DEMOREST, Ga. – The St. Olaf College softball team dropped both games of its doubleheader at Piedmont University on Monday afternoon, falling by scores of 3-2 in eight innings and 7-3 at Walker Athletic Complex.
In game one, St. Olaf (4-12) twice tie the game after trailing by a run before Piedmont (17-6) eventually got its international tiebreaker runner in in the eighth inning to pick up the walk-off victory. The Oles and Lady Lions were tied at 3-3 after four innings in game two, but Piedmont broke the tie with a run in the fifth and added three ore in the sixth to complete the sweep.
Kara Taylor had four hits and drove in six of the 10 runs on the day for the Lady Lions, who received two votes in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) NCAA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll.
St. Olaf wraps up its trip with single games at Emory University on Tuesday, March 28 and Wednesday, March 29 at 3 p.m. CDT.
Piedmont 3, St. Olaf 2 (8 inn.) | Box Score
The Oles outhit the Lady Lions by a slender 8-7 margin in the opener, but Piedmont's ability to get its runner in in the eighth was the difference. Taylor drove a single to deep center field on the first pitch of the home half of the eighth inning for the game-winning hit.
Junior
Hannah Peschel and sophomore
Amelia Christenson both reached base three times for the Oles, recording a pair of hits and getting hit by a pitch. Peschel and classmate
Anne Fossum had run-scoring hits for St. Olaf.
After being named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Softball Pitcher of the Week earlier in the day, first year
Madyn Singleton threw a complete game, allowing just one earned run (three runs) on seven hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Emma McBrayer earned the complete-game victory for Piedmont by yielding just one earned run (two runs) on eight hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
Taylor opened the scoring with a run-scoring single and McBrayer stranded six Oles on base over the first four frames before St. Olaf tied it in the fifth. With a runner on second and one out, Peschel singled to left to plate fifth-year senior
Tarah DeCroock to knot the game at 1-1.
The Lady Lions went back in front by scoring a run in the next half inning, but the Oles responded in their next inning at the plate to tie the game once again. After Christenson singled with one out, Fossum lined a double into right center to make it a 2-2 game.
The game stayed tied until Taylor's walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth. In the top of the inning, McBrayer made a quick-reflex catch on a liner back to the circle by sophomore
Medora Rylee with a runner at third and one out to help keep St. Olaf scoreless in the inning.
Piedmont 7, St. Olaf 3 | Box Score
St. Olaf rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to tie the game at 3-3 in the fourth, but Piedmont plated the final four runs of the game to stretch its winning streak to six games. Peschel and senior
Andrea Conway had two hits apiece and three Oles knocked in runs in the loss.
Taylor was 4-for-4 with two doubles, a run scored, and four RBI to lead the Lady Lions to the win. Her two-out, two-run doubled staked the hosts to a 3-0 lead through two innings.
In the next half inning, singles by DeCroock and Peschel put two runners on base for Conway, who got St. Olaf on the board with an RBI double to right center. Senior
Maya Patty followed with an RBI groundout to bring Peschel home for the second run of the inning.
The Oles got a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of DeCroock to tie the game at 3-3 after Fossum and junior
Katie Weisheit singled earlier in the inning to put runners at the corners with one out.
Already leading by a run, Piedmont strung together a walk and three consecutive hits in the sixth to score three runs and break the game open at 7-3. Riley Ford took care of the rest and earned the victory after throwing 3.2 innings of one-hit shutout relief for the hosts.
