AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University baseball team made one too many mistakes on Tuesday afternoon, committing six errors in a 12-11 loss to the Conquistadors of Florida National University at Bowie's Ballpark. Ave Maria erased a five-run deficit after three and a half innings, but runs in the final two frames by the visitors would prove to be the difference.

The teams traded runs in the first two innings, as both clubs scored once in the first and once in the second. Ave Maria's first run of the day came in loud fashion, as Jose Gonzalez clubbed his sixth home run of the season. The run in the second inning came in a more unconventional fashion. After a one-out triple by Eli Garcia and a hit by pitch drawn by Michael Signorelli, Garcia would score on a balk, tying the score at two. 

After Florida National took the lead back with two runs in the top of the third, the Gyrenes took their first lead of the game with one swing of the bat in the bottom half. Gonzalez was hit by a pitch with one out, and Dylan Moser singled. After a double steal put runners on second and third, David Leonardi launched his seventh home run of 2022, a three-run shot that put Ave Maria up 5-4. 

Ave Maria had to play from behind from the fourth inning on, as the Conquistadors put six runs up in the fourth to reclaim the lead, 10-5. That rally came mostly in the bottom of the fifth, as AMU got back within one run. Garcia drove in the first run of the inning with a single, then he and Francesco Barbieri scored on a two-run single from Eric Havner. The next batter, Daniel Caylor, struck out, but an FNU error allowed Havner to score to cut the Conquistador lead to one.

AMU's five-run rally concluded in the bottom of the seventh with a clutch base hit. Back-to-back walks to Leonardi and Garcia put two runners aboard for Ethan Bergkamp, who had entered earlier in the game as a reserve. The senior put a single into center field, scoring Leonardi to even the score at ten. 

Three Ave Maria errors allowed Florida National to take the lead in the eighth, and an RBI single added to the lead in the top of the ninth. Leonardi extended his team lead with his eighth home run in the ninth, a solo shot, but the Gyrenes would not be able to get the tying run on base in the final frame.

Leonardi and Garcia led Ave Maria at the plate, both recording three hits. With his two home runs, Leonardi drove in four runs and scored four, while Garcia had two RBIs and another run scored. On the mound, Ave Maria's relief pitching combined to allow just one earned run over 5.2 innings, led by four strong frames from Kelton Little, who struck out six and allowed just one earned run.

A crucial Sun Conference series awaits the Gyrenes this weekend, as Ave Maria faces Thomas University on the road. The Gyrenes will likely need to win the series over the Night Hawks, who are winless in league play, to remain in the hunt for a spot in the conference tournament.