The Bearcats lost 12-5 to the Cardinals of Plattsburgh State University in a single game contest on Friday evening in Fort Myers, Florida.

The Cardinals from the SUNY Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) took a 7-1 lead into the sixth inning, but the Bearcats bats came alive in the bottom of the inning with four runs on three hits.

Michael McGroarty smacked an RBI single, Conor McCabe had an RBI ground out, and a clutch two-out, two run single by JP Ramirez managed to get the Bearcats as close as 7-5.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals responded with two runs in each of the next two innings, along with an insurance run in the ninth, to record the neutral site 12-5 win at the Gene Cusic Intercollegiate Classic.

Liam O'Gara batted 3-5 with two triples, while Donovan Hunt scored two runs in the tough loss. 

Jon Craft, Kentaro Mori, and Stephen Bryant had three hits apiece for Plattsburgh in their season opener.

The Bearcats will quickly resume action Saturday morning with a 9 a.m. doubleheader against CUNYAC associate baseball member Finlandia University of Michigan.