ST. PAUL, Minn. – The fourth-seeded St. Olaf College softball team defeated second-seeded St. Catherine, 4-1, before falling to third-seeded Hamline University, 5-0, in its second elimination game of the day on Saturday at the 2019 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Softball Playoffs at South Field.
In the opener, St. Olaf (27-14) scored twice in each of the first two innings and junior
Julie Graf did not allow a run after the first, as the Oles topped St. Catherine (26-14). St. Olaf then faced the quick turnaround and Kira Krueger threw a six-hit shutout to pitch Hamline (25-16) into tomorrow's championship series.
The Tommies and Pipers will play for the title on Sunday, May 5 at 11 a.m. A St. Thomas victory would give the Tommies the playoff title, while a Hamline win would set up a second game immediately following the first to determine the conference's automatic bid into the 2019 NCAA Division III Softball Championship.
The field for the 2019 NCAA Division III Softball Championship will be announced on Monday, May 6 at 1 p.m. ET via a selection show on NCAA.com. St. Olaf's 27 wins are its most since 1997.
St. Olaf 4, St. Catherine 1 | Box Score
St. Olaf scored twice in the first and twice in the second to help Graf to an early lead and the junior limited the Wildcats to one unearned run on four hits to earn her 18th victory of the season. Graf struck out 14 with just one walk.
Ally Bode,
Tarah DeCroock,
Emily Carr and
Hannah Matthies combined for eight of St. Olaf's 10 hits in the top-four slots in the batting order. Carr was 3-for-4 with an RBI, DeCroock was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI, Matthies had two hits and Bode had a hit and scored twice.
Bode, DeCroock, Carr and Matthies started the game with four-straight singles, leading to the first run of the game. After an infield single by Bode, DeCroock dropped down a bunt single and Carr followed with a single to left center to score Bode. After an infield single by Matthies and a strikeout,
Jordan Melz drew a bases-loaded walk to chase starter Kathryn Proper.
The Wildcats got one of the runs back in the bottom of the first, as Anna Hinderaker led off with a single to center and scored on a three-base throwing error on a fielder's choice. With the tying run at third and nobody out, Graf kept the lead intact by getting a ground out to third and a pair of strikeouts.
Arneson led off the second with a single, moved to second on a fielder's choice and scored on DeCroock's second single of the first two innings. With runners on first and second and one out, Carr hit into a fielder's choice, but Bode came around to score on a throwing error to score what proved to be the final run of the game.
St. Catherine put a runner on base in each of the second, third and fourth innings before a 1-2-3 fifth for Graf. The Wildcats generated a threat in the sixth, putting runners on second and third with nobody out, but Graf recorded strikeouts for five of the final six outs to close out the 4-1 win.
Hamline 5, St. Olaf 0 | Box Score
Krueger scattered six hits and struck out six with no walks to send Hamline to the championship series against St. Thomas. She also was 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI offensively.
The Pipers scored a run in the second, one in the third and three in the fourth to back Krueger and took advantage of three Ole errors in the game. Theresa Klinnert was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.
Hamline scratched across the only run Krueger would need in the second. With one out, Delaney Kohler reached second on an error, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error on the throw to third on the wild pitch.
After a Graf strikeout to start the bottom of the third, three-straight singles filled the bases before a walk brought in the second run of the game. Graf retired the final two hitters to keep her team within two.
Hamline added three runs in the fourth, scoring on a RBI single by Klinnert and a two-run single to left by Krueger, who retired seven-straight batters before Melz and Grismer had back-to-back singles to start the seventh.
