AVE MARIA, Fla. – Florida Memorial University just didn't have the same mojo Saturday that it did the day before as the Lions dropped both games of the day's doubleheader and ultimately the weekend series to host Ave Maria University.
FMU, which one Friday's single game 5-3 over the Gyrenes, dropped Saturday's first game in heartbreaking fashion. Knotted at 2 in the bottom of the ninth, Florida Memorial gave up the game-winning run on a bases-loaded walk – literally giving Ave Maria the 3-2 victory.
Hits were hard to come by in the first game. Florida Memorial totaled five, two of which coming from
Luis Angel Rivera. Rivera went 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored.
Jouseph Renovales and
Manuel Mollinedo were both 1-for-4, and
Rohandry Javier was 1-for-2 on the day.
Christian Rivera got the start in Saturday's first game and went six innings before FMU head coach turned to
Krystian Negron. Negron, however, was credited with the loss.
The second game of the day wasn't as close. Florida Memorial (4-8, 3-3 Sun Conference), which will return home and have a few days of rest before hosting Keiser University for a three-game weekend series, jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first and held it until the fifth inning.
Ave Maria (7-10) plated a run to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth, then produced three runs in the bottom of the sixth, and tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the seventh – taking an 8-1 lead over the Lions.
It looked like Florida Memorial was going to put on its rally cap in the eighth, when
Darrin Brown got his bat on a hanging pitch and sent it over the Bowie Ballpark fence for a 2-run home run. Brown's homer, his first of the season, would be all that FMU could muster, though. The Lions' final batter of the eighth grounded out and Ave Maria forced FMU into a line out and two fly outs in the top of the ninth to cement the final 8-3 margin.
Hits were at an even bigger premium in the second game Saturday.
Javier led FMU, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Brown's home run – which came in his first and only at bat on the day – gave him a pair of RBI, while Rivera went 1-for-4 in the second game.
Brandon Carter was credited with the loss in relief for the Lions.
