NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team used an eight-run first inning to take game one, 11-9, before the No. 18-ranked College of Saint Benedict claimed game two, 11-1, in five innings, as the teams split a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) doubleheader on Thursday afternoon at Mabel Shirley Field.

Sophomore Hannah Peschel highlighted the eight-run first inning with a grand slam in the opener for St. Olaf (14-14, 9-1 MIAC), which held on over the final innings for the 11-9 victory. Nationally-ranked Saint Ben's (21-4, 9-2 MIAC) fought back in game two to salvage a split by slugging four home runs on its way to a run-rule win.

The split keeps the Oles one game ahead of the Bennies in the loss column in the MIAC standings, as No. 14-ranked Bethel is now the lone remaining team unbeaten in conference play at 10-0. St. Olaf hosts Carleton on Senior Day and Youth Day on Saturday, April 23 before hitting the road to face the Royals the following day.

St. Olaf 11, No. 18 Saint Ben's 9 | Box Score

St. Olaf had five hits and took advantage of two errors to score eight unearned runs in the bottom of the first – highlighted by Peschel's grand slam – and held a 9-2 lead in the fourth before Saint Ben's fought back. The Bennies got within two runs at 9-7 with a five-run fifth inning, but the Oles mounted a two-out rally in the home half of the inning to score twice and held on to close out the victory.

In addition to Peschel's grand slam, sophomore Shreya Ashok was 3-for-4 with a run out of the leadoff spot, senior Tarah DeCroock went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs, and one RBI, and junior Maya Patty was 2-for-3 with a walk, a run, and two RBI. St. Olaf's 11 runs marked the most runs an opponent has scored against Saint Ben's in a game this season.

With the bases loaded and one out and one run already in in the first, Patty and sophomore Katie Weisheit delivered run-scoring singles on either side of a bases-loaded walk to fifth-year senior Abby Grismer to make it 4-0. Peschel followed Weisheit's single with a towering grand slam to left – the second home run of her career – to give St. Olaf an 8-0 lead with still only one out.



In the second, Patty drove in another run with a two-out single to score DeCroock, who doubled to start the inning, and stretch the Oles' lead to 9-0. The Bennies responded by scoring the next seven runs, including five in the fifth, to close to within two through four and a half innings.

St. Olaf pushed its lead to four with a two-out rally in the home half of the fifth. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Ashok singled and scored on a double by sophomore Anne Fossum. Fossum then came in to score on a line-drive single to center by DeCroock. Saint Ben's got two runs back with a two-out rally of its own in the seventh before leaving a pair of runners on base.

Grismer collected her first win of the season after allowing five runs on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts over the first four-plus innings. Sophomore Jaelyn Orth yielded just one earned run (four runs) on three hits with three strikeouts while getting the final nine outs. A seventh-inning solo home run by Jordyn Swoboda ended a run of 26.2 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run for Orth.

No. 18 Saint Ben's 11, St. Olaf 1 (5 inn.) | Box Score

Megan Rasmussen hit two of CSB's four home runs in game two and drove in four runs, while Bryn Carlstrom also homered and drove in six to lead the Bennies to the win. Elly Novak – a 2021 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-American – improved to 13-0 on the season by holding the Oles to one run on eight hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in the complete-game win.

Rasmussen and Swoboda both homered in a three-run third inning for the visitors and Carlstrom added a grand slam in the fourth to break the game open. Rasmussen hit a two-run home run in the fifth and Carlstrom provided a two-run double later in the inning, as CSB scored the game's first 11 runs.

The lone run the Oles got off of Novak came on a one-out RBI single by Ashok in the fifth after Weisheit started the inning with a double. The eight hits St. Olaf got off of Novak were the most a team has managed against the righthander this season, as Ashok and Patty had two hits apiece.