WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The St. Olaf College baseball team saw its four-game winning streak come to an end with a 3-1 loss to Augustana College (Ill.) and a 12-7 setback to Middlebury College at the RussMatt Invitational on Saturday at Chain of Lakes Park.

St. Olaf (4-4) held an early 1-0 lead before Augustana (14-3) scored single runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to pick up its eighth-straight win. Middlebury (5-6) used a six-run second inning to jump out to an 8-0 lead and held on the rest of the way in the Oles' second game of the day.

After a day off, St. Olaf returns to action with a single nine-inning game against Franklin College on Monday, March 28 at 11 a.m. at Chain O of Lakes Park.

Augustana (Ill.) 3, St. Olaf 1 | Box Score

In its first game of the day, St. Olaf got an RBI single from sophomore Brian Nevin in the second inning and held the lead until Augustana scored single runs in three-straight innings late in the game to claim the win. The Vikings held the Oles to three hits in the game, including just one after the second inning.

Facing an offense that entered the game averaging over 10 runs per game to rank in the top 20 in NCAA Division III, sophomore Sam Lavin allowed just one run on five hits in six innings with three walks and six strikeouts. The six strikeouts matched a career high for the sophomore, who got a no-decision after the Vikings got runs off a pair of Ole relievers late on to break the 1-1 tie.

The Oles got their lone run of the game on back-to-back hits by senior Andrew Nomoto and Nevin in the second. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Nomoto doubled and came in to score on a single to right by Nevin. The only hit St. Olaf managed after Nevin's single was a two-out single by first year Cameron Hammonds in the fifth that came after classmate Matthew Oberlander drew a walk.

St. Olaf clung to the 1-0 lead until the sixth when Augustana pushed across a run to tie the game on a two-out seeing-eye RBI single up the middle by Chase Maifield. Jacob Barker provided a two-out RBI single of his own in the seventh to drive in the game-winning run for Augustana in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

The Vikings added an insurance run on a sacrifice squeeze in the eighth. Josh Wintroub earned the win by limiting the Oles to one run on three hits over seven innings while walking two and striking out nine. Bryce Luckey retired all six batters he faced – three by strikeout – over the final two innings to record the save.

Middlebury 12, St. Olaf 7 | Box Score

In the first meeting in the series between the two programs, Middlebury scored six runs in the second and two in the fourth to build an 8-0 lead on its way to the 12-7 win. St. Olaf got within four runs twice – at 8-4 and 11-7 – but could not get any closer.
Nomoto matched his career high with three hits for St. Olaf, going 3-for-3 with two RBI in the loss. Sophomore Evan Clark also had two hits and drove in a run, while Hammonds added a two-run single.

The Panthers scored six runs on five hits and two errors in the second and took advantage of another error in the fourth to score two more runs to take an 8-0 lead. The Oles responded with four runs in the home half of the fourth, scoring all four runs with two outs. Junior Harald Borg drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the first run, Hammonds followed with a two-run single to left, and Nomoto capped the inning with a run-scoring single of his own.

Middlebury pushed its lead to 11-4 with three runs on just one hit in the fifth before St. Olaf scored the next three runs to make it 11-7 after six. Fifth-year senior Matthew Muller led off the fifth with a single, stole second, and later scored on a wild pitch before Nomoto and Clark drove in runs with singles in the sixth.

Cole Crider made the lead stand up for the Panthers, striking out six over four shutout innings of two-hit relief to earn the save. Five pitchers worked in the game for the Oles, as senior Sam Westermeyer took the loss after allowing eight runs (four earned) over the first four innings. Smithson tossed scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh and junior Lucas Warner fanned two in a scoreless ninth.