NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team extended its winning streak to six games to open Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play with a pair of run-rule victories over Augsburg University on Sunday afternoon at Mabel Shirley Field.
St. Olaf (8-2, 6-0 MIAC) claimed the opener 10-2 in six innings, as
Tarah DeCroock hit a pair of home runs and
Julie Graf held Augsburg (3-15, 0-6 MIAC) without a hit into the sixth inning.
Hannah Matthies tied the single-game program record with six RBI in game two to help the Oles to a 15-3 win in five innings.
The two wins saw St. Olaf improve to 6-0 in MIAC play for the first time since 1995 and the team's 8-2 start is its best since 1979. The Oles had 15 hits in each game and totaled 13 extra-base hits in the doubleheader.
St. Olaf 10, Augsburg 2 (6 inn.) | Box Score
DeCroock put together the first two-homer game of her college career, hitting a solo shot in the third and a two-run home run in the fourth in game one. The junior entered the day with one home run in her collegiate career.
Ally Bode was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two runs for St. Olaf, while Matthies was 2-for-3 with two doubles, a run and three RBI. Ten Oles had at least one hit in the win.
In the circle, Graf recorded her fourth game with at least 15 strikeouts this season to become the 21st pitcher in NCAA Division III history to reach 1,000 strikeouts for her career. The senior did not allow a hit over the first five innings before her no-hit bid was broken up by a leadoff bunt single in the sixth.
After scoring an unearned run in the second, DeCroock kick-started a four-run third with a leadoff home run in the third. Matthies,
Abby Grismer, and
Anne Fossum also had run-scoring hits in the frame for the Oles.
St. Olaf added two more runs in the fourth when DeCroock went deep for the second time in as many innings after
Annie Landon singled and stole second to start the inning. The score remained 7-0 until Augsburg pushed two runs across in the sixth after breaking up Graf's no-hit bid.
The Oles responded with three runs in the home half of the inning to end the game after six innings. All four St. Olaf batters reached in the inning, including an RBI single by
Kaleigh Santmyer and a game-ending two-run double to left center by Matthies.
St. Olaf 15, Augsburg 3 (5 inn.) | Box Score
Matthies made it a nine-RBI afternoon by adding six more in game two to her three from game one by going 3-for-4 at the plate. The senior's six RBI tied the single-game school record set by Alex Lebens against Saint Benedict on April 26, 2014.
Jenna Peschel and
Hannah Peschel combined to go 4-for-6 with three runs and three RBI out of the No. 8 and No. 9 spots in the order for St. Olaf, while Grismer hit the first home run of her career. In her first collegiate appearance in the circle,
Jenna Peschel held Augsburg to three runs (two earned) and struck out four in a complete-game win.
The Oles broke an early 1-1 tie by exploding for nine runs on eight hits in the bottom of the second, as the Peschels started the inning with back-to-back doubles to give St. Olaf the lead. Matthies had a bases-clearing, three-run double in the frame and Grismer blasted a two-run shot to center two batters later.
In the fourth, St. Olaf pushed across five more runs, capitalizing on two Augsburg errors in the inning. Fossum and
Kaitlyn Miller had RBI singles in the inning before Matthies capped the frame with a two-run single.
Jenna Peschel allowed just five hits and one walk in the five-inning complete game.
The Oles visit Winona for a doubleheader at Saint Mary's on Thursday, April 15 at 3:30 p.m.
