DUNDAS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team rallied from early deficits in both games to sweep the University of Northwestern by scores of 8-6 and 9-1 (5 inn.) on Saturday evening at the Dundas Dome.

St. Olaf (3-1) trailed Northwestern (0-2) by a 3-0 margin in the opener but scored the next eight runs before being forced to hold on in the top of the seventh. After giving up a run in the top of the first in game two, the Oles scored nine-straight runs to pick up the run-rule win and complete the sweep. After making the NCAA Tournament last season, the Eagles were playing their first games of 2020.

St. Olaf 8, Northwestern 6 | Box Score

Sophomore Andrea Conway was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI and first year Kaitlyn Miller threw 3.2 innings of shutout relief to earn the win in her collegiate debut in the circle. After trailing 3-1, St. Olaf took the lead with three runs in the fourth and added four more in the sixth before holding off a seventh-inning rally by the Eagles.

Northwestern led 3-0 after two and a half innings before first year Annie Landon got the Oles on the board with a two-out RBI double to the gap in left center in the bottom of the third.

St. Olaf started its three-run fourth with three-straight hits as junior Abby Grismer and sophomore Sydney Robson singled to start the inning. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Conway doubled to right to score two runs. Three batters later, junior Jordan Melz brought in Conway with a single through the left side to put the Oles up, 4-3.

Senior Julie Graf drove in a pair with a single to right after Conway and junior Ally Bode started the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back hits. The Oles added two unearned runs later in the inning to stretch their lead to 8-3.

The Eagles mounted a two-out rally in the top of the seventh, scoring a run on an RBI single by Lexi Kopacek and two more on a single by Cherramae Erickson to make it a two-run game, 8-6, before Robson got the final out.

Miller and Graf combined to throw 5.1 innings of scoreless relief for St. Olaf. Miller yielded just three hits in her 3.2 innings, while Graf retired all five batters she faced with four strikeouts.

St. Olaf 9, Northwestern 1 (5 inn.) | Box Score

Senior Hannah Matthies drove in three runs, sophomore Tarah DeCroock and Landon each scored three times, and Graf fanned 11 while allowing just two hits in a complete game in the night cap. Graf also went 2-for-3 with two RBI at the plate.

After Northwestern pushed a run across in the top of the first, St. Olaf responded with two runs of its own in the bottom of the inning, with DeCroock and Landon scoring on a passed ball and wild pitch to put the Oles up, 2-1.

St. Olaf added three runs to its lead in the third, as DeCroock started the inning with a double to right and scored on a single to center by Matthies. Conway and Graf knocked in runs with ground outs later in the frame.

Graf pitched around a leadoff triple in the top of the fourth before the Oles tacked on four runs in the home half to set up the run-rule victory. Matthies drove in DeCroock and first year Maya Patty with a one-out single, Conway followed with a RBI single to score Landon and, later in the inning, Graf delivered a two-out, run-scoring single to bring in Conway.

Ellie Ronning's leadoff triple in the fourth was the only baserunner for the Eagles after the first inning, as Graf limited Northwestern to one run on two hits with only one walk in the complete game.

With 15 strikeouts on the day, Graf moved into the top 25 in NCAA Division III history, tying Jessica Rhoads of Messiah for 24th with 887 in her career.

St. Olaf's next games are at the ACM Dome Tournament in Rochester on Mar. 7-8. The Oles begin the tournament against UW-Eau Claire (6 p.m.) and Ripon (8 p.m.) on Saturday, Mar. 7.