AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team got a historic performance from Ethan Bergkamp on Friday afternoon, but surrendered seven runs in the final four innings to fall 7-6 to the University of Fort Lauderdale in the season opener for both teams. Bergkamp was the first player in school history to hit three home runs in one game, and tied a school record with six runs batted in, but the Gyrenes fell one run short on Opening Day.

Bergkamp's first home run was his biggest. With two outs in the bottom of the first, the Gyrenes had loaded the bases on singles from Kolby Blanchard and Jose Gonzalez, as well as a hit by pitch drawn by Dylan Moser. Bergkamp then laced a pitch from UFTL starter Jack Keeler over the centerfield fence, giving Ave Maria a 4-0 lead in the first.

That 4-0 lead would last until the sixth inning, mostly due to the efforts of AMU starter Kolby Pemberton. Pemberton tossed five shutout innings for the Gyrenes, allowing just two hits while striking out five. A key defensive play helped keep Pemberton's line flawless, as Kolby Blanchard threw out a runner trying to score to end the fifth inning. 

After Pemberton was lifted, Fort Lauderdale got on the board in the sixth, thanks to an RBI double from Malichi Woodside and an ensuing wild pitch. One of the two runs was unearned due to a passed ball on a strikeout that kept the inning alive.

Leading 4-2, Bergkamp would strike for his second of the day in the bottom of that inning. Leading off the sixth, Bergkamp took Keeler deep for the second time, giving him the 13th multi home run game in Ave Maria baseball history. The solo shot from the Wichita, Kansas native extended Ave Maria's lead to 5-2 through six.

Fort Lauderdale would get that run back in the top of the eighth, cutting the AMU lead back to two. A hit by pitch, a single, and a walk would load the bases with one out for the Eagles. After a strikeout, Yabdiel Hernandez singled to bring in the third Fort Lauderdale run. Matt Barragy would enduce a strikeout to end the inning, leaving three runners on base.

In his fourth at-bat of the day, Bergkamp went deep again in the bottom of the eighth. He was once again the leadoff hitter of the inning, and welcomed reliever Caleb Rodriguez to the game with a blast to left field. Bergkamp's shot, which tied the school record for runs batted in in a single game as well as shattered the single game home run record, extended AMU's lead to 6-3.

The top of the ninth inning saw Fort Lauderdale rally to knock off the Gyrenes. A walk, a hit by pitch, and a single loaded the bases, and the first run crossed the plate on another hit by pitch. Another walk pulled the Eagles within one, and Chase Davis gave Fort Lauderdale the lead for good with a two-run single up the middle.

The series between Ave Maria and Fort Lauderdale is slated to continue Saturday, with a doubleheader between the schools on the books. First pitch from Bowie's Ballpark is scheduled for 11:00 a.m., as the Gyrenes look to rally for a series victory.