WINONA, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team began Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play with a road sweep of Saint Mary's University (Minn.), defeating the Cardinals by scores of 3-2 and 9-1 on Sunday afternoon at Saint Mary's Field.

Junior Julie Graf had a no-hitter through six innings in the opener, but St. Olaf (12-6, 2-0 MIAC) had to hold off Saint Mary's (5-13, 1-3 MIAC) in the bottom of the seventh to win the opener, 3-2. Six Oles had multi-hit games in the second game, as St. Olaf tallied 13 hits to complete the sweep.

St. Olaf 3, Saint Mary's (Minn.) 2 | Box Score

St. Olaf entered the bottom of the seventh inning with a 3-0 lead before Saint Mary's scored twice and threatened to tie the game. With two runs already in and runners on the corners with two outs, Graf tallied her 14th strikeout of the game to end and give the Oles the win in the MIAC opener for both teams.

Graf and sophomore Rachel Niederkorn combined to throw a one-hitter for St. Olaf. Graf held the Cardinals hitless over the first six innings and re-entered the game to get the final out, finishing the game by allowing one hit with seven walks and 14 strikeouts in her eighth victory of the season.

Saint Mary's threatened to get to Graf in the bottom of the first inning, loading the bases with nobody out on two walks, two wild pitches, a passed ball and a hit batter, but the junior struck out the next three batters to escape the jam.

The Oles broke through in the top of the third on an RBI ground out by first year Kaleigh Santmyer. Sophomore Ally Bode led off the inning with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and eventually scored on Santmyer's one-out grounder to short.

St. Olaf added a second run in its next at bat courtesy of a run-scoring single by sophomore Jordan Melz, after a pair of walks put runners on first and second with one out. The Oles threatened for more but left the bases loaded before adding an unearned run in the top of the seventh to take a 3-0 lead into the final half inning.

After a pitching change, the Cardinals put runners on second and third with one out on a hit batter, a strikeout, a walk and a wild pitch. A throwing error brought in one run, but first year Tarah DeCroock threw out a second runner trying to score on the play for the second out. After a walk, the Oles brought Graf back into the circle, but she was greeted by an RBI single by Amber Chow, Saint Mary's first hit of the game, to make it 3-2.

With the tying run 60 feet away, Graf got the final out via her 14th strikeout of the game. Fifteen of the 21 outs St. Olaf pitchers got in the game were strikeouts, including 14-of-19 by Graf.

St. Olaf 9, Saint Mary's (Minn.) 1 (6 inn.) | Box Score

Six Oles had two hits apiece, including senior Emily Carr and Bode, who both homered, and first years Syndey Robson and Carly Dammann held the Cardinals to five hits to complete the sweep.

Robson struck out a career-high five and allowed just one unearned run in five innings to pick up her second victory of the season. Dammann threw a perfect sixth in the third appearance of her young career.

DeCroock, Carr, Robson, Bode, sophomore Abby Grismer and senior Alison Curry had two hits apiece to lead a 13-hit attack for St. Olaf. Bode hit the first home run of her career and drove in a career-high three runs, while Carr's long ball was her second of the season.

A two-out RBI single by Grismer put the Oles on top in the top of the first, but Chow answered with a RBI single in the bottom of the first for the Cardinals. The score remained 1-1 until St. Olaf scored six runs on six hits in the top of the fourth to blow the game open.

After the first batter was retired, St. Olaf strung together four-straight hits, capped by a two-run double off the fence by Bode. Carr added a two-run home run later in the frame to complete the six-run outburst.

Bode started a double play by snagging a line drive to end the bottom of the fifth before homering to lead off the sixth. The Oles capitalized on back-to-back errors by Saint Mary's in the sixth to build a nine-run cushion to eventually end the game an inning early.

St. Olaf hosts Gustavus Adolphus College for its home opener on Wednesday, Apr. 3 with first pitch at 3:30 p.m. at Mabel Shirley Field.