ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team clinched its second-straight berth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs with a 2-1 victory in game one, before the College of Saint Benedict won game two, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon at CSB Softball Complex.

St. Olaf (26-12, 16-6 MIAC) entered the day needing a split to wrap up a postseason spot and took care of business in the opener. Julie Graf and Ally Hjort kept both offenses scoreless until the Oles scored twice in the sixth. Saint Benedict (26-12, 14-8 MIAC) got one run back in the seventh and had the tying run at second with two outs, but Graf got her 15th strikeout of the game to seal the victory.

Grace Gilmore limited the Oles to one hit through the first six innings in the nightcap to help the Bennies gain a split and remain alive for a playoff spot. Saint Benedict needs Hamline (19-14, 12-6 MIAC) to lose at least three of its final four games of the season. The Pipers host Concordia (Minn.) on Sunday, Apr. 28 and Bethel on Monday, Apr. 29.

St. Olaf will be either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in next weekend's MIAC Playoffs. If Hamline wins its remaining four games, they will force a three-way tie with St. Catherine and St. Olaf. In that scenario, the Oles would be the No. 4 seed and open against No. 1 seed St. Thomas since both Hamline and St. Catherine defeated the Tommies during the regular season.

If Hamline loses at least one of its final four games, St. Olaf will be the No. 3 seed and will face St. Catherine in the opening round of the four-team, double-elimination tournament. The Wildcats will be seeded ahead of the Oles by virtue of their two head-to-head wins earlier in the season.

St. Olaf 2, Saint Benedict 1 | Box Score

With 15 strikeouts in the opener, Graf broke her own MIAC record for the most strikeouts in conference play in a single season. The junior now has 169 strikeouts against MIAC opposition this season and 303 overall for the year, as she won her eighth-straight decision to improve to 17-9.

The win clinched St. Olaf's fourth berth in the MIAC Playoffs (2010, 2013, 2018, 2019) and was the team's 26th win of the season, matching the 2017 team for the highest win total for the program since 1997. It was also the Oles' ninth-straight win, which was the program's longest since the 1998 team won its final nine games of the season.

Graf and Hjort each put up five-straight scoreless innings in the opener. Graf had a no-hitter until Madison Mikolich's two-out single in the bottom of the fifth, but Graf escaped a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the inning to keep the game scoreless.

The Oles broke through in the top of the sixth with a pair of runs. A walk, an error and a single by Andrea Conway filled the bases for Hannah Matthies, who hit a line-drive sacrifice fly to center to score Tarah DeCroock, who slid to avoid the tag at home plate. The second run of the inning scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Abby Grismer with the bases loaded.

Graf pitched around a leadoff double in the sixth before walking the leadoff batter in the bottom of the seventh. She bounced back with a pair of strikeouts before Alex Smith got CSB on the board with an RBI double. With the tying run at second, Graf finished off the complete game with her 15th strikeout.

Hjort suffered just her third loss of the season (15-3) after allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits in the complete game, walking three and striking out six. CSB's three hits were a season-low total for the Bennies.

Saint Benedict 3, St. Olaf 1 | Box Score

Gilmore pitched Saint Benedict to a split in game two, going the distance while allowing one run on five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. DeCroock's one-out single in the third was the lone Ole hit until a seventh-inning rally that fell short.

CSB started the scoring in the bottom of the fourth, scoring on a one-out RBI triple by Mikolich, which was followed by a run-scoring single by Emilie Antony. Sydney Robson had matched Gilmore through the first three innings before being chased in the fourth.

The Bennies added a run in the fifth off Carly Dammann to go ahead 3-0. The first three batters of the inning all reached for CSB, with Alex Smith singling in a run before a double play and a strikeout got the Oles out of the inning.

Grismer and Emily Carr started the top of the seventh with back-to-back singles to start a late St. Olaf rally. Dammann added a single, her first collegiate hit, to fill the bases with one out and, two batters later, Kate Arneson drove a RBI single to center to get the Oles on the board.

With the bases still loaded and the tying run in scoring position, Gilmore got DeCroock to strike out to keep CSB's playoff hopes alive.

A preview of the MIAC Playoffs will be posted at athletics.stolaf.edu once the field is set.