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TUCSON, Ariz. — It was putting the bat on the ball that proved to be the problem for the Saint Mary's University baseball team in its nonconference game against Concordia-Chicago Monday afternoon.

It was converting those hits into runs.

The Cardinals banged out nine hits against the Cougars, but managed just one run — a seventh-inning solo home run off the bat of Zach Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) — as Concordia-Chicago handed SMU a 6-1 setback.

“It was a lot of little things that did us in today,” said SMU coach Nick Winecke, whose team opened the day with a 12-2 loss to Wartburg. “We did some things well, but all-in-all, we've still got a lot of work to do.”

Big innings continued to haunt the Cardinals — who surrendered all 12 of their runs vs. Wartburg earlier Monday in three innings — as SMU gave up three runs in the fifth and two more in the eighth in falling to Concordia-Chicago.

The Cougars scored once in the first off Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.) — who was making his first collegiate start. The Cougars would add three more in the fifth, before SMU got on the board with Wolfe's seventh-inning home run.

That, however, would be the extent of the Cardinals' offensive punch, while Concordia-Chicago added two more runs in the eighth to seal the win.

Wolfe, Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) and Kyle Servais (Westby, Wis.) each collected two hits to account for six of team team's nine hits against five CUC pitchers.

Scatassa took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits with three walks in 4.1 innings. A.J. Redders (Middleton, Wis.) pitched a scoreless 2.2 innings, allowing one hit, while Sam Nord (Mendota Heights, Minn.) allowed two earned runs on three hits in one inning of work, and Tyler Krysiak (Bloomington, Minn.) worked a scoreless ninth.

The Cardinals (0-2 overall) are back in action on Tuesday, squaring off against Presentation in an 11 a.m. nonconference doubleheader.