St. Ambrose dropped to 26-12 overall and 11-3 in the conference after losing a doubleheader to St. Francis by scores of 14-2 and 8-6 Friday afternoon at the St. Vincent Athletic Complex.

The Bees committed seven errors in the doubleheader. Three of those came over the first two innings of the second game, allowing the Saints to score four unearned runs.

Karley Kopaska helped SAU stay close with a two-run single in the bottom of the first inning. That came on the heels of a Morgan Krieger sacrifice fly. Then in the fifth, the Bees took the lead. Christina Pembrook had an RBI double to tie the game at 4-4 and Kopaska later drew a bases-loaded walk to plate the go-ahead run.

The lead didn't last. USF (21-9, 11-5 CCAC) scored four times in the top of the sixth to regain an 8-5 advantage.

SAU came back in the bottom of the inning. Jasmine Bowman had a two-out hit to ignite a rally. Pembrook followed with a single and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Madelyn Thompson came through with a run-scoring single to cut the deficit to 8-6. Krieger walked to load the bases and put the potential tying run in scoring position, but Libby Munsterman popped out to end the threat.

MaKenna Butcher had a two-out single in the seventh to bring the potential tying run to the plate but Colleen Barrett flied out to end the game.

Jane Thomas took the loss in relief of Ella Specht.

Pembrook was 3-for-3 while Bowman and Kopaska each had two hits in the nightcap.

The Bees totaled just five hits in falling in five innings in the opener. Pembrook collected two of those hits.

Two big innings were the difference as St. Francis scored five runs in the third and seven more in the fourth. Krieger had a two-run double in the bottom of the third to account for the two SAU runs.

Pembrook was tagged with the loss.

The sebacks were the start of a busy weekend for the Bees. St. Ambrose will visit Judson Saturday before playing a doubleheader at Robert Morris Sunday.