St. Ambrose dropped its conference-opening doubleheader to Saint Xavier Saturday by scores of 11-1 and 13-7.

Playing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the Bees couldn't keep any momentum, allowing the Cougars to score each half inning after putting up runs themselves.

SAU (3-9, 0-2 CCAC) had plenty of opportunities in the opener, banging out 10 hits in the seven-inning affair. Daniel Laughery singled to score Quinn Flanagan to tie the game at 1-1 in the fourth.

But in a game where St. Ambrose stranded at least one runner on base each inning, the lack of a big hit ultimately proved costly. Saint Xavier (9-9, 2-0 CCAC) broke the tie with a three-run fifth inning and followed that up with four runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh.

Flanagan, Jake Pauley and Jeremy Conforti each had two hits. Laughery, Joey Fitzgerald Jr., Brandon Matias and Caden Thode had one apiece.

Joe Turek took the loss after striking out five over five innings. Justin Lane and Ian McGhiey each tossed a single inning in relief.

St. Ambrose started the second game with a big hit as Brandon Roth singled with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the first, and as the left fielder misplayed the ball, all three runners came in to score.

SXU came back with two runs in the top of the second and tied the game at 3-3 in the third. In the bottom of the frame, SAU went back in front as Matias singled in Conforti.

But the game got out of hand in the top of the fourth. Three Bee pitches combined to allow four hits and issued three walks and a hit batsman as the Cougars put up a six spot to grab a 9-4 advantage.

Fitzgerald got one of those runs back in the sixth, scoring on a wild pitch.

Saint Xavier tacked on two runs in the seventh and two more in the ninth. Kevin Niedzwiedz and Bryce Norwald had run-scoring singles in the bottom of the ninth to end the scoring.

Matias and Roth each had three-hit games while Flanagan and Vorwald collected two hits each. Fitzgerald, Conforti and Niedzwiedz also had hits.

Garrett Vincent was tagged with the loss. David Biedron, Jacob Bosse and Danny Molony pitched out of the bullpen. Bosse struck out eight over 4 2/3 innings.

The two teams will complete their four-game set with a doubleheader in Chicago Sunday.