NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team clinched its fourth-straight berth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs after sweeping Hamline University by scores of 5-2 and 11-3 on Tuesday afternoon at Mabel Shirley Field.

St. Olaf (18-16, 13-3 MIAC) entered the day needing a sweep of Hamline (16-14, 7-10 MIAC) and at least one win by Carleton over Gustavus to lock up its spot in the six-team MIAC Playoffs and did so with two wins and a game-two victory by the Knights. Prior to 2018, the Oles had appeared in the tournament just twice in the first 14 years of the event.

Next up for St. Olaf is a home doubleheader against Macalester on Thursday, April 28 starting at 3:30 p.m. at Mabel Shirley Field.

St. Olaf 5, Hamline 2 | Box Score

Senior Kaleigh Santmyer drove in the first four runs of the game for St. Olaf, which built a 5-0 lead before Hamline scored twice in the seventh inning to halt sophomore Jaelyn Orth's shutout bid. Orth went the distance in the circle and allowed just four hits to collect her eighth win of the season.

Santmyer had a two-run single in the first and a two-run double in the third to knock in a career-high four runs, while senior Tarah DeCroock added a run-scoring single in the fifth for the Oles. St. Olaf out-hit Hamline by a 9-4 margin in the game.

After Orth got out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the first, the Oles put two runs on the board in the bottom of the inning on Santmyer's line-drive single to right. Sophomore Shreya Ashok started the inning with an infield single, DeCroock reached on an error two batters later, and Santmyer brought them both in with a single after the second out.

The Pipers again left the bases loaded in the second in the second after filling the bases on an error, a hit batter, and a walk. St. Olaf doubled its lead in the bottom of the third by stringing together three-straight one-out hits, culminating in a two-run double to center by Santmyer.

The Oles added a run to their lead in the fourth on a two-out RBI single by DeCroock that scored sophomore Hannah Peschel, who singled and got to second on an error to start the inning.

Hamline finally got on the board in the seventh, scoring on a wild pitch and a ground out, to end Orth's bid for her second shutout of the season.

St. Olaf 11, Hamline 3 (5 inn.) | Box Score

Hamline built a 3-0 lead through three and a half innings in game two, but St. Olaf got two runs in the fourth and nine in the fifth to finish off its sixth MIAC sweep of the season. The top-five hitters in the Oles' lineup combined to go 10-for-16 with eight runs and 10 RBI in the win.

The Pipers started the scoring in the top of the third with a pair of runs and added another in the fourth to build a 3-0 lead in the middle innings. St. Olaf finally got to Hamline starter Kira Krueger in the fourth, scoring on a fielder's choice and a double by Santmyer to make it a one-run game, although the Oles left the bases loaded after the final two batters of the frame were retired.

Fifth-year senior Abby Grismer threw a 1-2-3 top of the fifth to get St. Olaf back to the plate and the Oles proceeded to score nine runs on nine hits in the home half of the inning to end the game early.

With the bases loaded and nobody out, DeCroock cleared the bases and gave St. Olaf a 5-3 lead with a three-run double to right center. Junior Andrea Conway followed with a two-run home run to left center – the first home run of her collegiate career – to make it a 7-3 game and prompt a pitching change for the Pipers.

Later in the inning, sophomore Hannah Peschel knocked in Santmyer with a single and, two batters later, Ashok lined a double to right to bring in two more runs. With St. Olaf leading by seven and a runner on second with two outs, junior Maya Patty singled to center to score Ashok and end the game.

Ashok had at least three hits for the fifth time this season, going 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and three runs scored, while Patty went 3-for-4 with one RBI and two runs. DeCroock and Conway each drove in three runs as well.

Grismer picked up her second victory of the season with the 1-2-3 fifth inning after senior Carly Dammann worked the first four frames.