JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A former Jacksonville University student suspected of beating another student with a baseball bat in a campus dorm was arrested late Friday and charged with aggravated battery.

Police said Reginald Tribble, 18, attacked Jeremy Thornton with a bat on Wednesday afternoon in Oak Hall. Thornton, a freshman quarterback for the school's football team, was in good condition at a hospital on Friday.

"He was on his way back to his room from study hall. He had just got something to eat and he was about to walk into his room when the guy attacked him from behind," said the victim's friend Jared Fenton.

According to investigators, Tribble struck Thornton from behind, knocking him to the ground before continuing to beat him in the head with the bat.

Detectives said the victim and the suspect had been involved in an incident earlier in the day. Fenton told Channel 4 the incident had to do with a stolen iPod.

The bat believed to have been used in the attack was recovered, but Tribble was not arrested until Friday night. The JU campus was on high alert until he was in custody.

JU officials told Channel 4 Tribble was expelled from the university on the morning of the attack.

The university has posted a picture of Tribble on its public safety Web site, alerting students and faculty about the attack and the at-large suspect.

Tribble was being held in the Duval County jail on $50,003 bond.