CLERMONT, Fla. – Facing a pair of nationally-ranked Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opponents, the St. Olaf College softball team fell 6-5 to No. 20 UW-Oshkosh and 6-0 to No. 21 UW-Eau Claire on Tuesday afternoon at THE Spring Games.
In the opener, UW-Oshkosh (5-4) scored twice in the sixth and two more in the seventh to walk off with a 6-5 victory after St. Olaf (10-6) led 5-2. In the Oles' final game in Clermont, Sarah Peka threw a two-hit shutout for UW-Eau Claire (8-2), as St. Olaf wrapped up a 5-3 trip to the Sunshine State.
No. 20 UW-Oshkosh 6, St. Olaf 5 | Box Score
Senior
Emily Carr was 3-for-4 with a run and two RBI to help the Oles build a 5-2 lead after five and a half innings, but the Titans rallied late with four runs over their final two at bats to snatch the victory.
Sophomore
Jordan Melz and senior
Kate Arneson had two hits apiece and sophomore
Hannah Matthies added two RBI for the Oles. Arneson scored one run and drove in another in her return to the lineup.
After a scoreless first two innings, St. Olaf jumped in front in the top of the third, scoring three runs on back-to-back two-out doubles by Carr and Matthies. After the Oles had a runner thrown out at the plate earlier in the inning, Carr doubled in
Andrea Conway and Matthies followed with a two-run double down the right-field line to cap the three-run frame.
UW-Oshkosh used a pair of RBI doubles in the bottom of the fourth to get within a run, 3-2, before St. Olaf got one back in the top of the fifth in a two-out run-scoring single by Carr. Arneson started the inning by getting hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and a ground ball before scoring on Carr's infield single.
Arneson delivered a two-out RBI single in the top of the sixth to stretch the Oles' lead to 5-2. The Titans plated a pair of two-out runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth and scratched across two more in the seventh to grab the one-run victory. First year Grace Stevens provided a walk-off RBI single to left with one out after an error and obstruction call resulted in the tying run.
Reigning Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Pitcher of the Week
Julie Graf allowed two runs on four hits in five innings with five walks and seven strikeouts. The Titans scored four unearned runs off first year
Sydney Robson, who took the loss.
No. 21 UW-Eau Claire 6, St. Olaf 0 | Box Score
Peka limited the Oles to two hits with one walk and five strikeouts to pitch the Blugolds to the shutout victory later in the day. UW-Eau Claire staked Peka to an early 4-0 lead with a run in the first and three in the second.
First year
Hannah Mitchell recorded her first-career hit for St. Olaf, with senior
Alison Curry providing the other hit. Graf suffered the loss after giving up a first-inning run. Robson threw five innings, giving up five runs (three earned), before first year
Carly Dammann threw a scoreless seventh.
The Blugolds took advantage of a pair of hit batters in the top of the first to score a run off Graf on a two-out RBI double by Katelyn Yute. The Oles put their first two batters on base in the bottom of the inning, but Peka escaped by getting the next three hitters.
UW-Eau Claire added three runs in the second, scoring on a RBI triple by Katie Rongstad and two more on a two-out error. Curry led off the bottom of the second with a single to left, but that was the final base runner for St. Olaf until Mitchell's pinch-hit single to start the home half of the seventh.
Bri Calder added a two-out, two-run double for the Blugolds in the top of the sixth to provide the final two runs of the game.
St. Olaf opens MIAC play on Saturday, Mar. 30 with a doubleheader at St. Catherine University. First picth is scheduled for 1 p.m. in St. Paul. The Wildcats were picked third in the MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, while the Oles were fourth.
