ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The Siena Heights baseball team found itself in a pair of pitchers' duels on Saturday, dropping the first one, 3-2, before winning the second, 3-1, against Concordia in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play on Saturday. The first game was a nine-inning contest while the second was a seven-inning affair.

The Saints (10-7, 1-1) nearly climbed back from a three-run deficit in the opener, but failed to capitalize on late opportunities.

Trailing 3-0, SHU finally got on the board in the seventh. Brett Howard (Sylvania, Ohio/Saint Francis de Sales) led off with a double and Dan Abbott (Plymouth, Mich./Lutheran Westland) walked before both moved up one base apiece on a sacrifice bunt by Alec Duncan (La Salle, Mich./Saint Mary Catholic).

Then, Josh White (Brooklyn, Mich./Columbia Central) walked and Corey Caldwell (Ypsilanti, Mich./Lincoln Consolidated) drew a one-out, bases-loaded walk to force in the Saints' first run. Unfortunately, the Saints were unable to score again in the frame.

Siena Heights tacked on another run in the eighth. Kyle Benschoter (Hudson, Mich./Hudson) singled and was then lifted for pinch-runner Mike Lollo (Allen Park, Mich./Cabrini), who scored on a double by Cory Lehman (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic).

Down 3-2 in the ninth, the Saints found themselves with the bases loaded again with less than two outs. White singled while Marcus Stewart (Clinton, Mich./Clinton) and Todd Vandercook (Boca Raton, Fla./West Boca Raton) drew walks before two consecutive outs ended the game.

Chase Freeman was the offensive star for Concordia. He doubled twice and drove in two runs. In the first, he drove in Ryan Neu with a sacrifice fly, and in the fifth, he plated Neu with a double.

The Cardinals' other run came during the third on an RBI single by Brad Kindred.

Matthew St. Kitts was the winning pitcher, lasting 6 1/3 innings. He gave up one run on three hits while finishing with seven strikeouts and four walks. Ryan Noack pitched two scoreless frames for the save.

SHU pitcher Corey Alexander (Toledo, Ohio/Whitmer) was the tough-luck loser. He threw all eight innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits while striking out seven.

In the nightcap, Siena Heights jumped ahead with three runs during the first two innings and held the lead for good.

In the first, Benschoter and Lehman set the table with one-out singles. Howard drove in Benschoter with a double and Abbott plated Lehman with a sac fly.

In the second, Benschoter had an RBI single of his own, plating Chaz Poindexter (Ypsilanti, Mich./Milan) who reached via walk.

SHU starting pitcher Jake Sperry (Livonia, Mich./Westland John Glenn) took a shutout into the seventh inning before running into trouble. He gave up a single to Thomas Sperry and a walk to Aaron Ball before Saints' reliever Jake Kret(Wyandotte, Mich./Roosevelt) came into the game.

Kret hit the first batter he faced, Zeb Hancock, before inducing a run-scoring groundout by Neu. Kret then ended the game with two strikeouts.

Jake Sperry's line read as such: six innings pitched, one run on six hits, two strikeouts, two walks and one hit batsman.

Garrett Keeler was the losing pitcher. He lasted three innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, before William Tidwell came on to throw three shutout innings.

The Saints and Cardinals will wrap up their four-game WHAC series on Sunday with another doubleheader. First-pitch is at 1 p.m.