Noah McCreary homered twice and drove in five and Brock Webber and Joey Fitzgerald also each went deep as St. Ambrose pounded out an 18-5 seven-inning win in the second game of a doubleheader at St. Francis (Ill.) Saturday. The Saints won the opener 10-9.

The Bees scored multiple runs in four different innings, including a nine-run fifth that was capped by a three-run shot from Fitzgerald.

SAU struck early, plating three runs in the top of the first. Webber had an RBI single, Brandon Matias a run-scoring triple and Fitzgerald an RBI double to give the Bees an early lead.

USF got a run back in the bottom of the first, but back-to-back solo shots from McCreary and Webber in the third pushed the SAU lead to 5-1.

An inning later, McCreary launched a grand slam to extend the lead 9-2. Chris McFarland and Webber had run-scoring hits in the fifth before Fitzgerald's three-run homer upped the lead to 18-2. St. Francis scored three runs over the final two innings to account for the final score.

McCreary, Webber, Matias and Fitzgerald each had three hits, combining to go 12-for-19 with 13 RBIs and 10 runs scored. Adrian Zietara, Bryce Vincent and Garrett Latoz also had hits.

Frank Quinn earned the win after allowing four runs over six innings. Carson Spelman pitched the seventh.

The offensive explosion came after St. Ambrose lost its third straight one-run game to begin CCAC play in the opener. The setback came after SAU built a 9-2 lead in the top of the fourth.

Webber had an RBI ground out in the top of the first, and Zietara had a bases-clearing triple in the third to put the Bees in front 4-2. McCreary's first of three home runs on the day, a two-run shot, gave St. Ambrose a 6-2 advantage. Vincent, Dan Laughery and Latoz followed with RBI hits to push the lead to 9-2.

But the Bees would not score again. The Saints scored two in the fourth and pulled to within 9-8 with a four-run fifth inning. USF tied the game with a one-out single in the seventh, and one out later, a double plated the walk-off winner.

Joey Turek took the loss in relief of Jacob Bosse.

Zietara finished 3-for-3 while McCreary and Matias each had two hits.

St. Ambrose (7-9, 1-3 CCAC) will step out of conference play to visit Clarke Tuesday.