were recorded by Brett Mantrana and Lopez.

Ave Maria recorded three hits in the conference matchup, with Andy Hernandez leading the way with a 2-for-3 effort. A single from Daniel Caylor accounted for the third hit. St. Thomas' Ian Exposito recorded a complete game shutout for the Bobcats, striking out seven hitters with one walk. St. Thomas logged nine hits in the victory, led by Urbaez going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBIs.

The Gyrenes and the Bobcats will conclude their Sun Conference series on Saturday, as the two teams play a doubleheader at Bowie's Ballpark. The doubleheader is the second and third games of a stretch where the Gyrenes will play eleven of 12 games at home. The first pitch of the opener is scheduled for 11 a.m., with the finale following half an hour after the conclusion of the first game.