ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College softball team clinched the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs with a 3-1 victory in game one before St. Catherine University took game two by a 7-3 score on Monday afternoon.

St. Olaf (23-17, 18-4 MIAC) entered the day needing one win to officially secure the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinals and used a two-out rally in the fifth inning – along with a complete game from senior Carly Damman – to take game one, 3-1. St. Kate's (20-16, 13-7 MIAC) went on to take game two, 7-3, and has locked up a spot in the playoffs, which begin later this week.

With a two-out single in the fourth inning of game two, sophomore Shreya Ashok established a new program record with her 54th hit of the season, breaking a tie with Sarah Cherry '01 (1999) and Cara Lemmon '13 (2010), who both had 53 hits in a season.

After a first-round bye, St. Olaf opens the MIAC Playoffs on Saturday, May 7 at 1:30 p.m. at Bethel against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. If the Oles win that game, they would play again at 4 p.m. for the conference championship and an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

St. Olaf 3, St. Kate's 1 | Box Score

In the opener, Alyssa Montero retired the first 14 batters of the game for St. Kate's to take a perfect game into the fifth inning before St. Olaf generated a two-out rally to score its only runs of the game. The three-run fifth was enough for Dammann, who improved to 4-3 on the season by holding the Wildcats to one run on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts in the game.

Montero went the distance in the circle for the hosts, falling to 11-6 on the season after yielding three runs on five hits with no walks and four strikeouts.

St. Kate's got its lone run of the game in the bottom of the first on a single by Sarah Posey followed by a double by Alex Ehde. Dammann kept St. Olaf's deficit at 1-0 in the second, pitching out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam.

After Montero retired the first 14 batters of the game, senior Katie Howard broke up the perfect game and no-hitter with a single to start the Oles' two-out rally. Fifth-year senior Jordan Melz followed with a single to put two runners on base for sophomore Jenna Peschel, who brought in both runners with a single to give St. Olaf a 2-1 lead. Senior Emily Pounds capped the three-run inning with a run-scoring double to plate Peschel.

St. Kate's put two runners on base in the fifth but was unable to score, as Dammann retired the final seven hitters of the game to close out the win.

St. Kate's 7, St. Olaf 3 | Box Score

MiKayla Grant delivered a three-run home run to break a 3-3 tie and propel the Wildcats to the 7-3 victory in game two. Annabelle Schutte threw a complete game for St. Kate's, limiting the Oles to three runs on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Junior Kaitlyn Miller threw the first complete game of her collegiate career for St. Olaf but suffered the loss after allowing seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with three runs in the first inning, scoring on a bases-loaded error followed by a two-run single by Schutte. The Oles quickly responded in the second with two runs of their own, scoring on a ground out by Melz and an error on a ball off the bat of first year Amelia Christenson to get within a run. Howard and Peschel started the inning with back-to-back singles before coming around to score.

St. Olaf tied the game in the top of the third when junior Andrea Conway came in to score while Howard was caught stealing second. St. Kate's broke the tie on a two-out, three-run home run by Grant in the fifth and tacked on an unearned run in the seventh.