CLERMONT, Fla. – On its final day at THE Spring Games, the St. Olaf College softball team suffered a 12-4 loss to Millikin University and a 4-3 eight-inning defeat to UW-Whitewater on Saturday at Legends Way Fields.

Millikin (11-6), which received votes in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) national poll, broke open a 2-1 game with an eight-run third inning before going on to claim a run-rule victory in the first game of the day for St. Olaf (4-10). In their second game of the day, the Oles held a 2-0 lead after five innings before UW-Whitewater (10-2) rallied in the sixth and went on to grab the victory in extra innings.

St. Olaf makes the drive to Georgia to play four more games before returning home. The Oles are scheduled to play a doubleheader at Piedmont University on Monday, March 27, although rain is in the forecast, before playing single games at Emory University on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 28-29.

Millikin 12, St. Olaf 4 (6 inn.) | Box Score

Already leading 2-1, Millikin scored eight runs on just four hits in the bottom of the third to break the game open. St. Olaf scored in both the fifth and sixth innings to prolong the game, but the Big Blue got three runs in the bottom of the sixth to end the game an inning early.

Fifth-year senior Tarah DeCroock and senior Maya Patty had two hits apiece to combine for four of the Oles' six hits in the game. DeCroock was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI, while Patty was 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs, and one RBI. Junior Shreya Ashok added a two-run triple in the loss.

Trailing 2-0, St. Olaf got on the board in the third on a run-scoring single by DeCroock to score Patty, who drew a walk to start the inning before advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt and a throwing error. DeCroock's single put runners on the corners with one out, but Millikin starter Addison Sargent kept her team's lead intact by getting the next two batters to end the frame.

Millikin benefitted from two hit batters, three walks, and a wild pitch in its eight-run third inning to open up a nine-run lead. With the score still at 10-1, Ashok drove a two-run triple over the left fielder's head to score DeCroock and Patty with her first three-bagger of the season. In St. Olaf's next inning at the plate, Patty drove a run-scoring single up the middle to score the Oles' final run of the game.

UW-Whitewater 4, St. Olaf 3 (8 inn.) | Box Score

First year Madyn Singleton kept UW-Whitewater scoreless over the first five innings to help St. Olaf to a 2-0 lead, but the Warhawks scored twice in the sixth inning to eventually send the game to extra innings. In the eighth, UW-Whitewater capitalized on an error to score a pair of unearned runs and held off the Oles in the final half inning.

Singleton had to settle for a no-decision after holding the Warhawks to two runs on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts over her six innings in the circle. Maddy Anderson went the distance to pick up the victory for UW-Whitewater, limiting St. Olaf to three runs (two earned) on seven hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

Junior Hannah Peschel was the lone Ole to record multiple hits in the game and reached base three times with a pair of singles and a hit-by-pitch. Ashok knocked in two runs with a third-inning single to complete a four-RBI day.

Singleton and Anderson kept both offenses in check early until St. Olaf opened the scoring in the bottom of the third. Junior Anne Fossum started the inning with a line-drive single to left before senior Annie Landon reached on a bunt single to put two runners on base. After DeCroock advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt, Ashok bounced a single up the middle to plate the first runs of the game.

UW-Whitewater fought back in the top of the sixth, scoring twice after the first two batters of the inning were retired. The Warhawks strung together three-straight hits – including two doubles – to tie the game at 2-2 with their lone runs of the game off of Singleton.

In the eighth, UW-Whitewater got its runner in from second on a throwing error on a bunt and added a second run later in the inning on a sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the inning, St. Olaf made it a one-run game when a throwing error on an infield single by Patty got a run in to make it a 4-3 game. Junior Hannah Peschel got Patty – the tying run – to second with a single before the Warhawks got the final out on a fielder's choice.