NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The No. 22-ranked St. Olaf College softball team tallied 31 hits on its way to 7-1 and 13-11 victories over cross-town rival Carleton College on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at Mabel Shirley Field.

In the opener, Hannah Matthies and Kaleigh Santmyer combined to drive in all seven runs for St. Olaf (15-3, 13-1 MIAC) and Julie Graf allowed just one unearned run in 5.1 innings in the circle. Carleton (2-10, 2-10 MIAC) scored five times in the top of the first in game two, but the Oles plated 12 runs over the first two innings and held on for a 13-11 win in the nightcap.

Prior to the games, St. Olaf celebrated its senior class of Graf, Matthies, Ally Bode, and Kaelin Sbrocco. The two wins on Saturday gave the class a record of 72-36 (.667) over the last four seasons, as the Oles continue to close in on their third consecutive berth in the MIAC Playoffs.

St. Olaf 7, Carleton 1 | Box Score

After the Knights jumped on the board first with an unearned run in the first, Graf and Abby Grismer held the visitors scoreless the rest of the way. Graf struck out 12 and allowed only one hit in 5.1 innings before Grismer got the final five outs all by strikeout.

Offensively, Matthies was 2-for-4 with four RBI and Santmyer was 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBi for St. Olaf. Tarah DeCroock, Ally Bode, and Katie Weisheit also had two hits apiece.

Carleton led 1-0 until the St. Olaf bats got going in the bottom of the fourth, scoring two runs on five hits in the frame. Grismer and Bode started the inning with a single and a double to leave two runners in scoring position for Matthies, who brought them both in with a single to give the Oles the lead.

St. Olaf also had a five-hit inning in the fifth on its way to five more runs. With the bases loaded and one out, Matthies provided a two-run single to left to make it a 4-1 game. Santmyer followed with her first of two home runs on the day, a three-run shot to left to stretch the Oles' lead to 7-1.

The final nine outs of the game for Graf and Grismer all came by strikeout, as Grismer got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the seventh with a pair of called third strikes.

St. Olaf 13, Carleton 11 | Box Score

Game two featured a combined 24 runs and 27 hits in the highest-scoring matchup between the cross-town rivals since St. Olaf defeated Carleton, 16-8, on May 4, 1982. St. Olaf's 13 runs were the most by either program in a head-to-head matchup since a 15-6 victory on April 29, 1997.

Five Oles had multiple hits in the victory, led by sophomore Annie Landon, who was 4-for-4 with a three-run triple. Grismer and Santmyer had three hits apiece, Bode drove in three runs, and DeCroock reached base four times and scored three runs.

After Carleton plated five runs in the top of the first, St. Olaf responded with eight runs of its own to take a lead it would not relinquish. Six of the first seven hitters reached for the Oles, who got a two-run triple from Bode, a three-run triple from Landon, and a two-run double from Grismer in the inning.

St. Olaf added four more runs in the second inning, starting with Santmyer's second home run of the day, a one-out solo shot to left center. Later in the inning, Maya Patty provided a two-run double and DeCroock delivered a run-scoring single, as all four runs scored with one out.

The Knights made it a one-run game by capitalizing on three Ole errors in the fourth to score six runs on just three hits. The score remained 12-11 until Bode drove in the final run of the game with a two-out RBI single in the sixth.

After entering the game with one out in the fifth, Graf retired all eight batters she faced – seven via strikeout – to pick up her second win of the day and the 70th of her standout career.

St. Olaf's doubleheader against Gustavus scheduled for Sunday, April 25, was pushed back to Monday, April 26 due to the forecast for rain on Sunday. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m. at Mabel Shirley Field on Monday afternoon.