ROCHESTER, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team shut out UW-Eau Claire and Ripon College by scores of 2-0 and 6-0 to begin its weekend at the Luther Dome Games inside the RCTC Dome on Saturday night.

Senior Julie Graf struck out 15 batters in a three-hit shutout to pitch St. Olaf (5-1) to a 2-0 win over UW-Eau Claire (1-3) to start the evening. Later in the night, first year Kaitlyn Miller threw 5.1 shutout innings to pick up her second win in as many starts in the win over Ripon (0-2).

St. Olaf 2, UW-Eau Claire 0 | Box Score

Graf struck out 15 batters while allowing just three hits and two walks to run her record to 3-0 on the season. The Blugolds had at least one runner in scoring position in every inning except the third but left nine runners on base, including eight in scoring position.

The 15-strikeout performance marked the 13th time in Graf's career that she has struck out at least 15 batters and the 42nd time she has posted at least 10 strikeouts.

Graf struck out the side in each of the first two innings, leaving two runners in scoring position in the first and pitching out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second. The first eight outs of the game were all strikeouts for the senior.

St. Olaf broke through in the top of the third, scoring on a two-out RBI single by junior Hannah Matthies that scored classmate Jordan Melz. Matthies and Melz each had a pair of hits in the win.

UW-Eau Claire put a runner in scoring position in each of its final four innings at the plate but Graf got out of each inning with the shutout intact. The Oles added an insurance run in the top of the sixth, with junior Ally Bode driving in a run with a ground out after St. Olaf filled the bases with one out.

The victory was St. Olaf's second in 12 all-time meetings in the series with UW-Eau Claire.

St. Olaf 6, Ripon 0 | Box Score

Miller struck out five in 5.1 innings of shutout ball while yielding three hits and one walk, as she combined with sophomore Sydney Robson for a four-hit shutout. In her first two collegiate starts, Miller has held opponents to six hits and two walks in nine shutout innings.

Miller was also 3-for-3 with a run scored at the plate, while Matthies and junior Abby Grismer went 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI for St. Olaf offensively.

The Oles jumped on the board early with two runs in the bottom of the first, capitalizing on a pair of Ripon errors to score twice on just one hit. The lead remained at 2-0 until
St. Olaf added a third run in the third when Matthies singled to start the inning and came around to score on a passed ball.

In the fourth, the Oles tacked on two more runs, as Grismer doubled in Miller with two outs and Matthies followed with a run-scoring single. St. Olaf capped the scoring in the sixth when sophomore Hannah Mitchell came home on a double steal with two outs and runners on the corners.

Robson relieved Miller with runners on first and second and one out in the fifth and got the final five outs while allowing one hit and one walk. Four of the five outs Robson recorded were by strikeout.

St. Olaf plays twice more at the tournament on Sunday, March 8. The Oles take on Knox at noon and UW-La Crosse at 4 p.m. in Rochester.