Erica Ralfs did all she could against No. 23 Saint Xavier Wednesday afternoon. The junior allowed just one hit over seven scoreless innings before the CCAC-leading Cougars broke through for a 2-1 eight-inning win in the nightcap of a conference doubleheader at the St. Vincent Athletic Complex. SXU won the opener 12-0 in five innings.

After retiring the first 12 hitters she faced through four perfect innings, Ralfs allowed a lead-off walk to open the fifth. She later surrendered a one-out hit in the frame but escaped unscathed. Ralfs recovered to retire the side in order in both the sixth and seventh innings.

The St. Ambrose offense wasn't having much success of its own. The Bees didn't get their first base runner until Kayla Stenger drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the fifth. In the sixth, Olivia McClintock advanced to second on an error but the game remained scoreless into extra innings.

Then in the eighth inning, both offenses came to life. After combining for just one hit through seven innings, the two teams collected three hits apiece in the eight. The Cougars loaded the bases with two outs, and a wild pitch got away from Stenger, allowing two runs to score.

The Bees nearly came back in the bottom of the eighth. Aleah Wight started things with SAU's first hit of the game, a single up the middle. After taking second on a Maria Provenzano ground out, Wight scored on an SXU error following a Brittany Rabe single. Cassie Sprout beat out an infield hit and Sprout and Kaitlyn Sandora, pinch running for Rabe, advanced to second and third, respectively, on a passed ball. But with the potential tying and winning runs in scoring position with one out, McClintock's ground out to first wasn't enough to advance the runners, and Shai Erdrich ended the game by fouling out to third.

Ralfs struck out five in her 7 2/3 innings of work. Provenzano got the final out in the eighth.

The Bees didn't give themselves much of a chance in the opener. The Cougars pounded out 21 hits and were aided by five Bee errors in the 12-0 win. Saint Xavier scored three times in the top of the first before breaking things open with a six-run second inning.

Erdrich, Alyssa Schumacher, Stenger and Wight had the four St. Ambrose hits. Alyia Oliver took the loss.

SAU, now 26-13 overall and 10-10 in the CCAC, will close the regular season at home on Sunday against Indiana South Bend. The Senior Day doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m.