St. Ambrose did everything right for three innings, then watched it all fall apart over the final six frames.

The Bees built a 12-0 lead but were outscored 18-2 over the final six innings to fall 18-15 at Clarke Tuesday night.

SAU collected 13 hits over the first three innings.

Quinn Flanagan, Bryce Vorwald, Matthew McBrien and Mason Heitzler each had an RBI as part of a four-run first inning. Then in the third, Aaron Vertuno and Filip Milatovic each had a two-run single. Flanagan was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. And Vorwald launched a three-run home run to cap an eight-run inning to give St. Ambrose a 12-0 lead.

The Bees would get just three more runs, and three more hits, the rest of the way.

Clarke (21-20) got on the board with a single run in the fourth then added two more in the fifth. After the Pride scored five times in the sixth to get within 12-8, Vorwald and Mason Nauman had run-scoring hits to rebuild a 14-8 lead.

But then Clarke took the lead in the seventh with seven runs. The Pride tacked on three more in the eighth for an 18-14 lead.

SAU came back to life in the ninth. Flanagan walked to start things before Luke Brabham reached on an error and Sam Wampler walked to load the bases. Vorwald's groundout scored Flanagan, but that would be it as the final two Bees grounded out to end the game.

Vorwald finished 4-for-6 with six RBIs and four runs scored. Milatovic, Heitzler and McBrien each had two hits. Jake Pauley and Michael Rago also had hits.

Brandon Cusack was the first of eight Bee pitchers. He allowed just one walk over two scoreless innings. He was followed by Nathaniel Johnson, Noah Chase, David Biedron, Matt Donovan, Ian McGhiey, Aidan Stratton and Davino Douvalakis.

St. Ambrose (25-19) will close CCAC play Friday and Saturday with a four-game series with Calumet.