ROCHESTER, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team completed a 4-0 showing at the Luther Dome Games II by defeating Knox College, 12-0 in five innings, and UW-La Crosse, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon at the RCTC Dome.

St. Olaf (7-1) scored a season-high 12 runs and scored nine times in the first inning to post the five-inning victory over Knox (0-4) to start the day. The Oles capped the weekend by getting 18 strikeouts from senior Julie Graf in the 3-1 win over UW-La Crosse (0-1), which was receiving votes in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 and advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals last season.

During the 4-0 weekend, St. Olaf outscored its opponents by a 20-1 margin, as the Oles' pitching staff posted an ERA of 0.27 by allowing one run in 26 innings in the circle.

St. Olaf 12, Knox 0 (5 inn.) | Box Score

Five Oles had multi-hit games in the opener as St. Olaf used a nine-run first inning to cruise to the run-rule victory. In the circle, sophomores Sydney Robson and Carly Dammann combined for a four-hit shutout.

Junior Hannah Matthies was 3-for-4 with one run and three RBI, while sophomore Tarah DeCroock and junior Abby Grismer each scored twice and drove in a pair of runs. DeCroock was 3-for-4 with two doubles and Grismer reached all three times by going 2-for-2 with a walk and a double.

St. Olaf sent 14 batters to the plate in the nine-run top of the first. The Oles pounded eight hits and scored nine runs before the second out of the inning, with DeCroock, Matthies and sophomore Emily Pounds each delivering two-RBI hits in the frame.

In the third, St. Olaf added two runs to its lead, scoring on a one-out RBI double by Grismer followed by a run-scoring single by Matthies. Sophomore Katie Howard drove in the first run of her career with a double to score Dammann with nobody out in the fourth to close out the scoring.

Dammann recorded the victory with three innings of two-hit relief after taking over for Robson, who struck out four over the first two innings.

St. Olaf 3, UW-La Crosse 1 | Box Score

Graf finished one strikeout shy of her career high with a season-high 18 to help St. Olaf finish off a 4-0 weekend. After yielding a first-inning run, the senior held UW-La Crosse scoreless over the final six frames and got run support in the form of single runs in the first, second and fourth.

Playing in their season opener, the Eagles scratched across a run in the top of the first, using a hit batter, a single, a double steal and a wild pitch to take an early lead. St. Olaf got the run right back in the next half inning, as DeCroock led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Graf and scored on a double by Matthies.

In the second, Graf got back-to-back strikeouts to leave a runner at third base and keep the game tied before the Oles plated the eventual game-winning run in the bottom of the inning. First year Maya Patty drew a leadoff walk, moved to third on consecutive wild pitches and scored on a ground out by junior Ally Bode.

The Eagles got a runner to second with less than two outs in both the third and fourth but could not advance them any farther. St. Olaf tacked on an insurance run in the fourth when Patty singled with one out and later scored on an error.

Graf retired 10 batters in a row until a two-out single in the seventh before ending the game with her 18th strikeout.

St. Olaf is off until embarking on a 10-game trip to THE Spring Games in Florida from March 20-26.