St. Ambrose got its 2023 season underway with a four-game weekend set against Graceland at the Ambrose Dome. The Bees settled for a split, sweeping Saturday's games 4-3 in eight innings and 7-3 before dropping a pair Sunday by scores of 2-1 and 10-3.

SAU earned a thrilling walk-off win in the opener. Nursing a 1-0 lead for most of the way after Reagan Engberg's RBI single scored Mackenzie Stiewe in the second inning, the Bees watched the Yellowjackets force extra innings by pushing across a run with two outs in the top of the seventh. Then, in the top of the eighth, Graceland jumped in front 3-1.

But St. Ambrose came right back in the bottom half of the inning. Alyssa Schumacher doubled with one out and Erica Ralfs drew a two-out walk. Allison Polly lifted a fly ball deep to left that the left fielder couldn't hang on to allowing both Schumacher and Ralfs to score to tie the game. Stiewe followed with a pop up in the infield that the shortstop dropped, allowing Polly to score the winning run.

Schumacher picked up two of the Bees' three hits in the win. Emilee Erickson earned the win in relief. She worked 3 1/3 innings, surrendering five hits and three runs while striking out five. Ralfs pitched the first 4 2/3 frames. She allowed just one hit and struck out six.

Paige Kirkman collected three hits and drove in a pair of runs in the 7-3 win Saturday. Shai Erdrich had two hits and Maria Provenzano and Stiewe each also drove in two.

Kirkman and Provenzano each had an RBI in the second inning to knot the score at 2-2. Stiewe gave the Bees the lead for good in the fourth with a two-run double. Brooke Baker and Kirkman had back-to-back RBI hits to extend the lead to 6-3 in the fifth. Provenzano's RBI groundout in the sixth completed the scoring.

Provenzano also earned the win in the circle. She allowed two runs over four innings while striking out seven. Kayla Roemer gave up a run in her 2/3 of an inning before Annebelle Krull picked up the save with 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.

The Bee bats were quieter Sunday.

St. Ambrose managed just five hits in the 2-1 loss. Two of those hits came in the opening inning as Erdrich started the frame with a bunt single and came around to score on Kayla Stenger's two-out single to center to give the Bees a quick 1-0 lead. But that proved to be it. Graceland tied the game in the third and pushed across what proved to be the game winner in the fifth.

Ralfs allowed a single run over three innings. Erickson was charged with the loss after allowing a run in her one inning. Krull tossed the final three innings.

Provenzano, Kirkman and Eryn Cornwell also had hits for the Bees.

The weekend ended with the 10-3 loss. SAU got all three of its runs in the bottom of the second after the Yellowjackets had taken a 4-0 lead in the top half of the inning.

Stiewe plated Stenger on a fielder's choice before Provenzano scored on a wild pitch. Ralfs rushed home on a Polly sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 4-3. But Graceland immediately struck back with three runs of its own in the third and tacked on three more runs over the final two innings.

Stenger and Ralfs each had two of SAU's seven total hits. Provenzano took the loss before Roemer and Cornwell combined to throw the final five innings.

St. Ambrose will host games in the Ambrose Dome next Saturday and Sunday.